The Flower Banquet (Part 2)

"The Flower Banquet (Part 2)" (花都刺客 (其二), lit. 'Flower Capital Assassin (Part 2)') is the second chapter of the manhua Assassin's Creed: Dynasty written by Xu Xianzhe.

Behind the scenes

Translation errors

In the English edition of Assassin's Creed: Dynasty, published by Tokyopop, there are numerous translation errors littered throughout the chapter. The following is a list of the most significant, though it is by no means exhaustive.

• When Li E thinks to himself, "even though I have returned to my homeland of the Great Tang. . .there are still people who suffer from injustice and oppression", this line is mistranslated as "even if I were to return to my homeland, the Tang..." Li E is in Chang'an, the capital of the Tang, so he has already returned to his homeland. The subjunctive mood indicating that his return to the Tang would be a hypothetical scenario is erroneous.
• Jiedushi is translated simply as governor (and often misspelled gorvernor). Although jiedushi were military governors, the English word governor is far too broad and ambiguous, leading to the loss of specification to An Lushan's position. In later chapters, governor is also used to translate other titles, like the grand protector in charge of a commandery. The distinction between all these offices are lost because they are all rendered governor.
• An Lushan is introduced by his retinue as "Jiedushi of the ThreeZhen: Fanyang, Pinglu, and Hedong". This is mistranslated as "the governor of three towns, Fanyang, Pinghu, and Hedong".
  • As aforementioned, governor is an imprecise translation of jiedushi, which did not mean just any governor but the semi-autonomous warlords established by the Tang.
  • While zhen (鎮) normally means 'town', it is an abbreviation of fanzhen (藩鎮) in this case. Fanzhen literally translates to 'border town' but as a whole term refers to the military districts established by the Tang government to guard the frontier. They were far larger than towns, being regional commands rivalling circuits and provinces.
  • Apart from this, the territory of Pinglu (平盧) is erroneously given as "Pinghu". In simplified Chinese writing, 盧 (lú) is written 卢 which translators may have confused with the character 户 (hù, 'household').
• When the civilians in the crowd exchange whispers about An Lushan's arrival, one of the concludes that rumours of Lushan's treasonous plot is false and says "Of course! His majesty has treated An Lushan with what one can say is kindness as immense as the mountain. How can he not know gratitude?" This is mistranslated as "Of course! His majesty is indebted to An Lushan. He must show his gratitude."
  • The translation changes the entire meaning, reversing the positions of the Emperor and An Lushan. Rather than Lushan being indebted to the Emperor for his kindness, the civilian instead says that the Emperor somehow owes Lushan. But this mistranslated suggestion does not logically flow from his companion's preceding assertion about Lushan's loyalty, which he is affirming.

Translating the Creed

There is also a case where the inaccurate translation may be intentional. When Li E recites the three tenets of the Creed, the original English versions are used to translate the Chinese:

1. "Stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent."
2. "Hide in plain sight."
3. "Never compromise the Brotherhood."

However, the principles as Li E declares them in Chinese do not have the exact same meaning:

1. "Never harm an innocent." (絕不傷及無辜)
2. "Never expose one's movements." (絕不暴露行蹤)
3. "Never betray the (secret) society." (絕不背叛結社)

Since the tenets were originally given in English in other Assassin's Creed media, the Chinese versions of the tenets may themselves represent imprecise translations. The figurative language of the tenets in English should not be ignored, for "stay your blade from the flesh of an innocent" still prohibits harming innocents by means other than that of using a blade. However, the tenets given here in Chinese would nonetheless convey understandings of the Creed that are different in slight but substantial ways.

The second tenet in Chinese puts emphasis on hiding one's whereabouts and covering one's tracks, whereas the English puts emphasis on the art of remaining incognito even when one is present before the enemy. Both messages are ultimately the same, but they focus on different aspects of stealth.

The third tenet is broader in English, as it encompasses actions which inadvertently and indirectly bring harm to other Assassins. Hence, Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad breaches this tenet in Assassin's Creed when his hasty return to Masyaf leads the Templars to the very base of his order, putting the lives of his comrades in danger. On the other hand, the tenet in Chinese implies that only actions which deliberately and knowingly bring harm to the Assassins is a violation. While one might interpret betrayal more loosely to involve deliberate, bad faith actions that indirectly harm the Assassins, it should still exclude good faith acts of incompetence, inexperience, or conflicts in duty that endanger allies in a mission. Mere defection is also sometimes seen in some organizations as an act of betrayal, but the English tenet gives more room to the idea that walking away from the Assassin life is acceptable as long as it does not jeopardize the Assassins.

Perhaps more noteworthy is that the Chinese does not use the name Brotherhood (兄弟會) in this instance, whether to preserve a certain rhythm or for lore-related reasons. Instead, Li E calls the Hidden Ones by a gender-neutral term, 結社 (Mandarin: jiéshè, Cantonese: git3 se5), meaning 'association' or 'society', such as a secret society. However, the English translation reverts this choice back to brotherhood.