Xiao Yao knows that Xiang Liu made the big-bellied laughing doll for her.solarlunareclipse:
大肚笑娃娃没什么实际用处，但小夭觉得可爱，捧在手里越看越喜欢。大大的脑袋，大大的肚子，穿着个石榴图的肚兜，咧着小嘴，笑得憨态可掬，小夭忍不住也对着他笑起来。
The big belly laughing doll has no practical use, but Xiao Yao finds it cute. The more she holds it in her hands, the more she likes it. A big head, a big belly, wearing a bodice with a pomegranate pattern. Pouting with a small mouth, grinning in an endearing and naive manner. Xiao Yao couldn't help but smile at him too.
-- Vol 3 Ch 18 (Chapter 51)
Who is "他" (him) that Xiao Yao couldn’t help but smile at? In Chinese, the pronouns "他" (him), "她" (her), and "它" (it) are all pronounced as "tā." A doll would typically be referred to as "它" (it). Since the doll is wearing a "肚兜" (bodice), one might infer that the doll is female and refer to it as "她" (her). However, it would be unusual to refer to a doll wearing a bodice as "他" (him). There are three potential candidates whom Xiao Yao could be smiling at:
Xiao Yao is smiling at the doll. Tong Hua made an unintentional typo in referring to the doll as "他" (him). This error was not caught in the initial proofreading nor was it corrected in any subsequent releases of the novel. We know that subsequent releases of the novel contained major updates such as character name changes and added dialogue. If the use of this pronoun is indeed an unintentional typo, why not correct it?
Xiao Yao is smiling at Ah Bi. The doll was a present from Ah Bi, and the wording in the novel suggests that both Xiao Yao and Jing believe Ah Bi made the doll. However, if Xiao Yao is indeed smiling at Ah Bi, why did Tong Hua use misdirection to make it sound like Xiao Yao is smiling at the doll? Why would Tong Hua end her novel in such an anticlimactic manner, with Xiao Yao smiling for the first time in days, but at a minor character who isn't fully developed? Is Tong Hua trolling novel readers?
Xiao Yao is smiling at Xiang Liu. Xiao Yao knows that Xiang Liu made the doll. Tong Hua intentionally employs misdirection to create the impression that Xiao Yao believes Ah Bi made the doll, and further misdirection to suggest that Xiao Yao is smiling at the doll. How does Xiao Yao know that Xiang Liu made the doll? Xiao Yao is a very shewed person, and is no stranger to symbolism. After all, she made Xiang Liu a delicious koi fish frolicking in lotus pond poison dish to confess her love for him (The koi fish symbolizes a boy. The lotus symbolizes a girl. Together, they represent love). Xiao Yao notices the doll has a big belly and is wearing a pomegranate-patterned bodice. In Chinese culture, pomegranates symbolize fertility and a blessed future. Xiao Yao knows that Xiang Liu overheard her tell Tian Er after the marriage robbery, “Who knows if I’ll have the good fortune to have children in this lifetime.” Therefore, Xiao Yao deduces that Xiang Liu made this doll for her to wish her a blessed future with children. This is why she smiles at him.
My opinion is that the third option probably most closely aligns with author intent.
My personal interpretation of this scene is that XY did not know that the doll was made for her by XL and that she burst out laughing (or broke out into a smile) at the doll, mirroring it (hence the "也" / "also"). I don't take the view that Tong Hua was employing misdirection and secretly conveying that XY was actually laughing or smiling at XL or that she secretly understood that the big-bellied laughing doll was a gift from XL.
The paragraph and sentence are structured in a way that strongly implies that the person or thing that XY is laughing or smiling at is the doll. And while a doll may typically be referred to as an "it" in English or "它" in Mandarin, a doll that is life-like and full of personality could easily be referred to as "he" or "she" in English or as "他" or "她" in Mandarin. Plus, if XY knew that the doll was actually a wedding gift from XL from beyond the grave, I don't think XY's reaction would be to burst into laughter or to break into a broad smile. That just doesn't feel right. Even if there were positive feelings, shouldn't they be mixed with other feelings? Tinged with sorrow, for example? And if Tong Hua's intention was that XY should understand XL's well-wishes for her, then why have XL hide the ice crystal ball (which contained symbolism of his well-wishes for her AND had his well-wishes explicitly carved into it) within the big-bellied doll in such a way that XY would never see it? XL went to such efforts to hide those wishes, and Mao Qiu protested the idea that Ah Bi should get to take credit for the doll (just as Ah Bi protested before XL erased the memories that XY had saved of him in her mirror). My impression is that Tong Hua created a consistent narrative that XL took these steps very intentionally, even though they were painful for him to take and for the people around him (and the readers) to witness. But he took them anyway + selflessly and, IMO, Tong Hua had him do so because those steps add to how poignant and moving his ending is.
I agree that a cute, laughing, chubby doll with a pomegranate-patterned belly cover is full of symbolism indicating wishes for fertility, many children, abundance, and a blessed future. But those are all common things anyone might wish upon a newly married person. I truly do not think that XY would associate such a doll with XL. Yes, she made a comment about not knowing if she would ever be blessed with children at the beginning of her conversation with Tian Er in chapter 32, and yes she was aware that XL had come to stand nearby at some point before the end of that conversation. But she had a very impactful conversation with Tian Er with much more important points for her to remember, and then she had a rather harrowing parting with XL where he firmly and painfully pushed her away. Then more than 50 years passed. Chapter 46 happened and XY cut ties with XL completely. XL's epilogue happened (with Mao Qiu protesting). XL died without saying goodbye to XY. After all that time, with so many other things happening between them there was nothing (beyond a comment that XY might not remember making and wouldn't know for sure if XL had overheard or not) that would make XY think that XL would send her a doll with that symbolism. Especially as a wedding gift for her wedding to TSJ. And practically from beyond the grave.
| Original 2013 Text | Koala's Translation | Google's Translation |
| 小夭开始收拾行囊。其实，主要就是庆典结婚时收到的礼物。外祖父送了两箱珠宝首饰，应该是外婆的遗物；父王的礼物是他亲手锻造的一柄短刀、一把匕首；颛顼的礼物非常实用，是轩辕城内的一座宅邸，轩辕城外的百亩良田；阿念的礼物是一捆扶桑神木；烈阳的礼物是一对灵丹妙药，估计是他几百年来收罗的，连见惯了好药的小夭都暗自咂舌；阿獙的礼物是一对用玉山古玉琢的同心佩，一个用扶桑神木雕刻的大肚笑娃娃。都是他亲手做的。 | Xiao Yao packed her bags and it was mainly the wedding presents. Her grandfather gave her two boxes of jewelry, likely her grandmother’s items. Her father’s present was a small dagger he hand-forged and a short sword. Zhaun Xu’s present was very useful, an estate in Xuan Yuan Castle and hundreds of acres of land outside. Ah Nian’s present was a bundle of Fu Xang God Wood. Lie Yang’s present was magical elixir pills likely collected by him over hundreds of years that even Xiao Yao was impressed. And Ah Bi’s present was a pair of jade pendants made using Jade Mountain’s ancient jade vault and a big-bellied laughing doll carved out of Fu Sang God Wood. Both he handmade. | Xiao Yao started to pack her bags. In fact, they are mainly gifts received during the wedding celebration. Her grandfather gave her two boxes of jewelry, which should be her grandmother's relics; her father's gift was a short knife and a dagger he forged himself; Zhuanxu's gift was very practical, it was a mansion in Xuan Yuan City and a hundred buildings outside Xuan Yuan City, acres of fertile farmland; A-Nian’s gift was a bundle of sacred hibiscus trees; Lieyang’s gift was a pair of miraculous elixirs, probably collected by him over hundreds of years. Even Xiao Yao, who was used to seeing good medicines, secretly smacked her lips; Ā bì’s gift was a pair of concentric pendants carved from Yushan ancient jade, and a big-bellied laughing doll carved from Fuso sacred wood. All made by his own hands. |
| 小夭从外祖父送的首饰里挑了三件喜欢的收了起来，留做纪念；父王送的短刀和匕首既可做防身兵器，又可以用来削水果，留下；颛顼的礼物，小夭仔细看了一会儿后，收了起来；阿念的礼物也是仔细收好；烈阳的礼物自然是要全部藏好；阿獙送的同心佩平平日戴着可以颐养身体，关键时刻还可以当奇药续命，小夭把玩了一会儿，顺手给璟系了一块在腰间，自己也戴上了另一块。 | Xiao Yao pick three of her favorite jewels from her Grandfather, she kept both dagger and sword from her dad to use for protection and also to cut fruit, she thought a bit about Zhuan Xu’s present and accepted it, she carefully packed Ah Nian’s present, of course she was taking all of Lie Yang’s present, and Ah Bi’s jade pendants could be worn to protect and also ground down as magical healing medicine so she fashioned one for herself and put the other around Jing’s waist. | Xiao Yao picked three favorite pieces from the jewelry given by her grandfather and kept them as keepsakes; the short knives and daggers given by her father could be used as self-defense weapons and for peeling fruits so she kept them; Xiao Yao looked at Zhuanxu's gift carefully for a while and then packed it; Ah Nian's gift was also carefully packed; Lie Yang's gift naturally had to be hidden; the Tongxin Pei given by Ā bì could be worn daily to maintain health, and it could also be used as a gift at critical moments. Xiao Yao played with the miracle medicine for a while, then tied one piece around Jing's waist and put on the other one on herself. |
| 最后是大肚笑娃娃……小夭一开始就很好奇，阿獙为什么不用玉山桃木，却用了扶桑神木，扶桑神木无火自燃，并不适合用来雕刻东西。也不知道阿獙用了神木法术，才能让这块扶桑神木不烧手。 | Lastly there was the big bellied laughing doll……Xiao Yao was curious from the beginning. Why didn’t Ah Bi use peach wood from Jade Mountain and instead used Fu Sang God Wood? Fu Sang God Wood can ignite without a flame and was not suitable to be used as carving wood. And it wasn’t clear what Ah Bi did to this piece of God Wood so that it could be touched and not burn. | Finally, there is the big-bellied laughing doll... Xiaoyao was very curious from the beginning as to why Ā bì did not use Yushan peach wood but used Fuso sacred wood. Fusang sacred wood ignites without fire and is not suitable for carving things. She also didn't know whether Ā bì had used a spell on the sacred Fusang wood to prevent it from burning one's hands. |
| 小夭捧着大肚笑娃娃，对璟说：“阿獙可真逗，人家雕的胖娃娃就是头大，他的娃娃连肚子都大，难道表示这胖娃娃是因为贪吃才胖的？” | Xiao Yao cradled the doll and said to Jing, “Ah Bi is so funny, other such dolls have big heads but his doll has a big head and a big belly. Does it mean this chubby doll got fat because it loves to eat?” | Xiao Yao held the big-bellied laughing doll and said to Jing: "Ā bì is so funny. While the fat dolls that other people carve only have big heads, even the belly of his doll is big. Does it mean that the fat doll is fat because of gluttony?" |
| 璟看了一眼大肚笑娃娃，说道：“这是数万年的扶桑神木，水火不侵、刀剑不伤，可不好做，阿獙应该费了不少心血。” | Jing looked at the doll. “This is Fu Sang God Wood over tens of thousands years old, it cannot be penetrated by water or flame, no weapon can mar it, it would be exceedingly difficult to carve this so Ah Bi must’ve spent a lot of time on it.” | Jing glanced at the big-bellied laughing doll and said, "This is a sacred Fusang tree that is tens of thousands of years old. It is invulnerable to water and fire, and is invulnerable to swords. It is not easy to make. Ā bì must have put in a lot of effort." |
| 大肚笑娃娃看起来没什么实际用处，但小夭觉得可爱，捧在手里越看越喜欢，。大大的脑袋，大大的肚子，穿着个石榴图的肚兜，咧着小嘴，笑的憨态可掬，小夭也忍不住对着他笑起来。 | The big-bellied doll wasn’t of any practical use, but Xiao Yao just thought it was so cute and holding it in her hands she liked it more and more. A big head, a big belly, it was wearing a round belly cover and had a pout on its lips, its smile so impish that Xiao Yao couldn’t help but burst out laughing in joy at it. | The Big Belly Laughing Doll seems to have no practical use, but Xiao Yao thinks [it/he] is cute and the more she holds [it/him] in her hand, the more she likes [it/him]. Big head, big belly, wearing a bellyband with a pomegranate pattern, grinning with a small mouth, laughing cutely and naively, Xiao Yao couldn't help but also [burst out laughing/break into a smile] at him. |
| 这是几日来小夭第一次展颜而笑，璟终于松了口气，低声对苗莆叮嘱：“把这个笑娃娃一定要收好了！” | This was the first time Xiao Yao laughed in days and Jing let out a sigh of relief and said softly to Miao Pu, “Please pack this smiling doll safely to bring.” | This was the first time Xiao Yao [laughed/smiled broadly] in a few days. Jing finally breathed a sigh of relief and whispered to Miao Pu: "You must pack this laughing doll!" |
That's lovely. Thank you for putting all of this together ❤️nathsketch:
You're welcome. That's my head cannon. XL didn't want XY to know he loved her or did all those things for her. XY didn't want XL to know that she knew he loved her and did all those things for her. But in the end, she knew and was able to carry that knowledge and decide to live well.
And while a doll may typically be referred to as an "it" in English or "它" in Mandarin, a doll that is life-like and full of personality could easily be referred to as "he" or "she" in English or as "他" or "她" in Mandarin.AH :
To me, it's unusual to refer to a doll wearing a "肚兜" (bodice) as "他“ (him). Here are some Wikipedia articles on "肚兜" (dùdōu):
The first link mentions "肚兜" (dùdōu) is typically worn by women and children. The second link mentions that the diminutive form "兜兜" (dōudou) is typically used to refer to the ones worn by children.
I believe this is an Easter egg Tong Hua intentionally hides in the text. At first glance the word "him" is easy to overlook, especially since "him," "her," and "it" are all pronounced the same in Chinese. In my view, Tong Hua intentionally uses misdirection to suggest that Xiao Yao is smiling at the doll and further misdirection to make it seem like Xiao Yao thinks Ah Bi made the doll.
This interpretation aligns with my head cannon of the novel, where XY is ultimately aware of everything that XL has done for her and how deeply he loved her, and she is able to carry that knowledge forward and live well.
Of course, you're welcome to interpret it differently and take it at face value that XY doesn't know XL made the doll for her and is either smiling at the doll or at Ah Bi.
To me, it's unusual to refer to a doll wearing a "肚兜" (bodice) as "他“ (him). Here are some Wikipedia articles on "肚兜" (dùdōu):
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hant/%E8%82%9A%E5%85%9C
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dudou
The first link mentions "肚兜" (dùdōu) is typically worn by women and children. The second link mentions that the diminutive form "兜兜" (dōudou) is typically used to refer to the ones worn by children.
As the English version of the wiki article you linked notes, "under the Ming and Qing, dudous were solely items of underwear and were used to flatten women's breasts, similar to a gentle corset." and "Dudous first became an object of Western fashion in the year 2000... this development inspired some Chinese women, including Zhang Ziyi, to begin wearing the dudou as an article of outerwear, although many older Chinese remain (sometimes sternly) disapproving of this development."
I can't picture XL sending XY a doll that was a grown woman laughing cutely while only wearing undergarments as a wedding gift.
I picture the doll as a cute, very chubby, mirthful little boy. An older infant or young toddler at an age where it would be normal for him to wear a dudou. Similar to the big baby from Spirited Away.
As the Mandarin version of the wiki article you linked notes, "小孩子的话则是男女皆会穿 " ("For children, males and females can all wear it"), and the article includes an image of modern-day women modeling dudous and an image of a Song Dynasty painting depicting children wearing dudous.
宋代畫家蘇漢臣《秋庭嬰戲圖》中穿肚兜的小孩 / Children wearing dudous in "Children Play in the Autumn Courtyard" by the Song Dynasty painter Su Hanchen
And even for women who wear dudous as outerwear in modern times (or in historically inaccurate historical dramas), a dudou is generally not a garment that one would wear as outerwear if one were very full-figured or heavily pregnant.
If you google image search for 大肚 (big belly) and 肚兜 together, a significant majority of the search results are either babies or little kids wearing dudous or similar items of clothing or just dudous that are clearly designed to be worn by babies or little kids. And I didn't see any results that looked like pregnant women.
---
In XL's epilogue, XL holds the big-bellied laughing doll in his hands and looks at the doll's laughing / smiling face. It seems that the doll's expression prompts him to laugh or smile.
In chapter 51, XY holds the big-bellied laughing doll in her hands, looks at the doll's laughing / smiling face, and can't help but also laugh / smile at "him". The XY scene mirrors XL's scene. It seems to me that the doll's expression prompted XY to laugh / smile, too, just as it prompted XL to laugh/smile.
Interestingly, XL's epilogue uses "他" / "him" to refer to XL, Ah Bi, and the merman inside the ice crystal ball, uses "她" / "her" to refer to the mermaid inside the ice crystal ball, and uses "它" / "it" to refer to Mao Qiu (poor Mao Qiu!). As far as I can tell, the epilogue doesn't use any third person pronouns (他, 她, or 它) to refer to the doll. It's just referred to as a doll.
| Original 2013 Text | Koala's Translation | Google's Translation |
| 大肚笑娃娃看起来没什么实际用处，但小夭觉得可爱，捧在手里越看越喜欢，。 大大的脑袋，大大的肚子，穿着个石榴图的肚兜，咧着小嘴，笑的憨态可掬，小夭也忍不住对着他笑起来。 | The big-bellied doll wasn’t of any practical use, but Xiao Yao just thought it was so cute and holding it in her hands she liked it more and more. A big head, a big belly, it was wearing a round belly cover and had a pout on its lips, its smile so impish that Xiao Yao couldn’t help but burst out laughing in joy at it. | The Big Belly [Laughing/Smiling] Doll seemed to have no practical use, but Xiao Yao thought [it/he] was cute and the more she held [it/him] in her hand, the more she liked [it/him]. Big head, big belly, wearing a dudou with a pomegranate pattern, grinning with a small mouth, laughing cutely and naively, Xiao Yao also couldn't help but [burst out laughing/break into a smile] at him*. * IMO, this "him" is referring to the doll (whom XY is smiling back at). |
| 相柳凝视着掌上的大肚笑娃娃， 笑娃娃眉眼弯弯， 咧着小嘴， 笑眯眯的看着他， 相柳的唇角也慢慢上弯， 微微地笑起来。 | Xiang Liu gazed at the big bellied doll in his hand, the smiling face with the curving eyebrows and the pouting lips looked back at him with joyful mirth. Xiang Liu’s lips curled into a smile and he started chuckling out loud. | Xiang Liu stared at the big belly [laughing/smiling] doll in [his] palm, the [laughing/smiling] doll’s eyebrows were curved, grinning with a small mouth, looking at him* with an eye-crinkling smile, the corners of Xiang Liu's lips also slowly curved up, and [he] broke into a slight [laugh/smile]. * This "him" seems to be referring to XL (the person the doll is smiling up at), unless Koala and Google were both wrong. |
Of course, you're welcome to interpret it differently
Likewise.
Interestingly, XL's epilogue uses "他" / "him" to refer to XL, Ah Bi, and the merman inside the ice crystal ball, uses "她" / "her" to refer to the mermaid inside the ice crystal ball, and uses "它" / "it" to refer to Mao Qiu (poor Mao Qiu!). As far as I can tell, the epilogue doesn't use any third person pronouns (他, 她, or 它) to refer to the doll. It's just referred to as a doll.
Good idea using XL's epilogue to try to cross reference the doll's gender! You're right, poor Mao Qiu.
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