Hollywood films have made a point to localize their promotions in China, and the Nov 13 Chinese release of Justice League is no different with a series of portraits that “Sino-cize” everyone’s favorite DC heroes.
Unveiled earlier this summer, the portraits depict each of the six – yes, count ’em, six – heroes of the titular Justice League using a black and white Chinese watercolor style. And, to make the portraits specific to the Chinese market, each of them is accompanied by a short Chinese script.
As cool as these posters are, they’re much cooler when you can understand the words next to them. So for this Mandarin Monday, we thought we’d go “all-in” with this explainer!
The Justice League
Chinese name: 正义联盟
Pinyin: Zhèngyì Liánméng
Meaning: Literally the “Righteous Alliance”
Wonder Woman
Chinese name: 神奇女侠
Pinyin: Shénqí Nǚxiá
Meaning: Literally “Mystical Heroine”
Top half of script
Chinese: 一丈青
Pinyin: yī zhàng qīng
Meaning: Literally “ten feet of green,” this snake reference, taken from the classic Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber is a nod to Wonder Woman’s golden lasso.
Bottom half of script
Chinese: 戴安娜
Pinyin: Dài’ānnà
Meaning: “Diana,” for alter ego “Diana Prince”
Batman
Chinese name: 蝙蝠侠
Pinyin: Biānfú Xiá
Meaning: Literally “Bat Hero”
Top half of script
Chinese: 神机军师
Pinyin: shénjī jūnshī
Meaning: Literally “godly military advisor,” it turns out Batman’s acumen for being a chief strategist is well-known in China.
Bottom half of script
Chinese: 布鲁斯
Pinyin: Bùlǔsī
Meaning: “Bruce,” for alter ego “Bruce Wayne”
Superman
Chinese name: 超人
Pinyin: Chāorén
Meaning: Literally “Super Hero”
Top half of script
Chinese: 玉麒麟
Pinyin: yù qílín
Meaning: “Jade kylin,” referring to a mystical animal that resembles a unicorn
Bottom half of script
Chinese: 克拉克
Pinyin: Kèlākè
Meaning: “Clark,” for alter ego “Clark Kent”
Aquaman
Chinese name: 潜水侠
Pinyin: Qiánshuǐ Xiá
Meaning: Literally “Underwater Hero”
Top half of script
Chinese: 混江龙
Pinyin: hùn jiāng lóng
Meaning: Literally “Muddy Water Dragon,” this is the nickname attributed to sailor Li Jun, the 26th hero featured in the classical Chinese novel Water Margin.
Bottom half of script
Chinese: 亚瑟
Pinyin: Yàsè
Meaning: “Arthur,” for alter ego “Arthur Curry”
Cyborg
Chinese name: 钢骨
Pinyin: Gānggú
Meaning: Literally “Steel Bones”
Top half of script
Chinese: 黑旅风
Pinyin: hēi xuàn fēng
Meaning: Phrase to describe a swift action
Bottom half of script
Chinese: 维克多
Pinyin: Wéikèduō
Meaning: “Victor,” for alter ego “Victor Stone”
The Flash
Chinese name: 闪电侠
Pinyin: Shǎndiàn Xiá
Meaning: Literally “Lightning Bolt Hero”
Top half of script
Chinese: 神行太保
Pinyin: shén xíng tài bǎo
Meaning: The nickname belonging to Yuan Qu, another character from Water Margin that is often used to describe “a speedy man.”
Bottom half of script
Chinese: 巴里
Pinyin: Bālǐ
Meaning: “Barry,” for alter ego “Barry Allen”
As cool as these are, here are six other portraits of DC’s mightiest heroes that we think are even cooler. Made by Hong Kong artist “Tik Ka from East,” this collection was made in 2015 and doesn’t have anything to do with this year’s film. All the same, this series embraces its Chinese influence much stronger, both in visual content and in its accompanying text.
Wonder Woman
Chinese: 巾帼英姿
Pinyin: jīnguó yīngzī
Meaning: Basically meaning “valiant woman” by pairing together the terms for “a woman’s headdress” and “heroic pose,” this term gets its name from the peony flower.
Batman
Chinese: 衣锦夜行
Pinyin: yī jǐn yè xíng
Meaning: Literally “robes of midnight,” this chengyu (four-character Chinese idiom) that alludes to walking around outside in splendid clothes after dark is actually a warning to not display your glory and riches to others;
Superman
Chinese: 仁者无敌
Pinyin: rén zhě wú dí
Meaning: This chengyu is very appropriate for the invincible Man of Steel, considering that it means “he who is benevolent has no enemy,” signifying that those who are good will turn their enemies into allies.
Aquaman
Chinese: 长风破浪
Pinyin: cháng fēng pò làng
Meaning: Literally “ride the wind and cleave the waves,” meaning “to not be afraid of hardship” or “to courageously advance,” this chengyu is particularly appropriate for Aquaman considering it uses waves (浪) as part of its imagery.
Cyborg
Chinese: 百炼成钢
Pinyin: bǎi liàn chéng gāng
Meaning: This also appropriately used chengyu that means “to be toughened by repeated tests” happens to have the literal meaning of “to be forged into steel by 100 blows.”
The Flash
Chinese: 驷马难追
Pinyin: sì mǎ nán zhuī
Meaning: Unlike the others, this chengyu is as appropriate for its hero, but is still a nice play on words. This term refers to being unable to withdraw words that are spoken, and has a literal meaning of “a team of four (speedy) horses that are difficult to catch.”
Bonus: Green Lantern
Chinese: 苦海明灯
Pinyin: kǔ hái míng dèng
Meaning: Hal Jordan doesn’t make an appearance in this year’s Justice League movie, but his presence is kept warm with this chengyu that refers to a “guiding light” (or literally, “bright light over a bitter ocean”).
And if you like seeing your comic book heroes reimagined in a Chinese style, here are some more:
Chinese poster for “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”
Chinese poster for “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows”
Photos: Sohu, ePaper, Screenrant, Weibo (2), The Nanfang, Group Buys,
This post first appeared on our sister site, The Beijinger. See More stories by this author here.
Twitter: @Sinopath
E-mail: charlesliu1@qq.com
