Ryu Zhong's Blog - Posts Tagged "characters"

Characters of Prince of Blue Flowers: Adventures of Takuan from Koto: Ta-Guan, the Celestial Marten.

Ta-Guan isn’t a simple northern marten. She was born from a stone egg. A little later, she mastered the human language; and then she ended up in the Heavens.

In ‘Adventures of Takuan,’ the celestial marten is one of the main tricksters. She does not sit still; she is ambitious and cunning, although this cunning sometimes works against her.

If you want to know a little more about the celestial marten, you must visit Ta-Guan’s page on Makipedia, the encyclopedia of Anno Ruini.

Characters of Prince of Blue Flowers: Adventures of Takuan from Koto: Xiwanmu, the Goddess of the West.

The Most Beautiful and Eternally Wise Goddess of the West lives in the Heavens, but sometimes descends to the Middle Realm, where her temple and peach garden are located on the top of Mount Gunlun.

Xiwanmu is the first of the celestials that the reader meets. As befits a goddess, she is regal and majestic. Her golden hair floats in the wind, as do the garments that mask and show her beauty.

If you want to know a little more about the Goddess of the West, you must visit Xiwanmu’s page on Makipedia, the encyclopedia of Anno Ruini.

Characters of Prince of Blue Flowers: Adventures of Takuan from Koto: Yanwang Umma-ö, the Ruler of the Under Realm.

Yanwang Umma-ö appears before us as a stern ruler of the Under Realm and a hunter of weredemons. Yanwang’s brother, the Jade Emperor himself, instructed the ruler of the Under Realm to catch all the demons who annoyed both mere mortals and celestials.

The reader is introduced to Yanwang at the beginning of ‘Prince of Blue Flowers.’ This celestial, although distinguished by courage, remarkable strength, and his abilities in magic, is straightforward, angry, and even naive.

If you want to know a little more about the Ruler of the Under Realm, you must visit Yanwang’s page on Makipedia, the encyclopedia of Anno Ruini.

Characters of Prince of Blue Flowers: Adventures of Takuan from Koto: Sung Hatsukoi

Hatsukoi is the protagonist of the ‘Prince of Blue Flowers’ and of the rest of the ‘Adventures of Takuan from Koto.’ The full story bears his monastic name which he got in the monastery on the Mount White.

Hatsukoi, like the celestial marten Ta-Guan, is a trickster. His monastic name – Takuan – he received for his tricks in honour of the heavenly trickster. But, unlike the marten, Takuan-Hatsukoi comprehends his destiny and applies his cunning to good deeds. This is how Hatsukoi first grows up, and then Takuan continues the path of becoming a whole person.

Story of Hatsukoi
Once upon a time, in the Sung family, an extraordinary child was born. He was given the name Hatsukoi which means ‘fruit of motherly love’.

Growing up, Hatsukoi can’t sit still. He plays tricks on his parents and other villagers and then goes wandering about. After a couple of pranks, he returns home, quite pleased with the results. But for some reason, his parents aren’t happy at all. They send him to a monastery. And in the monastery, he gets a new name – Takuan.

If you want to know what tricks Hatsukoi got sent to the monastery for, as well as what he did as Takuan, you have to listen to Prince of Blue Flowers: Adventures of Takuan from Koto.

The runaway from the monastery, Takuan, appears before the reader as a teenager of around thirteen or fourteen years old, with red hair that he sometimes shaves off to pass himself off as a monk.

From a very young age, Takuan possessed cunning and restlessness, and during his time in the monastery, he learned how to use them for a good cause. Although this good cause was primarily for Takuan himself, only those who indulged in their vices – greed, anger, and ignorance – fell for his tricks.

If you want to find out about the adventures that befell Takuan, read the book called ‘Prince of Blue Flowers,’ and then its sequels: ‘Hunters of Weredemons’ and ‘Envoys of Celestials.’

And if you want to find a little more about Takuan himself, visit Takuan’s page on Makipedia.

Wang Leizu, nicknamed ‘Zhu,’ which means ‘pig,’ catches Takuan's eye in the middle of ‘The Prince of Blue Flowers,’ but his story began long before the events described in the book.

A distinguishing feature of Wang-Zhu Leizu is his nose, which resembles a boar’s snout. Together with his completely bald head and pointed ear tips, the nose of the wandering warrior became the cause of his derogatory nickname.
This nose caused concern to its owner not only due to its appearance but also because, like many forest animals, it was the most sensitive and therefore the most painful spot for Leizu. If he was struck on the nose in the heat of another fight, he would become so furious that his eyes would be veiled in blood, and green smoke would emanate from his ears.

If you want to know a little more about Wang-Zhu Leizu, you must visit his page on the Makipedia.

Soliang, that was the name of one of the temple monks living in the monastery of Brocade Mountain. He didn’t possess extraordinary bravery, but he was diligent and, in addition to that, quite handsome.

For this, or perhaps for something else, the Goddess of the West took notice of the monk. Late at night, she appeared before him and entrusted him with a task of such importance that the next morning the monk set off on a journey.

This journey is recounted in the second book of ‘Takuan from Koto’ titled ‘Hunters of Weredemons.’

If you want to know a little more about Soliang’s and those who accompanied him on his journey, you must read Soliang’s page in the Makipedia.

Bricabrac was the name of the unlucky sorcerer who traveled through the land of Chinayindu in search of magic. He arrived from the distant land of Yurasiu, following the powerful sorcerer Alastar Lupin.
     While Alastar adopted a new name upon arriving in Chinayindu and resorted to considerable cunning, Bricabrac didn’t even bother changing his name. Needless to say, luck was not on Bricabrac’s side.
     His robe quickly fell into disrepair, and his short stature and disproportionate width gave the sorcerer an even more unworthy appearance. His face, resembling a rat’s snout, did nothing to improve his looks.

If you want to know a little more about Bricabrac, you must visit his page on Makipedia.

Sogi Zaemon — that’s the name of a wandering komuso monk who traveled through Chinayindu in search of weredemons. He was accompanied on his journeys by two large wolves: one white as the first snow, and the other gray like roadside dust.

The early life of Zaemon remains mostly unknown to the readers of ‘Takuan from Koto.’ We will only say that he encountered many hardships, and among them was parting with his beloved.

However, if you want to know a little more about Zaemon, you must read his page on Makipedia.

The true identity of Qingbao, the one who captured the heart of the wandering komuso monk named Sogi Zaemon, remains a mystery. Fate led Qingbao and Zaemon on separate paths, and it took a considerable amount of time before fortune smiled upon the lovers.

Another fortunate coincidence was Qingbao’s striking resemblance to the late mother of Duke Bao-Zhu. Thanks to this, Qingbao found herself as a guest in the duke’s residence. It was in this garden that something happened, making the duke, perhaps for the first time in his dukey life, regret the size of his belly.

If you want to learn a little more about Qingbao, you must read her page on Makipedia.