Posted on by Lone Crane

On the Origin of the “Mount Tai” Idiom—a response

A few years ago, webnovel translator and author, Deathblade, uploaded a video promising to tell us the “shocking truth” about the common Chinese idiom to “have eyes but fail to recognize Mount Tai”. In the video he says:

The shocking truth is that the Taishan in the phrase you yan bu shi tai shan is NOT Mount Tai. It is not the mountain that’s famous in China. It’s actually referring to a person.

He seems quite sure of himself. Indeed he leaves no room for argument:

So, in the phrase ‘have eyes but fail to recognize Mount Tai’, it really shouldn’t be Mount Tai, it should just be a guy, Taishan…

…and considering you’re talking about a mountain, to use ‘Mount Tai’ also kind of makes sense, even though it’s not correct.

Deathblade is not simply suggesting that one or both of these stories might possibly be the origin of the idiom. He’s saying that they for sure are the origin and that translating taishan as “Mount Tai” is wrong.

But what makes him so sure?

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Posted on by Lone Crane · 6 Comments

The Flame Stick — A Primitive Chinese Lighter

The flame stick is ubiquitous in wuxia novels. Called huo zhe zi (火折子 or 火摺子) in Chinese, it’s the olden days equivalent of the cigarette lighter or flashlight, a convenient, portable, easy to use source of quick light and a means to start other fires (such as lighting a lamp). Rather than carrying big unwieldy torches around (though you do see that from time to time too), characters will often just pull out a flame stick. It’s one of those items they always seem to have on them.

She knew something was wrong, so she took out a flame stick.

A flame flared. She went up next to the young girl holding a finely-made, medium-sized flame stick made of copper that could be ignited with one blow.

The deep red flame’s luminosity was limited, but it was enough for her to distinguish two people laying down inside.

“Aiyo!” she cried in alarm and rushed inside.

The young lady went in as well, holding a flame stick. She calmly lit the oil lamp on the table.

Yun Zhongyue, Illusion Sword, Ch.5
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