BANDITS: LEGEND OF FEI (Book 1, Chapter 1)

Book 1: Wanderings of Youth / Chapter 1 – The 48 Zhai

“Even if people label you a ‘bandit’, know that the blood of heroes flows within you.  You are not a thug, that engages in common thievery.  Do not dishonour the heroic legacy of your ancestors.”

It was the 17^th year of the Later Shao Southern Dynasty.

Spring was here – the willows were unfurling, and the crabapple trees had begun to bloom.

In the 48 Zhai[1] of the Shu Mountains, two youths were in the thick of an intense sparring session.  One of them appeared to be slightly older, and was tall and sturdily built like a small mountain.  Wielding a long spear, his brow furrowed in intense concentration, not daring to let his guard down even for a second.  The other youth was only around 14 or 15 years old, with a slender and tall frame, and handsome.  A dagger in hand, he already had the makings of the refined young gentleman that he would become. 

More and more disciples started to gather round the sparring pair, commenting noisily on the faceoff.  One of the younger disciples looked curiously at the gentlemanly youth, before softly asking another more senior disciple: “Who is the one sparring with our most senior shixiong (大师兄)[2]? Is he any good?”

The one standing next to him happened to be an older disciple who fancied himself a patient mentor.  Putting on the air of a wise sage, he shook his head slowly before uttering: “You would never be able to guess who that was if no one told you – oh look! They’ve started!”

The older disciple thrust his spear forward with a sudden shout.  It darted forward like a striking snake, aiming straight for his opponent’s head.  Despite this sudden attack, the dagger-wielding youth merely ducked slightly to his left with impeccable composure. Without expending even the slightest bit of excess energy, he dodged completely clear of the oncoming spear in a movement that appeared almost lazy. 

Not letting up, the older disciple immediately leaned forward, using half of his body weight to channel more force into the spear’s movement through his hands.  With a long, metallic whine, the spear leaped forward.  This was a move of unparalleled strength and ferocity, called ‘Striking the Southern Mountains’, and was from the Qianzhong (千钟)[3] Sect of the 48 Zhai.  This move alone was enough to sweep any opponent that was lacking in sufficient strength or courage clean out of the arena. 

To the spectators’ surprise, the dagger-wielding youth remained perfectly calm, sliding a smooth half-step forward before thrusting his blade upwards to meet the incoming spear. The dagger made a soft clang as it only briefly connected with his opponent’s metal before rebounding harmlessly away, the movement dissipating much of the attack’s force.  With a small smile, the youth said: “Careful.”

As soon as he uttered those words, he had already slid more than half a meter away.  Almost as if it were an extension of his hand, the dagger whipped back and forth with an incredible lightness, prying his opponent’s spear from his hand in the blink of an eye: a textbook showcase of the move ‘Lifting the Bead Curtain’[4].  The youth appeared to have barely moved his hand.  

With bated breath, the young disciple watching by the sidelines heard the older disciple beside him say: “That is Young Master Li – the nephew of the Mistress of the 48 Zhai.  Of course he’s good! His skills were imparted by the Mistress herself.  He’s one of the best in our generation.” 

Feeling as though his worldview had been expanded immeasurably, the young disciple glanced again towards the sparring arena.  Young Master Li was smiling warmly at his older opponent.  Without the slightest hint of arrogance, he respectfully placed the spear back into its owner’s hands as he said: “You let me win, senior brother.  I deeply appreciate your guidance.” 

Faced with such modesty, his opponent naturally found it difficult to be too offended by the loss.  Receiving his spear, he gave a small nod and muttered “No worries” before departing the arena with a reddened face.  Immediately after his departure, some of the spectators began clamouring to spar with Young Master Li as well.

Adopting the posture of a wise senior once more, the older disciple at the sidelines told the younger disciple: “Our Young Master Li is skilled and of a good temperament.  If you ever need help understanding any moves, he would certainly try to guide you as best as he can…”

Before he could finish, someone behind him brusquely cut him off: “Let me pass, please.”

Turning around, the two disciples saw a young girl neatly attired in a simple robe, her long hair pinned high on her head in a man’s style.[5] She was not wearing any of the decorative accessories that young girls might usually wear, her plain and unadorned appearance making her slender frame seem even more slight.  Her complexion was extremely fair, and she exuded an almost cold aloofness.    

Despite its grand-sounding name, the Qianzhong (Thousand Bells) Sect was actually better characterised as a ‘recklessly clanging chorus’ rather than a ‘sonorous knell’, and some had even given it a far less imposing nickname: the ‘Wild Dog’ Sect.  This band of ruffians was so wild that girls were virtually non-existent amongst the sect’s ranks. To these young disciples, seeing a girl was as rare as seeing a three-headed ogre.  At this sudden appearance of a member of the fairer sex, and quite a good-looking specimen at that, they were stunned into silence. 

Witnessing this scene, one of their seniors quickly pulled them aside before saying with the utmost respect: “Shijie Zhou, sorry about that.”

The girl gave him the barest of nods.  Realising who had arrived, the surrounding disciples parted like the Red Sea before her.  Young Master Li, who had been instructing a younger disciple, instantly beamed when he saw the source of the commotion, calling out: “Fei, are you here to spar?”

As if no one had spoken, the girl walked straight past the crowd and left, with nary a glance towards the friendly voice. 

“Zhou…Fei? Zhou Fei??” The new disciple stammered as his eyes trailed her departing figure. In almost reverent whisper, he said, “Is she..”

“Ah!” His older companion said with a nod of acknowledgment.  In a superior tone, he imparted a piece of advice to his inexperienced junior: “Shijie Zhou does not have the best of tempers, so it would serve you well to be extremely polite should you encounter her in future…although she doesn’t usually mix with the likes of us, so you wouldn’t have many opportunities to see her anyway.” 

For a pretty girl, a bad temper could be easily excused. The young disciple appeared unfazed by this, instead saying: “Since Young Master Li is the beloved nephew of our Mistress of the 48 Zhai, and shijie Zhou is the apple of the Mistress’ eye as well, wouldn’t their martial arts be from a similar source? If Young Master Li is one of the best of our generation, then is he better than shijie Zhou?”

With a world-weary sigh, the older disciple said, “Look, even you know that shijie Zhou is the cherished daughter of our Mistress.  We are afraid of even talking to her for fear of causing any offence – what more sparring with her?”  Growing tired of widening the horizons of this country bumpkin, the older disciple turned back to the sparring arena with a gleam in his eye: “Young Master Li doesn’t spar with us that often – I’m not gonna lose my chance at exchanging a few blows with him today!” 

As they spoke, the so-called “apple of the Mistress’ eye” had reached the dwellings of the Mistress of the 48 Zhai, Li Jinrong.  Li Jinrong was standing right smack in the centre of the courtyard, an ominous-looking whip in hand.

Her gaze resting on the whip for a moment, Zhou Fei’s lips had barely begun to form the word “Mother” before Li Jinrong said, in a voice that could turn fire to ice: “Kneel!”

Furrowing her brow, Zhou Fei swallowed that aborted word. She silently walked to the middle of the courtyard, adjusted her robe slightly and knelt before her mother. Before she could even blink, Li Jinrong’s whip had already lashed out at her.  Zhou Fei clenched her teeth hard to stifle her reflexive groan, snapping her head up to glare at her mother with rage and confusion. 

 “Kneel properly, you scoundrel!” Li Jinrong bellowed.  “Bullying the weak is bad enough – but using such underhanded tactics! Did I teach you martial arts so that you could do such things?”

Zhou Fei’s face was impassive but her voice was impassioned: “What did I do?”

Li Jinrong’s temples twitched.  Pointing at Zhou Fei, she shouted, “Respect for teachers is sacred![6] Mr Sun is here to be your teacher, yet you have already disrespected him on the very first day of your classes.  I cannot imagine what would happen when you get older: are you going to dismiss your parents entirely?

Zhou Fei retorted: “That old geezer was spouting absolute nonsense! He should already count himself lucky that I didn’t slap him right across his face!”

Li Jinrong responded by giving Zhou Fei a slap of her own: “A slap, you say?”

That slap did absolute justice to Li Jinrong’s reputation for ruthlessness.  Zhou Fei reeled backwards from its sheer force.  It felt like a layer of skin had been peeled right off her face, her ears rang, and she could taste blood in her mouth from where her teeth had collided with her unsuspecting tongue. 

“Mr Sun merely chided you briefly!  Yet not only did you shove him over there and then, you even tied him up in the middle of the night and strung him upside down for the whole night!  If he had not been discovered during this morning’s patrols, do you think you would still be alive now?”

Just as Zhou Fei opened her mouth in a valiant attempt at self-defense, Li Jinrong’s whip lashed out in anger, as the matriarch grew increasingly riled the longer she dwelled on Zhou Fei’s misdemeanours.  Both the clothes and skin on Zhou Fei’s back split open, leaving a bloody gash – and the whip actually broke.

Zhou Fei was in for it this time.  She glared viciously at Li Jinrong, gritting out through clenched teeth: “..he should count himself lucky that he’s even alive!”

Li Jinrong felt that she might keel over with rage.  She was saved by the patter of footsteps in the distance. The footsteps were light, yet made no effort at concealment, unlike those of martial arts practitioners.  The footsteps were interspersed with a few weak coughs. 

At the noise, the rage on Li Jinrong’s face visibly subsided somewhat.  With a deep breath, she collected her emotions before turning to face the man who had just entered, sighing: “Which one of those brats disturbed your rest?”

The man, whose tall frame was dressed in the robes of a man of letters, took measured strides towards her.  His handsome features were somewhat shadowed by sickness, the deep blue colour of his robes making his unnaturally pale complexion appear even more bloodless.  He appeared to be middle-aged, yet his gestures exuded a timeless elegance.

This was Zhou Fei’s father – and current saviour – Zhou Yitang.

Zhou Yitang had rushed to the scene upon hearing that his wife was hitting his daughter yet again.  At the sight of Zhou Fei’s bloody back and puffy face, he felt as if his heart might break.  But he knew that this girl had a deeply wild and rebellious nature, and would only grow even more defiant in future should he plead her case.  Zhou Yitang could only shoot his wife a pointed look before placing himself strategically between the mother and daughter, saying: “What’s the matter?”

Zhou Fei was as stubborn as a mule, and would cling to her defiance even if her other whipped her so soundly that she spun like a top.  Even in her current sorry state, she refused to show any sign of weakness, staring coldly ahead in response.  Li Jinrong sneered: “This monster will not learn unless she is properly punished”. 

Zhou Yitang made a placating gesture to his wife before bending down to talk to the girl kneeling on the hard floor: “I heard that you got into an argument with Mr Sun on the very first day of lessons.  Can you explain why? What did he say that so provoked you?”

Zhou Fei continued staring straight ahead, refusing to utter a word. 

With a soft sigh, Zhou Yitang said gently: “Why don’t you tell your father all about it?”

An unbending mule like Zhou Fei certainly yielded more to gentle coaxing rather than brute force.  At her father’s soothing tone, the stiff look on her face shifted imperceptibly, and several moments passed before she finally said, grudgingly: “The Four Books of Model Womanhood.”[7] 

Li Jinrong was dumbfounded.

Zhou Yitang said evenly, “Oh, those Four Books – which one of those books was Mr Sun instructing you in?”

Zhou Fei said with an air of indignance: “Admonishments for Women”[8]. 

Zhou Yitang gave Li Jinrong yet another look.  Unaware that she had hired such a teacher to instruct her daughter, Li Jinrong was rendered somewhat speechless, and she sniffed awkwardly.

While ‘Admonishments for Women’ itself was considered essential reading for gently-bred noble ladies of the time, Zhou Fei could hardly be considered one of those. The 48 Zhai of the Shu Mountains were primarily engaged in ‘underhanded’ activities like fighting and killing – the Emperor of the Northern Capital had personally decreed their ‘appointment’ as ‘bandits’.  Teaching a little bandit tenets of decorum like the ‘Admonishments for Women’?  An interesting approach by Mr Sun.

“Come, tell your father about it,” Zhou Yitang said.  Interrupting his speech to cough twice, he continued, “But get up first.”

Li Jinrong’s rage tended to dissipate when faced with her husband.  She said softly, “Go into the house to talk.  You haven’t fully recovered from your illness, don’t fall sick again.”

Zhou Yitang squeezed his wife’s hand lightly.  Understanding his intentions, Li Jinrong nodded her head with some reluctance and said: “Alright then, both of you continue to talk, I’ll go see how Mr Sun is doing.”

Zhou Fei stood up with no small amount of effort, her forehead beading with cold sweat at the endeavour.  Gathering her momentarily deformed features in a fierce glare, she said to her mother: “I bid thee good day, Mistress of the 48 Zhai.”

The dying embers of Li Jinrong’s rage duly burst into flame again at her daughter’s defiance.  The audacity of that little brat! Seeing that his wife was about to explode again, Zhou Yitang quickly launched into a fit of coughs, forcing Li Jinrong to swallow her rage.  Glaring daggers at Zhou Fei, she spun around and left.  The best way to quench her anger, she decided, was making sure that her daughter was nowhere in sight. 

Only after Mistress Li Jinrong had left, Zhou Yitang gently asked his daughter: “Does it hurt?”

Her father’s words made Zhou Fei feel even more wronged by her mother.  But instead of crumpling into a puddle of unjust tears, she pursed her lips and wiped her face, saying stiffly: “Well, I’m not dead yet.”

“What a temper you have there –  just like your mother.” Zhou Yitang sighed and patted her head, before turning the conversation abruptly, “Twenty years ago, when the corrupt official Cao Zhongkun usurped the throne in the Northern Capital.  Twelve officials from the government and military risked their lives to escort the young prince out of the palace and flee south, to establish today’s Later Shao Dynasty in the South, with the Yangtze River as the boundary between the Northern and Southern Dynasties.  Ever since then, the Northern and Southern dynasties have been mired in years of military conflict, their governments ruling tyrannically.”

Zhou Yitang had the bad habit of needing to ramble about seemingly random topics to ‘set the context’ before launching into his topic of conversation.  At her father’s out of the blue historical references, Zhou Fei continued listening patiently to see where he was going with all this.

“Various forces all over the country who disputed Cao Zhongkun’s rebellion swiftly rose up in opposition.  Unfortunately, none of them were a match for the supporters and soldiers of the Northern Capital.  Some of these people died, while others sought refuge in the Shu Mountains under the protection of your maternal grandfather.  The false ‘emperor’ Cao Zhongkun then led his forces to invade the Shu Mountains.  Since then, the 48 Zhai were labelled ‘bandits’.  Upon hearing Cao Zhongkun’s ‘imperial decree’, your grandfather – a hero of his time – laughed heartily before ordering his men to erect a flag for the 48 Zhai and proclaiming himself a ‘Mountain Bandit’, saying that he might as well be a bandit since he had been labelled so.”  Pausing his scholarly pace around the courtyard, Zhou Yitang turned to face Zhou Fei and said, without much emotion, “I am telling you these things of the past because I want you to know: that even if people label you a ‘bandit’, remember that the blood of heroes flows within you.  You are not a thug that engages in common thievery.  Do not dishonour the heroic legacy of your ancestors.”

Her father had been beset by illness for many years, only having the energy to speak softly.  To Zhou Fei however, Zhou Yitang’s last few sentences hit her far harder than any of the lashes from Li Jinrong’s whip.  

Zhou Yitang rested for a few breaths, before asking, “What exactly did Mr Sun teach you?”

This particular Mr Sun was a highly pedantic scholar, who had gotten into trouble because of his tendency to run his mouth – he had penned a small mountain’s worth of essays lambasting the usurper Cao Zhongkun, prompting the Northern Dynasty to issue a warrant for his arrest.  Fortunately for him, he had befriended some pugilists in the martial arts world in his early years, who had personally escorted him to the 48 Zhai for his safety.  As he lacked the strength for manual labour, Li Jinrong had decided to enlist him to teach some of the young disciples in the 48 Zhai.  She did not seek to produce any genius scholars, but simply wished for her young disciples to be somewhat literate so that they could pen correspondence in future. 

While Zhou Fei had had the privilege of her father’s personal tutelage since young, she never paid much attention to her studies.  Last winter, Zhou Yitang had caught a cold that lasted till this spring, and did not have the energy to supervise her.  Afraid that the devil would most certainly find work for Zhou Fei’s idle hands, Li Jinrong had therefore forced her daughter to listen to the old gentleman’s lectures.  Who would have thought that something as innocuous as that would cause such trouble?  

Zhou Fei lowered her head for a good long while before saying grudgingly: “I only heard him say ‘these three ancient customs govern the model way of life for women, the teachings of classic etiquette’ and left not long after that.”

Zhou Yitang nodded and said, “Ah, so you didn’t actually hear much – let me ask you, what do the ‘three ancient customs’ refer to?”

Zhou Fei muttered, “Who the hell knows?”

“Such insolence.” Zhou Yitang frowned at her for a second, before continuing, “Humility, Working hard, Honouring one’s ancestors. These are the three ancient customs.”

Zhou Fei had not expected her father to be familiar with these tenets, and furrowed her brow: “In this day and age, we are ruled by the cruel and vicious.  Only the strongest who assert themselves survive, while the rest are crushed and cannot control their own fate.  Humility? What a joke!”

Zhou Fei said this with such self-assuredness, as if she had personally experienced it herself, that Zhou Yitang could not help but chuckle: “My little girl, you haven’t even ventured out of the Shu Mountains, yet you dare to speak of the world outside? And so confidently…where did you hear all of this from?”

“You said it yourself,” Zhou Fei declared, “Once, when you were drunk.  I remember every word perfectly.”

Hearing this, Zhou Yitang’s smile faded.  For a moment, his gaze grew clouded, and he seemed to be looking past the surrounding mountains to the thirty-six prefectures of the vast Nine Provinces.[9]  After a good long while, he finally said, “Just because I say something, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s right.  You are my only child.  You can’t fault me for wanting you to lead a peaceful existence – even if you were to follow in the footsteps of predatory hawks and wolves, it would still be better than being a hapless cow or sheep that is led to the slaughter.”

Zhou Fei arched her brows in an attempt to look like she understood.

“I don’t mean that I want you to be a bad person,” Zhou Yitang said somewhat ruefully.  “It’s just that as parents, we can’t help but wish that our children would be smart, while the rest are foolish; that our children would be strong, while the others are weaker – that is a father’s heart.  Mr Sun…he is not your father…instead, most ordinary men want women to be both virtuous and beautiful, devoted to their husbands and in-laws, to be meek and gentle, and not ask for anything in return – these are a man’s selfish desires.

Zhou Fei understood that last sentence clear as day, and scoffed immediately, “Hmph! I should have hit him harder!”

Zhou Yitang’s eyes crinkled, and he continued, “For an elderly man like Mr Sun, who has had to flee for his life, escaping by the skin of his teeth, see his family scattered and killed, be forced to live all by himself and even resort to becoming a ‘bandit’ – how could one such as him not understand that the weak can only perish? It is just that when looking at children like yourself, that elderly gentleman cannot help wanting to bury his head in the sand for a moment, recite these long-abandoned texts and dream of things lost….these are simply an old scholar’s attempts at reminiscing, and are merely a little old-fashioned.  When listening to others, even if you feel that their words are utter nonsense, there is no need to write them off immediately.  Sometimes, some things that appear unreasonable may have a certain logic of their own.”

After her savage remark, Zhou Fei was once more in a cloud of confusion.  She didn’t want to yield to her father, yet could not think of any suitable retort.

“In any case, Mr Sun is advanced in years, and can be a little muddle-headed at times.  Arguing with him was your mistake.”  Sharpening his tone, Zhou Yitang added, “And you certainly should not be laying your hands on him, hanging him from a tree….”

Zhou Fei immediately exclaimed: “I simply pushed him a little! I wasn’t the one who kidnapped him in the middle of the night! Only that scoundrel Li Sheng would be capable of such a dastardly act! On what basis did Li Jinrong say accuse me of such things! Her nephew is the one who would do these things!”

Zhou Yitang said quizzically, “Then why didn’t you tell your mother that just now?”

At a loss for words, Zhou Fei could only harrumph indignantly.  She just could not help herself – the more Li Jinrong hit her, the more she felt compelled to oppose her mother.  She didn’t even want to defend herself by offering her mother any explanations.

Li Sheng was the son of Zhou Fei’s uncle, her mother’s younger brother, and was several days her elder.  As he and his younger sister Li Yan had lost their parents at a young age, they had been raised by Li Jinrong.  Being the only outstanding pugilists amongst the Li clan’s younger generation, Zhou Fei and Li Sheng had been unspoken rivals from a young age…or at least, that’s what outsiders believed.

In reality, Zhou Fei personally felt that she had never really viewed Li Sheng as a rival, and in fact strove to keep out of his way.  Zhou Fei had been able to remember things from a young age.  As a result, she had vague impressions of various major events during which the adults would speak freely in front of her, thinking that she did not understand.  Once, her mother had accidentally dislocated one of her joints while clumsily giving her a bath.  Although it had not hurt much, she clearly remembered her mother’s tears of fright as she gingerly set the joint.  One gloomy winter, when her father fell dangerously ill, she recalled Doctor Chu, who at the time still had a full head of black hair, saying to her mother: “Bring the child in so he can see her one last time.  Even if he doesn’t make it, at least he’ll be at ease.”

She also remembered the internal revolt in the 48 Zhai all those years ago…

Sounds of battle and screams of slaughter had filled the mountains that day, and the smell of blood permeated the air.  Zhou Fei recalled being enveloped in someone’s tight embrace – that person was broad-shouldered, but smelled unpleasantly of sweat, and she had thought to herself that he was probably not a very hygienic person.  He had delivered her safely to Zhou Yitang’s arms, and just as she grasped her father’s ice cold hands, she swung around sharply at the sudden commotion behind her.  A steel knife was wedged in the back of her erstwhile protector, the bloody wound already congealed. 

Zhou Yitang had not covered her eyes, but let her look directly upon the grisly scene.  More than ten years had passed, and while Zhou Fei could no longer remember that man’s face, the image of his mangled, bloodied back was etched in her memory.   

That man had been her uncle, Li Sheng’s father.

Because of this, Li Jinrong had always somewhat favoured Li Sheng and Li Yan – she would always favoured Li Yan in trivial daily matters of food and clothes, which was not an issue for Zhou Fei.  Li Yan was younger than her, the little sister, so it ought to be like that.  Whenever the three of them would cause mischief in their younger days, Li Sheng had always been the main mastermind, with Mistress Li’s ‘precious daughter’ Zhou Fei taking the blame.  Zhou Fei had not taken this to heart either, since she herself had not been completely innocent.

When they grew older and started to learn martial arts from Li Jinrong, Zhou Fei had not even heard a single “acceptable” from Li Jinrong’s lips.  But when it came to Li Sheng, her mother was full of praise, even if he only beat her once in a while.

All these instances added up to impress upon Zhou Fei that while the other two were the dear biological children of the Li family, Zhou Fei herself had most likely been adopted.

Zhou Fei would sometimes feel a deep sense of injustice.  However, she was also keenly aware of the reason for her mother’s favouritism.  So after indulging herself in a round of well-deserved self-pity, she would think of her uncle again, and let those feelings go.  When she grew older, she even learnt how to lose to her cousin on purpose when they sparred.  No matter how hard she practiced in private, she would never try to best Li Sheng when sparring, instead always holding back enough to maintain the impression that the two were roughly of the same standard.

This was not borne of some noble and generous instinct.  The teenage girl was certainly no saint. Rather, it allowed Zhou Fei the chance to feel a sense of superiority to Li Sheng.  She could tell herself that she was deliberately losing to him, even though she was in fact the stronger of the two.  The petty satisfaction of knowing this was enough to compensate for those feelings of injustice that occasionally crept in.  Of course, this was also partly because she was at loggerheads with her mother – since she could never expect to hear any maternal compliments, she might as well just give up.

Zhou Fei felt that she had already been as magnanimous as humanly possible to Li Sheng, as far as her short temper could allow at least, yet that brat had really gone too far this time!

In a place like 48 Zhai, one was respected for one’s martial arts skills and ruthlessness.  A good number of its inhabitants were born in the countryside, barely literate and did not care much for social proprieties.  However, even a fourteen year old like Zhou Fei was conscious that there should be certain proprieties observed between genders.  It infuriated her that because of Li Sheng, people would think that she would be so out of line as to strip an old geezer. 

Zhou Fei returned to her own room and cleaned herself up.  Having ascertained that her limbs were fine despite her mother’s whipping, she grabbed the narrow-backed sabre propped against her door and headed out.  She thought to herself: Li Sheng, this time you’re dead meat!

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[1] Pronounced roughly as ‘jai’: meaning fortress/stronghold.  These were fortified areas in the mountains where bandits in the past would often situate their lairs, since their geography made them quite inaccessible. 

_{[2] In the martial arts world, the masters/teachers were called shifu (师傅), while their disciples called each other ‘senior/junior brother’ – shixiong/shidi (师兄/弟) and ‘senior/junior sister’ – shijie/shimei (师姐/妹) based on seniority.}  

[3] Means ‘Thousand Bells’. 

[4] Bead curtains were used as decorative dividers between living spaces. Something like this.

[5] It was customary for men of that era to have long hair, which they pinned up atop their head in a bun.  Something like the first picture here.

[6]天地君亲师 – The five supreme morals of Confucianism – heaven, earth, rulers, parents, and teachers.  These were the five entities that one was to respect and obey the most in life. 

[7] This was a collection of four books used in feudal Chinese society to educate women. 

[8] This was written by Ban Zhao, a female historian of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and covered topics like being meek, husband-wife relations, womanly behaviour, submitting and being conscientious.  In Chinese history, it was profoundly influential teaching material to inculcate docility in women. 

[9] 九州三十六郡 – Basically the entirety of China.