Dinghai Character List and Glossary

Since there are a lot of terms in this novel, we’ve compiled some important terminologies + little notes in case you’re getting confused. Everything is arranged according to the chapter it first appeared. CTRL + F if you want to quickly find something~ Also, if we miss any or you have something to ask, please do tell and we’ll add it right away!

This glossary is not complete and more things will be added soon.

Last Update: Chapter 45

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. TIMELINE

2. CHARACTERS

3. PLACES

4. ARTIFACTS

5. TERMINOLOGY

6. KEY EVENT

7. TRIBES

8. XIANG SHU’S TITLES

1. TIMELINE

This novel was set during the Eastern Jin Dynasty, in which the conflict between the Hans (Jin) and the Hus (Qin) was reaching its climax. It started in the year 379, the fourth year of Jin Taiyuan, though the references went way back to the Han Dynasty.

2. CHARACTERS

Chapter 1

• 陈星 Chen Xing = Lovely MC. An exorcist that wields the Heart Lamp. 16 at the start of the novel.
• 朱序 Zhu Xu = Governor of Liangzhou, in charge of defending Xiangyang.
• 谢安 Xie An = A minister of the Hans who gave Chen Xing a document to help him. Actual appearance: Chapter 48

Chapter 2

• 项述 Xiang Shu = The one with many names. ML. 20 at the start of the novel.
• Mara = A title of the Divine Devil from the prophecy that would soon be awakened.
• Fu Jian = Leader of the Hus (Qin) inside the Great Wall (the Five Barbarians). Actual appearance: Chapter 10

Chapter 4

• Murong Chong = Fu Jian’s lover (sort of). Handsome (by Fu Jian). Nicknamed Phoenix (also by Fu Jian). Actual appearance: Chapter 26
• Xiang Shu (Dog) = A dog Chen Xing took in.

Chapter 5

• 冯千钧 Feng Qianjun = Another squad member. 

Chapter 7

• Sima Wei = One of the eight princes who died during the War of the Eight Princes and got revived.
• The Masked Man = Mysterious dude who made chaos in Longzhong and somehow revived Sima Wei.

Chapter 9

• Yuwen Xin = MC’s childhood friend.
• 拓跋焱 Tuoba Yan = Princess Qinghe’s cousin. A Mounted Regular Attendant. Has a crush on MC? 18 at the start of the novel.

Chapter 10

• Jian Tou = Fu Jian’s other name.
• 述律空 Shulü Kong  = Xiang Shu’s other name.

Chapter 11

• Shulü Wen =  Xiang Shu’s father. Actual appearance: Chapter 37
• Princess Qinghe = Murong Chong’s sister. Fu Jian’s concubine.

Chapter 12

• Wang Meng = Fu Jian’s prime minister. A Han. Already dead before the novel started. 
• Chen Zhe = Chen Xing’s father.

Chapter 13

• Feng Qianyi = Feng Qianjun’s brother.

Chapter 19

• Kjera = Mysterious dude who transformed Youduo and Xiang Shu’s father into living corpses.

Chapter 29

• 车罗风 Che Luofeng = Xiang Shu’s Anda.

Chapter 32

• Xiang Yuyan = Xiang Shu’s mother. A Han.
• Nadoro = The Akele’s newborn prince. Chen Xing helped his delivery. Named by Xiang Shu.

Chapter 33

• Zhou Zhen = Che Luofeng’s lover. Dead. Mixed-breed of Han and Rouran. Actual appearance: Chapter 41
• Youduo = The Akele’s oldest prince who became a living corpse. Was first killed by Che Luofeng.

Chapter 35

• 肖山 Xiao Shan = Wolf boy. Mixed-breed of Han and Xianbei. Wang Zhaojun’s descendant.

Chapter 37

• 陆影 Lu Ying = Deer papa of Xiao Shan.
• Chiyou = THE BIG BOSS, SUPPOSEDLY…

Chapter 38

• Zhuyin = The name of the Dragon God who fell in Carosha. Based on a real mythical beast with the same name.
• Shi Hai = Kjera’s real (?) name.
• Zhang Liu = An exorcist who came 300 years ago to Carosha and took the Dinghai Pearl.

Chapter 40

• Shi Mokun = Tiele’s current leader.

3. PLACES

Chapter 1

• Xiangyang City = Where Chen Xing met Xiang Shu for the first time.
• Divine Land/Shenzhou = Old name for China.

Chapter 2

• Central Plains = The area on the lower reaches of the Yellow River which formed the cradle of Chinese civilization.
• Mt. Hua = Chen Xing’s home mountain.

Chapter 4

• Chang’an City = Fu Jian’s capital city.
• Mai City = Where Chen Xing met Feng Qianjun for the first time.

Chapter 5

• Dongzhe Bank Joint Venture = Xiang Shu stole money from here. Located in Mai City.
• Longzhong = Where Sima Wei’s tomb was located and where the masked man first appeared.

Chapter 8

• Weiyang Palace = Fu Jian’s main residence.

Chapter 9

• Jinyang City = Chen Xing’s hometown. 

Chapter 10

• Dengming Palace = Palace where Fu Jian read and amended memorials to the throne. Where Fu Jian first appeared.

Chapter 13

• Songbai Residence = A place where Chen Xing thought would have some info regarding the Silence of All Magic. 300-year-old ruins of Chang’an’s Exorcism Department was located here.
• Xifeng Bank = Same location as above. Owned by the Feng Family.

Chapter 23

• Ahfang Palace = Another Fu Jian’s residence in Chang’an.

Chapter 26

• Chi Le Chuan = Where the 16 Hu tribes lived beyond the Great Walls
• Yin Mountains = A mountain range where Chi Le Chuan is located.

Chapter 28

• Carosha = Ancient Xiongnu’s burial ground. A place where the dragon god once fell.
• Erchilun = Carosha’s name in Tiele language. 

Chapter 32

• Barkol Lake = A big lake in the north area where the Consort first met Xiang Shu’s mother.

Chapter 34

• Karakorum = An ancient city Chen Xing passed through when he was on his way to Carosha.
• Longcheng = Once was Xiongnu’s capital before being attacked by Wei Qing. Another name for Karakorum.

Chapter 42

• Huhebashige Peak = Place where CX was taken captive by Che Luofeng. Is the highest peak of Huhebashi Mountain, a part of Lang mountain range, which is also a part of the bigger Yin mountain range.
• Huanmo Palace = Chiyou’s Palace.

Chapter 45

• 平壤 Pyongyang = A place CX visited when he got kidnapped by Sima Wei.

4. ARTIFACTS

Chapter 1

• Heart Lamp = Chen Xing’s magic artifact. 

Chapter 13

• 森罗万象 Senluo Wanxiang = Feng Qianjun’s sabre, also a magic weapon. Able to control woods and plants. Was forged from two weapons, Senluo & Wanxiang.

Chapter 18

• 阴阳鉴 Yin Yang Mirror = A magic artifact from 300 years ago. Able to make a world inside the mirror using the same technique as ‘stone rubbing’. 

Chapter 20

• 定海珠 Dinghai Pearl = Magical artifact which Chen Xing believed was connected to the disappearance of all magic.

Chapter 32

• Four Elemental Rings = Was given by the Akeles to Xiang Shu when they asked for help in delivering the baby.

Chapter 35

• 苍穹一裂 Cangqiong Yilie = Xiao Shan’s pair of claws. Was said to be taken from the fallen dragon’s claws.

Chapter 41 

• 鹿鸣杖 Deer Cry Staff = Made from Lu Ying’s horns. Able to command living corpses.
• 狰鼓 Zheng Drum = A drum which was said to be made from the fur of Zheng, a mythical animal.

5. TERMINOLOGY

Chapter 3

• Iuppiter = The star that gave Chen Xing his fortune. His fate was also connected to this star. It was said it would leave the orbit when Chen Xing reached 20, meaning, Chen Xing would die by then.

Chapter 6

• Yao = Supernatural monsters, spirits, demons, or beings. Japanese called it ‘Yokai’.
• Drought Fiend = A type of yao that was associated with droughts. Apparently, corpses that didn’t rot for a long time would turn into drought fiends.

Chapter 11

• Ancient Chi Le Covenant = What the Hus inside Chi Le Chuan were called as a group.
• Golden Conferment of Purple Scroll = A ritual one must have before claiming oneself an emperor. In short, the soon-to-be emperor had to wait for the Great Chanyu to come from the North. He would then and confer a scroll to the Emperor marked with the blood of the various tribes, with parchment bound with a gold ribbon to express loyalty and allegiance of all the tribes both within and beyond the Great Wall.

Chapter 14

• 三魂七魄 Three Huns and Seven Pos = An ancient soul dualism tradition, it is believed that every living human has both a hun (spiritual, ethereal, yang) soul which leaves the body after death, and also a po (corporeal, substantive, yin) soul which remains with the corpse of the deceased. Also called Yin and Yang Souls.

Chapter 19

• 九字真言 The Nine Syllables of Tao = Most often referred to as the Taoist Origin. It is a string of nine words used in Taoist sorcery and incantations to expel spirits, ghosts, demons, wild animals, poisonous insects and protect from dangers while going into untamed forests and mountains.

Chapter 32

• Mountain Ghosts = How the Akeles called Drought Fiends.

Chapter 41

• Fusheng = 浮生is a term in Daoism which literally translated to ‘fleeting/floating/superficial/transient life’. One of the most important books which covered this subject was written by Zhuang Zi. It basically means that ‘human’s life starts empty and vacant, and thus, it is transient and temporary’. This is one of the passages written in his book: It is said that peacefulness, solitude, emptiness, and wu wei are the foundation of heaven and earth and the supremacy of virtue, upon which sainted men rest their minds. It is said that sainted men […] They do not dream while sleeping; they do not worry while wakening. In life, they are floating; in death, they are resting.

6. KEY EVENT

Chapter 2

• The Silence of All Magic = An event that took place 300 years ago, where all mana in the world suddenly disappeared overnight, making exorcists lost their power.

Chapter 3

• War of the Eight Princes = A series of civil wars between eight kings/princes of Jin dynasty, happening from AD 291 – 306.

Chapter 32

• 衣冠南渡 (South Crossing of the Yiguans) = The first large-scale southward migration of the Central Plains civilization from the Yellow River Basin to the Yangtze River Basin during the Jin Dynasty. 衣冠 lit. means ‘clothes and crowns’ and it symbolizes the intellectuals. Because ordinary families had no resources to migrate, most of the ones who did migrate were those from major families or government officials, hence the name.

7. HU TRIBES

• Di
• Jie
• Qiang
• Xianbei (Clan: Yuwen, Murong, Tuoba)
• Xiongnu

• Tiele (Clan: Shulü)
• Xirong (Clan: Fu)
• Rouran
• Loufan
• Shiwei
• Akele
• Gaoche
• Lushui
• Northern Jie
• Wuheng

8. XIANG SHU’S MANY NAMES TITLES

Chapter 1

• Protector Martial God = Literally means ‘Defender of the Buddhist Law’ and in here, their purpose was to protect exorcists during their exorcisms and ensure that they wouldn’t be disturbed. The Protector was to-be Chen Xing’s best friend and the one who would always be there for him.

Chapter 10

• Shulü Kong  = Xiang Shu’s Hu name.
• Great Chanyu = Chanyu, short form for Chengli Gutu Chanyu was the title used by the nomadic supreme rulers of Inner Asia for eight centuries and was superseded by the title “Khagan” in 402 CE. The title was used by the ruling Luandi clan of the Xiongnu during the Qin dynasty (221-206 BCE) and Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE).

Chapter 11

• Guwang = Solitary King, how Xiang Shu liked to refer himself formally.