Master, senior brother, fellow cultivator
Fantasy donghua set in cultivation worlds rarely use names. Characters address each other by their place in a sect, a family or a hierarchy, and the word someone chooses tells you who outranks whom before anyone draws a sword. Today is those words, and which of them you can use off the screen.
The sect is a family
A cultivation sect is organised like a family, and it borrows family words to say so.
These words rank people by when they joined, not by age, which is how martial arts schools still work. Real students in China call a senior in the same lab or department 师兄 or 师姐, so this block is not only for the screen.
On screen, and in real life
The same thing said three ways: as a character would, as a friend would, and as you should to a stranger.
来者何人 is literally the one who comes, what person. Pure costume.
退下, withdraw, is how a superior dismisses someone.
救命之恩 is the kindness of saving a life. 之 is the classical 的.
Fantasy scripts borrow from classical Chinese: 何 for 什么, 之 for 的, set phrases of four syllables. It sounds grand because it sounds old. Understanding it is the goal; saying 来者何人 to a shop assistant is a joke, not a greeting.
Leave these on the screen
Words you will hear in every episode and should not use at the bank.
These words are not wrong, they are costume. Recognising them is how you follow the story; the 您, 我 and 你好 of the daily course are what you actually say.
A saying explains it: 一日为师，终身为父 (yí rì wéi shī, zhōngshēn wéi fù), a teacher for one day is a father for life. It is why betraying a master is the worst thing a character can do in these stories, and why so many plots turn on it.
8 questions. Get 5 right to finish the day.
Who is your 师兄?
- your older brother by birth
- your master's father
- anyone older than you
- someone who joined your master before you
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someone who joined your master before you Seniority in a school counts from when you joined, not from your age.
In a cultivation story, 师父 means…
- a senior brother
- your master and teacher
- a taxi driver
- your father
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your master and teacher The taxi driver is 师傅, a different character with the same sound.
Which is the polite, real-life way to ask who someone is?
- 来者何人？ láizhě hé rén?
- 请问您是哪位？ qǐngwèn nín shì nǎ wèi?
- 在下是谁？ zàixià shì shéi?
- 退下！ tuìxià!
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请问您是哪位？ 请问 plus 您 plus 哪位, which person, is polite everyday Chinese.
在下 means…
- the person below you
- downstairs
- later
- I, humbly, in old-style speech
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I, humbly, in old-style speech The one below: a modest way to say I in stories.
Type the pinyin for 师父.
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shīfu shī is first tone, and the fu is light.
What is a 弟子?
- a teacher
- a younger brother
- an enemy
- a disciple
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a disciple The master's student, who uses the word humbly about themselves.
A real student might call a senior in the same lab…
- 道友 dàoyǒu
- 师兄，师姐 shīxiōng, shījiě
- 前辈 qiánbèi
- 在下 zàixià
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师兄，师姐 The school words survive in universities and labs.
Type the Chinese or pinyin for hello, said politely.
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nín hǎo 您 is the respectful you, from the daily course.
Question 1 of 8