Thanks foxs.
When i said anything is ok, i really meant that i'm happy to read whenever or whatever is available. Translating is hard- harder for some, easier for you.
Re: unabridged thread, in reviewing this thread, thank you for translating the conversations which was left out by FaQ esp. chapter 8.
Thirdly, which chapter or character is hard for you to translate i.e. you hate their guts out?
Lastly, a repost of mine from 2005
Hung Pills (Red Pills)
The way of the Hung consisted of a secret formula for producing Hung pills, which were also known by a more euphemistic name (Hsien Tien Tan Chion). The menstrual discharges of beautiful maidens, thirteen or fourteen years old, were gathered in gold and silver vessels and transferred to a mortar, where wu mei shuei, a compote of smoked half-ripe plums, were added. In such cases, maidens with coarse hair or throaty masculine voices or those who had been sick were carefully avoided. The strange concoction was then dried seven times and finally heated after adding powdered milk, cinnabar, imported pine resin, and dried and powdered human waste. The hung pills thus produced were considered a powerful restorative pill capable of curing 5 kinds of fatigue, 7 kinds of wounds, and general debility.
Restorative and aphrodisiacs of this nature became extremely popular in the last half of the Ming dynastry, which as marked by unprecedented cultural developments. The secrets of the Hung pills was given by Taoist Wen Chung to Tan Lun, the War minister and to Chang Chu Cheng, the powerful premier of the time. Overuse of the pills was reported to be responsible for their deaths.
In the thirty-first year of Chia Cheng, Emperor Shih Tsu by imperial edict, had 300 maidens between the ages of eight and fourteen brought into the palace from Beijing and adjacent areas, and another 106 the following year, solely for the purpose of producing the Hung pills.
The emperor’s addiction to Hung pills had ill and far reaching consequences. His successor, Emperor Mu Tsung became a regular user as well due to advice from his eunuchs, and let his genius run to waste. Emperor Tai Chang in whom the people placed great hope, died the same night he took these pills during an illness. Later this incident, referred to as the “Hung Pills Incident”, became a major political incident.
- From Taisuke Mitamura, (1970) Chinese Eunuchs: The Structure of Intimate Politics, pp 121-122.
Just some short notes on Wei Zhong Xian.
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Following the Red Pill incident, the next Ming dynasty fell into the rule of Emperor Tien-chi, who was a weak emperor, more interested in sex, gambling, wood-carpentering, and arts. He left much of his administration into the hand of his wet nurse and also his chief eunuch Wei Zhong Xian.
Wei Zhong Xian was forced to castrate himself as an adult in order to pay for heavy losses due to gambling; coming from an undistinguished background, he managed to get himself in the protection of several chief eunuch during the reign of Emperor Wan-li.
Due to his excellent cooking skills, he was able to get special favour of the mother of the future Emperor Tien-chi. Further, he became a lover of Tien-chi's comely wet nurse, Mistress Ko after both of them got together to get rid of Mistress Ko's former lover. (It was rumored that Wei's severed part have been partially redeveloped, and that his sex drive was perhaps due to him consuming seven human brains)
Soon after the start of the reign of Emperor Tien-chi, Wei Zhong Xian managed to become the chief eunuch. After becoming chief eunuch, he murdered all of those who's does not join his faction. In short time, he gained enormous power, earning the nickname "nine thousand lives", and personal retinue numbering 10,000.
Despite repeated attempts by mandarins and scholars to oust him, particularly through the famous "Twenty-four Great Crimes of Eunuch Wei Zhong Xian" petition, he was able, with the help of the wet nurse to influence the emperor to reject all these accusations, and punish his adversaries through tortures in the eunuch prisons of the eastern depot.
With these powers, all in the kingdom feared him and the officials have to divert state revenue to fund "projects" for Wei Zhong Xian. He was able to self-style himself a duke, with equal rank to imperial princes, and to issue all official proclamation under the name of the emperor and himself.
His reign of power, infamy and corruption only ended after the sudden death of Emperor Tien-chi. The next Ming emperor, Emperor Chung-chen exiled him before he commited suicide to avoid further punishment.
Han Solo