Nan Chan
Type
Genre
Tags[ ]
Rating(4.5 / 5.0, 484 votes)
5 | 74% (359 votes) |
4 | 13% (64 votes) |
3 | 7% (35 votes) |
2 | 1% (7 votes) |
1 | 4% (19 votes) |
Language
Support Book (#ad)
Author(s)
One entry per lineArtist(s)
One entry per line
N/A
Year
Example: 2012
2018
Status in COO
Status in Country of Origin. One entry per line
Completed (126 Chapters + 3 extras)
Licensed
Yes
Completely Translated
No
Original Publisher
One entry per lineEnglish Publisher
One entry per lineRelease Frequency
Every 1568 Day(s)Activity Stats [Graph]
Weekly Rank: #2000Monthly Rank: #2904
All Time Rank: #1783
Reading List [Graph]
On 8451 Reading Lists
Monthly Rank: #785
All Time Rank: #483
Description
Links are NOT allowed. Format your description nicely so people can easily read them. Please use proper spacing and paragraphs.I have experienced all the eight sufferings of this world.
I do not ask for nirvana, but for you.
Wild and hard-to-tame demon (gong) X Cold, ascetic and childish immortal (shou)
Associated Names
One entry per lineNam Thiền
Nán Chán
หนานฉาน
南禅
Nán Chán
หนานฉาน
南禅
Related Series
N/ARecommendations
Copper Coins (4)Lantern: Reflection of the Peach Blossoms (4)
Yu Wu (3)
Qiang Jin Jiu (2)
The Husky and His White Cat Shizun (2)
Green Dragon Totem (1)
Recommendation Lists
1 group(s) hidden due to dead links. Click here to show all releases.
There are many factors in this story. A copper bell that Jing Lin lost at the beginning leads the two on their journey to discover emotions by witnessing and getting involved in cases that touch eight sufferings: birth, old age, sickness, death, parting (with loved ones), encounter (with hated ones), unfulfillment (of wishes and desires), and inability to let go (thanks Lianyin! I just copy pasted that). All those cases are very difficult and intense to read and more emotional than any other part of the book at the beginning, considering these cases are what we can see in real life as well. It's a bunch of circumstances and sufferings that develop and shape lives of others. Meanwhile, Cang Ji and Jing Lin start getting more emotionally invested in those cases, while rediscovering who they are and what they mean to each other. Nothing is what it seems and EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED. This is high emotional journey that will rouse feelings as soon as the first case begins. You may consider Cang Ji a selfish person who thinks only of his own desires and urges, but he develops into someone more mature and more selfless. The one who protects. He was not a selfish person, but he is possessive of things he loves and he's a force that protects. Meanwhile Jing Lin is not as heartless and cold blooded as he seems, but is more like a person who was already broken from the pressure of his own family into unfeeling mess and a weapon that he is. After all - his true form is a sword. A sword is not supposed to feel anything. But then again, there is Cang Ji's involvement with him. While the story progresses, you meet more and more people involved in Cang Ji's and Jing Lin's lives and their pasts and present. You meet a lot of Jing Lin's brothers who were involved in the tragedy that occurred. (Dong Jun is literally the most interesting so far.) You meet people who were struck by the tragedies that changed their lives for better or for worse. YES. THIS BOOK CAN BE HARD TO FOLLOW. But, I promise, it all comes together over time, and already by chapter 110 you will know a lot of stuff that transpired and that happened to Jing Lin's life that set him on this journey of trials and tribulations. After a while you will realize that this story becomes better the longer you read it. But of course, it's not for everyone. This is a hard topic story that deals with many warnings and many issues that some might find disturbing. WARNINGS:
Child s*xual abuse, human trafficking, torture (these 3 happened to side characters) ; f*ck or die situation BUT none of the people involved in the interc**rse were responsible for the drug that affected the other - it was a drug given by a third party with malicious intent. I cannot stress that enough. It is discussed and explained 2 chapters after. Mental torture plays a big part as well.
✭ Side characters: 4 - detailed, I got attached to everyone in the cases that were presented so far!
✭ Story: 4.5 - logical, but sometimes hard to follow due to sudden POV change and there are some scenes you might want to read carefully. It's a story that needs concentration for better consummation. And it's worth it.
✭ Emotional impact: 5 - So far I cried at least 3 times. There are many parts that moved me and made me sad and made me feel so much.
✭ Humor: 5 - The humor is gold - half of the time I want to cry because Cang Ji is the biggest fool of them all!
So instead of gushing without heads nor tails for a whole paragraph I'm going to tackle these 3 criticism.
The protagonist is neither totally cold or totally childish because he's not a paper-thin character. Moreover, he's completely amnesiac until almost the very end and we all know how important the past is to form a personality. This poor man cannot be either consistently cold or consistently childish because all facets of his personality are shackled down by the amnesia. So give the man a break!
Personally I think Jing Lin's character was written marvelously. He has depth, he has internal consistency, and apart from that one *knives* scene in the flashback, the narrator never fully exposes his thoughts and feelings so he has a side of mystery to him that I really love, because you need to immerse yourself in the narrative that much more in order to comprehend him. I love it.
I will defend criticism against Cang Ji in the same way I defended Jing Lin. I get it if you dislike arrogant MLs in general, I do admit that he's quite arrogant and if you're the quiet, modest, Lan Wangji-type then I honestly don't have the heart to tell you to suck it up and keep reading. BUT! Just consider one thing. If a character is born at the top, with no equal, if they never had their head under the heel of someone else, of course they're going to be a consistently arrogant character.
And to the criticism that Cang Ji remains arrogant even after he goes through the sufferings, no character ever told our protagonists that their personalities were bound to change by experiencing the sufferings. It was said that they would understand something. And I think the author delivered in full on this one.
Personally, I think Cang Ji's character is written as fantastically as Jing Lin, I especially loved the minute changes in his personalities that are not spelled by but are always deducible by narrative cues like gestures and pieces of dialogues. It's so nice when an author doesn't force-feed you information but gives you enough crumbs to piece it together yourself, it makes me feel like a more active, involved reader.
The 3rd and final criticism I'd like to discuss is a mixed bag. People who criticize the ending, I believe they're right when they say that compared to the pace of the plot for most of the novel, the ending is indeed more fast-paced in terms of how fast the information is handed to you. But people who criticize the ending saying that it's a mess, disappointing, not as emotional, I think all these arguments don't have a leg to stand on.
After so much emotions packed in the romantic sub-plot, if the ending to the mystery plot was also drawn out so much, it would have felt dragging and muggy. And we can't fault the author for assuming that we'd got it. In her head it all made sense, all the pieces of the puzzle connected together perfectly, and the ending reflects this belief perfectly.
I take advantage of this review to, kind of, thinking out loud about the pace of the ending. It's no wonder that the explanations at the end feel rushed, the author did say that she expected us to have gotten at the bottom of the mystery by ourselves. As the author does during the whole novel, she offers bits of info and hints through the gestures, dialogues, and relationships of the characters, nothing is handed to a silver platter, there's no "information dumping" like you see in the movies nowadays. And it's so tightly knit and rewarding to read, maybe that's why the ending doesn't feel as strng. Because for once, the author is forced to hand the info over simply, and it feels a bit cheap. But it's not her fault, it's us who didn't make those connections sooner!
I loved this novel. I think it's a literary gem, it's wonderfully written, and I treasure the scenes that it put in my mind and the emotions that it made me go through. Fantastic piece of literature.
r*pe in his past life?????? That just did it for me I'm so f*cking done with him. If I interpreted it wrong pls tell me and I might just pick this amazing story up again.
I will remember the dragon Cang Ji who loved and sacrificed bravely, and the cold sword Jing Lin who did not know of emotions, intimacy and love until he met someone who let him be himself unconditionally. "There's a man I love. In the clouds. In the sea. In my heart."
- Well, Im not expecting that much to this story. But alright, I absolutely got hooked from start to end and kudos for the great translator and author for bringing this novel to light. It has great harmony of mystery-romance and action sub-plot and it blended accordingly. The fog shrouds from the very first chapter would make you suspect and surmise everything and everyone along your journey. Then, along the smashing of stones exposes the truth and feelings hidden in the depth. And gradually open up a path for the sweet. Lots of foreshadowing were encountered so if you liked it I recommend re-reading.
- For the side characters, hm, it's 4.7. It's not that they were only made as mere cannon fodder, but for me, they lack much appearance in the novel. (??)
Actually, Im kinda annoyed with readers that judge the entirety of a character without pining and looking for their character development. It caused me to share my review of Nan Chan precisely for my opinion of Cang Ji (and the ratings.)