How much time passed in DOMD?

[Ken Cheng]

How much time passed between the beginning of DOMD, when Wai Siu Bo first left Yangzhou for Beijing, and the end of the story when WSB left Beijing for the final time?

[a_tumiwa]

Good question




this DOMD timeline always bothering me.




some points i can provide:




*the beginning of story =




novel: The Yangzhou massacre in May, 1645 in Yangzhou,
Qing dynasty China, refers to the mass killings of innocent civilians by Manchu,
happened 20 years ago.
historical date: 1645
so 1645 + 20 = 1665




novel: Marshal Zheng died 2 years ago
marshal zheng = probably Koxinga who captured taiwan from dutch
history = Died 23 June 1662
so 1662 - 2 years = year 1660




novel: Kangxi = 14-15 years
history = born 1654
so 1654 + 15 years = 1669




Wei Xiaobao = 12-13 years (first appearance, 12 years is more likely)




no mentioned of emperor reign of year or era name


so when was the start year of DOMD?




------------
the following events:




wei xiaobao's age at ghost mansion = 14-15 years




event: when met the old emperor.
novel: shunzhi looks like 31-32 years old
history = born 1638
so 1638 + 31/32 = 1669/1670




WXB at Shaolin temple - 15 years old




novel: Jiunan thinking back more than 20 years ago
history: Ming dynasty (1368–1644)




koxinga passed away in kangxi 1st year




the last time wei xiaobao's age mentioned, was at wu sangui's mansion = 15-16years




Li Zicheng age 70+ years




Event: journey to moscow
novel: kangxi = 17 years old
tsar of russia died 4 days ago
ivan = 16 years, pyotn = 10 years


12 years ago, wu sangui hanged emperor yongli at kunming


Events that took a longer time:
- war vs russia
- journey to moscow
- inhabit tongchi island


the death of wu sangui in history =1678


but i dont think the DOMD event took so long nearly 20 years, so JY didnt use the real historical date in this case




my sixth sense said the event took total about 6-8 years, but i dont know how to prove it , lolz

[Ken Cheng]

Good effort.

DOMD begins approximately with K'ang Hsi's ascension to the throne and Obai's downfall, and ends approximately with the death of Ng 3 Gwai. The timeframe would roughly correspond to the time between those two events, but yes...necessarily compressed (just like how LOCH condensed many of the events in Genghis Khan's life). It would make sense to me that DOMD encompassed the seven years of K'ang Hsi and Wai Siu Bo's teenage period.