Unrestrained

• 1. The words here are 云深 yunshen, as in 云深不知处 yunshen buzhichu, which is the full name of Cloud Recesses. The name derives from the last line of a 贾岛 Jia Dao poem, 《寻隐者不遇》, and could be rendered in full translation as “deep in the clouds, where one knows not.” Though 云深 yunshen is certainly being used here as a shorthand for Cloud Recesses, I choose to translate 云深 yunshen a bit literally.
• 2. 红尘 hongchen, literally “red dust,” is a metaphor for the mortal world/human society.
• 3. 山高水远 shangao shuiyuan is a chengyu that derives from 刘禹锡 Liu Yuxi’s essay 《望赋》, and is used to describe long journeys. Literally rendered, it becomes “the mountains are high, the waters (rivers) distant.” If I were to over-read this chengyu, I would point to a resonance with the chengyu 高山流水 gaoshan liushui, literally “high mountains, flowing waters,” which is often used as a shorthand for the 知音 zhiyin relationship.
• 4. Title drop! The line 陈情未绝 chenqing weijue means “chenqing has not ended/is not yet over.” For an in-depth dive on the binome 陈情 chenqing and its possible meanings, I would direct you this post. [See translation source.] An alternate translation for this line could be “these old feelings have not yet ended.”
• 5. 荻花 dihua are reed flowers, also called silk flowers. They’re associated with autumn, rivers, and a kind of pastoral simplicity (a la “cutting a bed of reed flowers and sleeping beneath the stars”). It is perhaps most well-known in 白居易 Bai Juyi’s poem 《琵琶行》Pipa Xing, in which the first couplet runs: 浔阳江头夜送客，枫叶荻花秋瑟瑟 / at the head of Xunyang River, I see off guests at night / maple leaves, reed flowers—autumn whispers and rustles. Wei Wuxian also quotes the end of this poem in episode 5 of CQL.
• 6. It was—and is—common practice to heat certain wines/alcohol prior to consumption.
• 7. The verb 祭 ji, translated here as “commemorate,” just hits different in Mandarin. It’s specifically the verb used in 祭奠 jidian, “to hold a memorial ceremony for,” and has valences not just of commemoration, but also sacrifice and ritual. Think about the connotations of “raise a glass” from Hamilton and you’re maybe halfway there.
• 8. 潇洒 xiaosa doesn’t have a good equivalent in English. Usually, you’ll see it translated along the lines of “easygoing and unrestrained,” or “free and unaffected”—it’s extraordinarily charismatic, somewhat careless (or rather, carefree), and, dare I say, quite dashing.
• 9. The phrase 世事多无常 shishi duo wuchang is likely a reference to episode 35, during which Lan Wangji remarks 世事无常 shishi wuchang, literally “the affairs of the world have no constancy,” sometimes rendered “life is unpredictable,” shortly before throwing back a shot of Wei Wuxian’s wine.