Wu Xia Common Terms and Translation

[Nightingale]

Hi, I was an invisible guest and a very old member here but since I couldn't remember my password I started a new account. Anyways, I hope that I'm posting in the right forum. I hope that someone could translate for me some Wu Xia terms (not the ones in the pin topic). I'm going to begin my fanfic soon and because I'm Chinese illiterate I want to know some simple terms used commonly in Wu Xia. Although I know that some of them can be subsitute with an english name but I want to give my story a more ancient feel especially through the dialogues. So if anyone is chinese please kindly translate the following for me in mandarin pinyin, and feel free to add more should you like.

Miss: (I think it should be along the lines of Gu Niang?)
Mister:
King:
Queen:
Killer/Assasin:
Husband:
Wife:
Lake/Pond/Ocean:
Money: (all types of currency)

That's all I could think of right now. I might add more later. Thank you for those who'd like to help.

[Snafu3721]

Miss: (I think it should be along the lines of Gu Niang?)
Mister: Xien Shen
King: Huang2 Di4, Wang2,
Queen: Huang2 Ho4
Killer/Assasin: Sa Shou3
Husband: Xien Shen, Lao3 Gong, Zhang4 Fu
Wife: Tai4 Tai4, Niang2 Zi, Fu Ren2
Lake/Pond/Ocean: Hu2, Tse2 (Ci??), Hai3
Money: Jing, Yin2, Yuen2 Bao3

My Ping Yin is terrible, hopefully other posters will correct and amend my translations.

P.S. Are you familiar with the tones?

[Nightingale]

Foremostly thank you. =) And yes I'm familiar with most of the tones with the exception of Xien Shen and the money. For mister I was looking for something like gong zi??? I'm not sure if that's correct. And for the money, is that the order from least to greatest? Like what are the values?

[Snafu3721]

Gong zi is a complicated word. It mostly connotates that ther person being referred to is either of royalty or is a scholar (educated). Most people don't use gong zi for beggars or average citizens. The word is probably most synonymous for "gentleman"

There are rare occasions when people will address commoners as gong zi. That can get extremely complicated.

It all depends on what context you want to use ther term "mister" for =P.
__________________________________________________ __

As for the money, those are generic terms for "gold","silver", and "Chinese nugget ". If you wanted terminology for amounts, they usually use the word "liang3"

[HuangYushi]

NOTE: All the explanations below refer to generally accepted usage of the terms in question during wuxia (ancient) times. Therefore, the explanations below may differ from generally accepted usage in modern times.

Miss: (I think it should be along the lines of Gu Niang?)

Gu1 Niang 姑娘 = general term of address for young unmarried women; also functions as a noun for the same young unmarried women as well as girls.
Xiao3 Jie3 小姐 = for young unmarried women who come from families with very high social status in the community.

Mister: Xien Shen

Gong1 Zi3 公子 = general term of address for young men (marital status is not a criteria) with decent appearance and behaviour, as well as those who come from families with above-average status in the community. It is usually not used for individual wanderers in the realm of the rivers and lakes, who tend to be rather weather-beaten, unkempt and untrustworthy by the standards of propriety in those days.
Shao4 Ye3 少爷 = for young men (marital status is not a criteria) who come from families with very high social status in the community. All Shao4 Ye3 can be addressed as Gong1 Zi3, but not all Gong1 Zi3 can qualify as Shao4 Ye3. E.g. Zhang Cuishan from HSDS can be addressed as Gong1 Zi3, but he would never be called Shao4 Ye3.
Xian1 Sheng1 先生 = largely for learned individuals, such as tutors, regardless of age.

King: Huang2 Di4, Wang2,

Huang2 Di4 皇帝 = Emperor.
Wang2 王 / Wang2 Ye3 王爷 = King. It is also used for princes, both young and old, e.g. the Emperor's brothers, cousins, etc.

Queen: Huang2 Ho4

Huang2 Hou4 皇后 = Empress.

Killer/Assasin: Sa Shou3

Sha1 Shou3 杀手 = Killer; more modern than ancient usage.
Ci4 Ke4 刺客 = Assassin; i.e the person in black clothes who sneaks into palaces and such for assassination attempts.

Husband: Xien Shen, Lao3 Gong, Zhang4 Fu

Zhang4 Fu1 丈夫 = formal way to refer to a person's husband.
Xiang4 Gong1 相公 = a term of address used by a wife for her husband. It can also be used in place of Gong1 Zi3 (see Mister above) if appropriate.
Fu1 Jun1 夫君 = polite way for a woman to refer to her husband when talking to a third party.
Lao3 Ye3 老爷 = in families with above-average social status in the community, husbands who are also the heads of their households/families can also be called Lao3 Ye3 by their wives, servants and acquaintances.
Wai4 Zi3 外子 = a term of address used by a wife for her husband when talking to a third party; literally means "the one outside".

Xian1 Sheng1 先生 and Lao3 Gong1 老公 are largely more recent terms.

Wife: Tai4 Tai4, Niang2 Zi, Fu Ren2

Niang2 Zi3 娘子 = a term of address used by a husband for his wife. It can also be used a third party to refer to and/or address the wife, e.g. 陈大娘 "Wife of Chen" or "Mrs Chen".
Fu1 Ren2 夫人 = formal way to refer to a person's wife by third parties. In families with above-average social status, wives can be called Fu1 Ren2 by their husbands.
Tai4 Tai4 太太 = in families with above-average social status in the community, wives of the heads of their households/families can be called Tai4 Tai4 by their servants.
Nei4 Zi3 内子 = a term of address used by a husband for his wife when talking to a third party; literally means "the one inside".

Tai4 Tai4 太太 as "wife", as used by her husband or a third party, is largely a more recent term.

Lake/Pond/Ocean: Hu2, Tse2 (Ci??), Hai3

Hu2 湖 = Lake.
Chi2 池 = Pond.
Hai3 海 = Ocean, Sea.
Jiang1 江 = River.
Xi1 溪 = Stream.

Money: Jing, Yin2, Yuen2 Bao3

Yin2 Liang3 银两 / Yin2 Zi3 银子 = general term for "money"; literally means "taels of silver".
Yin2 Piao4 银票 = paper equivalent for actual pieces of silver that can be obtained from a bank.
Jin1 金 = gold.
Yuan2 Bao3 元宝 = ingot-shaped gold and silver.
Tong2 Qian2 铜钱 = copper coins with a hole in the center.
Sui4 Yin2 碎银 = small pieces of silver in random shapes that are used as money, as opposed to ingots that have a specific shape and come in predetermined weights.

[Nightingale]

Thank you so much HuangYushi. That was a very indept explanation. Because I'm Vietnamese I just have a general knowledge of the terms used often in serials and I sure learned a lot from your post. I hope I'm not being a nuisance for asking more...>_< but I did state that I might add more later. What are the translation for the lightness skill, and maybe others?

[Snafu3721]

lightness skill-- "qing1 gong1"

internal energy-- "nei4 li4" or "nei4 gong1"

techniques/stances-- "zhao1 shi4"

martial arts-- "wu3 gong1"

[HuangYushi]

techniques/stances-- "zhao1 shi4"

Zhao1 招 = refers generally to a designated set of moves that have a specific starting and ending point. To get an idea of what a Zhao1 is, go to a Taiji (Tai Chi) website that has online video samples. Pick a move, hear it being named, and watch how it is executed. That is an example of what is called a Zhao1.
Shi4 式 = refers to a style of martial arts. Going back to the example of Taiji, there are a number of popular styles practiced today, such as the Chen Family Style Taiji, the Wu Family Style Taiji, etc. All these are Taiji, but because of their respective heritages, different styles have come into existence. Again, you can look these up on the Web and get some visuals for a better understanding.

Full-set techniques and skills in *wuxia fiction*, such as the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms 降龙十八掌 or the Arhats' Divine Demon-Subduing Skill 罗汉伏魔神功, usually *do not* have the words Zhao1 or Shi4 in their names. For examples of such martial arts and their names in Chinese and English, please see: http://wuxiapedia.com/novels/jin_yon...s/martial_arts

[dracnom]

a really common term in wuxia that was introduced by Jin Yong is
后会有期 (hou4 hui4 you3 qi2) - we'll meet again

[kidd]

a really common term in wuxia that was introduced by Jin Yong is
后会有期 (hou4 hui4 you3 qi2) - we'll meet again

This is a Jin Yong invented term? I never know that.

[Nightingale]

Thank you Snafu3721. HuangYushi, and Dracnom =).

[junzi]

This is a Jin Yong invented term? I never know that.

He might have popularized it but I don't think he invented it, though.

[kamii]

He might have popularized it but I don't think he invented it, though.

That's what i'm thinking. They use the saying in almost every wuxia movie/series you can think of.

[Kara]

Wow. I'm vietnamese too and i learnt alot from that post Huang Yao Shi. Thanks heaps. I could guess the vietnmaese equivalent (also because i can recognise some of the chinese characters) for most of those words. The only ones i can't figure out are Yuan2 Bao3 and Sui4 Yin2 for the money related terms and Shi4 (the style of martial arts). Does anyone know the vietnamese equivalent of these?