once again, view this in the app, translations are all mine, etc etc.

Nie Mingjue 聂明玦

• 聂 nie → (v., literary) to whisper in one's ear
• 明 ming → (adj.) bright; open and forthright (among many other meanings)
• 玦 jue
  • refers to a annular jade pendant with a crack in its round shape, which signifies imperfection and resolution, and was often used as a political symbol
    • 《说文解字》：君子能决断则佩玦 / a gentleman who can be resolute shall carry a jue jade. in the 《史记》 / records of a grand historian, 司马迁 Sima Qian records the story of 范增 Fan Zeng raising a jue jade in his attempts to convince 项羽 Xiang Yu to commit to killing 刘邦 Liu Bang (Xiang Yu, unfortunately, did not).
  • in ancient times, this type of jade pendant was often symbolically used in the breaking of relations with another
  • fun fact, the specific type of jade referenced in 姑苏双壁 / twin jades of Gusu is a 璧 bi, which is by contrast a perfectly annular and flat jade pendant with a round hole in the middle—specifically, a jade whose rim is larger than its aperture. 璧人 refers to someone whose appearance is as beautiful and desirable as a 璧 bi jade.
    • jade also holds much significance in Chinese culture. in the《礼记》 Liji / Book of Rites, 孔子 Confucius writes that jade represents eleven virtues: 仁 / benevolence, 知 / knowledge, 义 / righteousness, 礼 / propriety, 乐 / music, 忠 / loyalty, 信 / trustworthiness, 天 / heaven, 地 / earth, 德 / morality, 道 / principles. on the other hand, 管仲 Guan Zhong writes in the《管子》 Guanzi that jade has nine virtues: 仁 / benevolence, 智 / wisdom, 义 / righteousness, 品节 / integrity, 纯洁 / purity, 勇 / bravery, 诚实 / honesty, 宽容 / magnanimity, 条理 / orderliness.

Chifeng-zun 赤锋尊

• 赤 chi → (n.) red (slightly darker than vermilion); sincere/loyal; to bare
• 锋 feng → (n.) the cutting edge/point of a blade; vanguard
• 赤锋 is homophonous with 赤风 / red skies and roaring winds, believed in ancient times to portend calamities of war. Furthermore, in traditional Chinese medicine, 赤风 refers to internal heat as a cause of disease, as well as heat evil, which can disrupt bodily fluids and cause mental disharmony.
• the honorific 尊 zun, being used for both Nie Mingjue and Jin Guangyao, seems to emphasise their aspirations for power and status, particularly when contrasted against Lan Xichen’s 君 jun. it does, however, still connote great respect.

Nie Huaisang

• 怀 huai
  • 怀 is a particularly intimate character to me, because pretty much every valence of it has to do with your chest/heart: you're either harbouring an emotion in your heart (心怀), or cradling something to your chest (怀抱). even the act of 怀人 / missing someone isn't just missing; it's more like keeping the thought of them in the empty space of your chest when you're no longer close enough to see or touch them.
  • I can't go on or there'll be spoilers but suffice it to say that I have had many thoughts about NHS and how relevant 怀 is to his character.
• 桑 sang
  • refers to the mulberry tree, which in Chinese traditions symbolises one's home or hometown (alongside the 梓 / yellow catalpa). this meaning stems from the tradition of planting mulberry (and yellow catalpa) trees beside one's house to raise silkworms. it's often said that these trees were planted by one's parents, therefore one should respect them and think of them often (so they essentially become symbols of one's parents).
  • 桑 is also homophonous with 丧 sang / bereavement, mourning, and therefore the mulberry tree is connected to mourning and funerals.

Master Know-Nothing 一问三不知

• literally translates to “to ask once [and receive] three I don’t knows”
• I know the official translation uses Headshaker but I hate it. it's such an unsexy translation for a beautiful title.
• 一问三不知 can refer both to someone who is genuinely ignorant as well as someone who is deliberately pretending ignorance. somewhat similarly, know-nothing, as an adjective, can mean “characterised by, advocating, or depending on ignorance”.
• in 邓拓 Deng Tuo’s 《变三不知为三知》 / Turning three unknowns into three knowns, he defines the 三不知 three unknowns as the three different stages for any given situation: 始 / beginning, its background; 中 / middle, its development; 终 / end, its resolution. thus, 一问三不知 is an admonishment to always consider the interconnections of something before making a judgement.
  • the earliest mention of 一问三不知 shows it being used similarly. in the pre-Qin text 《左传·哀公二十七年》 / Zuozhuan: Duke Ai, the Twenty-Seventh Year, a general was punished for giving inaccurate information to his superior and thus bemoaned that 今我三不知而入之，不亦难乎 / (roughly translated) I failed to consider the three unknowns before making my report; isn’t that troublesome?
• this title is also meant to parallel that of 清河百晓生 / the Know-All of Qinghe (lit. "the intellectual of Qinghe who knows a hundred matters").

edited to include links to my other name meta posts:

• vol 1: wangxian, jiang family
• vol 2: lan xichen + jin guangyao
• vol 4: more about wei wuxian
• vol 5: lan sizhui