MDMD(4) - Giant rob'd Beings (108.9-12)

[Doug Millison]

My significant other, a native Mandarin speaker born and raised through
young adulthood in the PRC, tells me this story concerns 8 celestial
beings;  "ba xian guo hai" -- ba = 8;  xian = god, goddess; guo = cross;
hai = ocean; the four-character phrase works as an idiom, too, generally
meaning going to extreme lengths to accomplish something (something like
Hercules cleaning the Augean stables, unless I'm way off track).  Not to
rule out other stories concerning 7 brothers, and so on, Chinese literature
and mythology are full of them.

How relevant this is to M&D, that's another question. Pynchon's references
to things Chinese in M&D needs more scrutiny.

Cordially,
Doug

At 6:16 PM 7/23/97, Scott Eric Kaufman wrote:
>Isn't it _7_ Chinese brothers that cross the ocean?  I can't remember the
>name of the specific telling I was read to from, but I could recognize the
>pictures in an instant . . . not that that's here or there.


D O U G  M I L L I S O N ||||||||||| millison at online-journalist.com
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