A thread of Genshin references to the famous Wuxia novel "Water Margin"

Before jumping into the references, some context about Water Margin is necessary. Water Margin is about a group of 108 outlaws who perform Robinhood like deeds. At least half of the book is how the group is formed and introducing everyone.

In this case, an outlaw is a person who has killed another. Although they are outlaws they follow a code of honor, haohan (好汉) literally means "good man". while they follow this code, they also enjoy excessive acts of violence to showcase their strength and honor

Now back to Su Er'niang. She is a ref to the character Sun Er'niang who runs a tavern with her husband. They enjoy kidnapping travelers and making them into meat buns.

Her husband's nickname is "the Gardener" and her nickname is "the Ogress". Her husband goes around to neighboring villages selling their meat pies.

Although in the wiki page describes her as extremely heartless she is facing mysogynistic forces. Being one of the few women in a group comprised primarily of men following a code literally called "good man", she has to be extra ruthless in order to be accepted.

That being said that doesn't change the fact she's still partaking in cannibalism and overall is quite cruel. I bet she and Adelinde from the Dawn Winery wouldn't mind sharing recipes

Onto the next one, Three-Round Knockout references an inn with the slogan "three bowls forget the pass" meaning their wine is so strong, after drinking 3 bowls of it you'll be too drunk to walk the mountain pass.

In the novel, Wu Song, one of the outlaws, is on his way home and has to through a mountain pass. Being an alcoholic, he decides to stop by the nearby inn for wine and food before going on to the pass.

He orders wine and meat and after the 3 bowls of wine, the owner refuses to serve him more. The owner explains the wine is called The Perfumed Glory but is also called The Knockout bc it goes down easy but will catch you by surprise and knock you out.

Wu Song thinks he's joking and is like "Are you just scared I won't pay you? Give me more wine" and goes on to drink a total of 18 bowls. Also this is like not a typical bowl, but a Chinese drinking cup

After, Wu Song goes on and tries to cross the pass, sees a sign about a tiger & thinks it's a joke. He starts feeling the effects of the wine but doesn't want to turn back bc then he'd be embarrassed. He comes across a tiger, kills it, and is then hailed as The Tiger Killer

That's all I know for now, I got these neat cultural notes from my friend who is speaks Chinese and lived a large portion of her life in China. For privacy reasons I won't be sharing her name or handle tho

If she shares more I'll add it to this thread :P