May 27, 2023

Hills of Silver Ruins (4/41)

Since the founding of the Meiji era in 1868, a single era name (nengou) has been assigned to the reign of each emperor. This was not always the case. As Donald Keene explains in Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World,

Until the adoption of Meiji as the name for Mutsuhito's entire reign, the nengou was traditionally changed several times during the reign of a single emperorโ€”at two fixed points in the cycle of sixty years, or when a series of natural disasters were attributed to an inauspicious nengou, or when some prodigy of nature required recognition in the calendar.

The kanji for the era name of Gyousou's new and improved dynasty are bright (ๆ˜Ž) and banner (ๅนŸ).

I comment a bit more about the conclusion of the series as part of my latest discussion with Kate (click on the INTERVIEW WITH A TRANSLATOR label for more installments).

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Comments
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/27/2023 8:00 AM   
tysm ๐Ÿ’—๐Ÿ’—
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/27/2023 9:17 AM   
Thanks for the chapter
Great Story, the ending, though nice leaves wanting to more details of the win. But nice hope full ending.
Good to see Gyousou recognised the banners who helped him and died in the new era name
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/27/2023 10:02 AM   
Omg. Iโ€™ve been following this for so many months (years?) now. So glad to see it all finally come to end.

Thank you for your hard work.
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/27/2023 12:54 PM   
I'm going to miss them so much.
But not the kind of story pacing when plot burns slowly through tens of chapters and then all gets solved within a paragraph or so haha
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/27/2023 1:22 PM   
What an emotion, there were pages missing from the story, but even so, it does not erase this wonderful story. I hope that a studio picks up the story again to animate it and I also hope for another book. Thanks Eugene for translating this wonderful work
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/27/2023 2:01 PM   
Thanks so much for translating. It's been a long journey for Taiki and a long wait for the readers waiting for another book. XD
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/27/2023 10:39 PM   
TYSM! Words can't relay how grateful I am
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/27/2023 10:51 PM   
I appreciate this more than words can say. It's been a great journey, I'll have to reread it again soon
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/27/2023 11:20 PM   
One thing I'm wondering- in Wings of Dreams it's stated that youma die if held in captivity unlike youjuu...how then were youma transported and employed? Did I miss something?
# posted by Blogger Eugene
5/28/2023 7:50 AM   
As discussed in chapters 14 and 28 of book 3, this is something Rousan figured out. She and Yari are from the Yellow Sea.

"Given everything she'd learned in the Yellow Sea and everything she'd learned since, together with her God-given talents, if Rousan was involved, there'd be nothing unusual about Asen using youma to his own ends. Someone familiar with the habits and habitats of the youma could also learn to control them."

At least in the case of the ririku, the preservation process involved the use of a shiniku. In Chinese folklore, a shiniku is an edible monster that grows back as fast as it is eaten.

"Youma couldn't be domesticated by human beings. The lives of humans and youma were each governed by their own natural laws. But a shiniku bridged that divide. Stick one inside the cage, and until it was completely devoured, the youma continued to thrive in keeping with the laws of nature that governed the human world."
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/28/2023 10:56 AM   
I'm so grateful beyond words for your hard work on translating series, not just in these set of books but the whole series overall! I grew up wishing I could know what happened to Taiki, who's my favorite character in Twelve Kingdoms, so finally being able to have closure is something I will always be so happy about ๐Ÿ˜ญ๐Ÿ’•
Although I wish we could've had more details on how Gyousou, Taiki, and all their loyal allies recaptured the capital and punished Asen (I esp wanted to know Asen's thoughts as Gyousou proved the victor in the end and how the other kingdoms came together to support Tai), those short but sweet sentences was the neatly tied bow I wanted on this gift of a sequel (albeit a super small bow that leaves the rest to our imagination ๐Ÿ˜‚)
Here's to hoping we'll still be able to get a sequel anime and more novels someday soon ๐Ÿฅบโฃ๏ธ
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/28/2023 11:00 AM   
I just want to thank you for all the work you've done in making this wonderful series accessible to us overseas! The dedication and time commited to this task was definitely enormous so I want to show my gratitude and appreciation... You're incredible!
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/28/2023 11:29 AM   
Thank you so much for translating this book - I really appreciate all that you've done
# posted by Anonymous Anonymous
5/28/2023 4:08 PM   
TYSM Eugene for the years spent translating this series for us! I appreciate your hard work so much <3
# posted by Blogger baihaki
5/29/2023 9:44 AM   
Thank you!
# posted by Blogger Panino Manino
6/03/2023 9:20 AM   
I mage a huge mistake.
I should had read as Eugene was translating to comment about the chapters here with you all ๐Ÿ˜ญ
# posted by Blogger Sarah A.
6/03/2023 9:06 PM   
I've been a reader for quite a long time and I just want to echo everyone's thanks and everlasting appreciation for your hard work all these years. I can't express thanks enough. Time for a full re-read to enjoy the full scope!
# posted by Blogger Laila
6/04/2023 3:54 PM   
I read all translated books by you and even someones else's CD dramas and some translations that looked like someone used google translator. I am very grateful for your work, passion and good will to share high quality translation, that could be printed and enjoyed if Fuyumi wanted..
I wish you many great healthy and wealthy years for you to live.
# posted by Blogger Damien Sullivan
8/14/2023 3:56 PM   
I decided to wait until you finished this one; I've now read it over the past week. (It's long!) Thank you for your work.

I feel Rousan was not handled satisfyingly. Actually I'm thinking now that Ono is just bad at antagonists. But that's not your fault!
# posted by Blogger Eugene
8/17/2023 7:54 AM   
I've added a link above to a few additional comments on the subject.