<p>In chinese,半仙==半+仙==half+fairy(generaly male)。Generally, 半仙 is a human but with some magical power, rather than a ghost, the 半 means a half, not a entire fairy（because He is still a human）.</p>

<p>The adjective 海 in 海半仙，most probally the place this 半仙 lives is close to （OR in） a sea or lake （waterside）. It can also be a family name of 半仙, but mostly is the place relating to water. </p>

<p>You may encounter 陈半仙，where 陈 mostly is a family name, because 陈 in China is a very popular family name, but 海 is not</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-06-21T12:05:31.957Z
2019-06-21T12:05:31.957Z
cauckf
<p>In Chapter 102 of《红楼梦》entitled <a href="https://ctext.org/hongloumeng/ch102/zhs" rel="nofollow noreferrer">《宁国府骨肉病灾祲　大观园符水驱妖孽》</a> there is a character who is called: 毛半仙. Here's an excerpt of a paragraph from the original text:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>贾蓉道：“不是说不治，为的是前日母亲往西府去，回来是穿著园子里走过来的。一到了家，就身上发烧，别是撞客著了罢。外头有个毛半仙，是南方人，卦起的很灵，不如请他来占算占算。看有信儿呢，就依著他；要是不中用，再请别的好大夫来。”</p>
</blockquote>

<p>John Minford's translation of the paragraph is as follows:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>‘I didn’t say she couldn’t be cured,’ said Jia Rong. ‘What was going through my mind was this: when Mother went over to Rong-guo House the other day, she came back through the Garden. And the fever began as soon as she reached home. It could be that she encountered some evil spirit on the way and is now possessed. I happen to know of an excellent fortune-teller in town, by the name of Half-Immortal Mao. He hails from the South, and is something of a specialist in The Book of Changes. I think we should ask him for a consultation first. See if he can shed any light on the matter. If that gets us nowhere, then let’s by all means look for another doctor.’</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Here 毛半仙 = Half-Immortal Mao, a very literal translation.</p>

<p>Later we see another instance with Half-Immortal Mao:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>毛半仙道：“既如此，取净水洗手，设下香案，让我起出一课来看就是了。”</p>
</blockquote>

<p>but here his name is simplified:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>‘Very well,’ replied Mao. ‘First I shall require some clean water with which to wash my hands. Then, will you be so good as to light some incense, and to set up a small altar? And I shall proceed with the divination.’</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Here 毛半仙 = Mao.</p>

<hr>

<p>Yang Hsien-Yi &amp; Gladys Yang's translation in A Dream of Red Mansions Vol. 3 translates it as:</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Mao Pan-hsien</p>
</blockquote>

<p>and also shortens to</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Mao</p>
</blockquote>

<p>in further references.</p>

<hr>

<p>Other results on Wikipedia get similar translations:</p>

<ul>
<li><p>Wang Banxian (Chinese: 王半仙)</p></li>
<li><p>Hsu Ban-hsian (許半仙) </p></li>
<li><p>Wu Ban-hsien (吳半仙) </p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-22T02:07:40.890Z
2019-07-22T02:18:25.473Z
2019-07-22T02:18:25.473Z
Mou某
<p>I'm seeing a few references to 海半仙 in articles I'm going over.</p>

<p>For instance: <a href="https://www.douban.com/note/659102354/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">there is this note on Douban</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>相传，同山镇上的酩酊山巅住着一位通晓天地玄机的酿酒仙人，叫海半仙。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>There are references there to the <em>Classic of Mountains and Seas</em>, so I'm assuming there would be some sort of reference to this in English, but I'm not really finding anything.</p>

<p>The only thing I've remotely found is this <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:%E9%99%88%E5%A5%95%E5%A6%83/%E6%B2%99%E7%9B%92" rel="nofollow noreferrer">sandbox</a> on Wikipedia.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Tongshanshao a kind of wine, also called shocks or sorghum wine.In the remote hometown of xi shi, there is a town called tongshan town, which is rich in sorghum. Sorghum rice has no longer been used as food for many years, so the common people there use it to make soju, and carry forward it into a characteristic. As a result, this kind of wine has a common name, called "tongshan shao".</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Other than this I'm not really able to find anything about 同山镇 -or- 海半仙 -or- 翠屏 in English.</p>

<p>Any ideas?</p>

<translation>
Does 海半仙 have an English translation?
# Does 海半仙 have an English translation?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-06-21)

I'm seeing a few references to 海半仙 in articles I'm going over.

For instance: [there is this note on Douban](https://www.douban.com/note/659102354/)

> 相传，同山镇上的酩酊山巅住着一位通晓天地玄机的酿酒仙人，叫海半仙。

There are references there to the *Classic of Mountains and Seas*, so I'm assuming there would be some sort of reference to this in English, but I'm not really finding anything.

The only thing I've remotely found is this [sandbox](https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:%E9%99%88%E5%A5%95%E5%A6%83/%E6%B2%99%E7%9B%92) on Wikipedia.

> Tongshanshao a kind of wine, also called shocks or sorghum wine.In the remote hometown of xi shi, there is a town called tongshan town, which is rich in sorghum. Sorghum rice has no longer been used as food for many years, so the common people there use it to make soju, and carry forward it into a characteristic. As a result, this kind of wine has a common name, called "tongshan shao".

Other than this I'm not really able to find anything about 同山镇 -or- 海半仙 -or- 翠屏 in English.

Any ideas?

**Tags:** translation


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-06-21. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

In chinese,半仙==半+仙==half+fairy(generaly male)。Generally, 半仙 is a human but with some magical power, rather than a ghost, the 半 means a half, not a entire fairy（because He is still a human）.

The adjective 海 in 海半仙，most probally the place this 半仙 lives is close to （OR in） a sea or lake （waterside）. It can also be a family name of 半仙, but mostly is the place relating to water.

You may encounter 陈半仙，where 陈 mostly is a family name, because 陈 in China is a very popular family name, but 海 is not


---

### Answer by username_0 on 2019-07-22. Score: 0

In Chapter 102 of《红楼梦》entitled [《宁国府骨肉病灾祲　大观园符水驱妖孽》](https://ctext.org/hongloumeng/ch102/zhs) there is a character who is called: 毛半仙. Here's an excerpt of a paragraph from the original text:

> 贾蓉道：“不是说不治，为的是前日母亲往西府去，回来是穿著园子里走过来的。一到了家，就身上发烧，别是撞客著了罢。外头有个毛半仙，是南方人，卦起的很灵，不如请他来占算占算。看有信儿呢，就依著他；要是不中用，再请别的好大夫来。”

John Minford's translation of the paragraph is as follows:

> ‘I didn’t say she couldn’t be cured,’ said Jia Rong. ‘What was going through my mind was this: when Mother went over to Rong-guo House the other day, she came back through the Garden. And the fever began as soon as she reached home. It could be that she encountered some evil spirit on the way and is now possessed. I happen to know of an excellent fortune-teller in town, by the name of Half-Immortal Mao. He hails from the South, and is something of a specialist in The Book of Changes. I think we should ask him for a consultation first. See if he can shed any light on the matter. If that gets us nowhere, then let’s by all means look for another doctor.’

Here 毛半仙 = Half-Immortal Mao, a very literal translation.

Later we see another instance with Half-Immortal Mao:

> 毛半仙道：“既如此，取净水洗手，设下香案，让我起出一课来看就是了。”

but here his name is simplified:

> ‘Very well,’ replied Mao. ‘First I shall require some clean water with which to wash my hands. Then, will you be so good as to light some incense, and to set up a small altar? And I shall proceed with the divination.’

Here 毛半仙 = Mao.

---

Yang Hsien-Yi & Gladys Yang's translation in A Dream of Red Mansions Vol. 3 translates it as:

> Mao Pan-hsien

and also shortens to

> Mao

in further references.

---

Other results on Wikipedia get similar translations:

* Wang Banxian (Chinese: 王半仙)
* Hsu Ban-hsian (許半仙)
* Wu Ban-hsien (吳半仙)


---

