Glossary / Self-Reference / This Venerable One

This Venerable One (本座)

Self-Reference · section 03

What the self-reference means

The character is this or own, and the second character is a seat or base. The construction claims a position — this seat, this base — and the speaker uses it to refer to themselves, which makes the pronoun itself an assertion of rank.

It is used by sect masters, hall lords, and demonic cultivators of equivalent standing. The position has to be real or the pronoun reads as comedy, and the genre uses the mismatch deliberately when a junior uses it.

It belongs to a family of self-references that includes this venerable self and this old man. All of them claim something — a seat, an age, a status — and the choice between them characterises the speaker in a single word.

How it characterises a speaker

It is a characterisation shortcut. A speaker who uses this pronoun is announcing their rank before any plot information arrives, and the genre uses it to establish a power relationship in the first line of dialogue.

It marks the demonic path as often as the righteous one. Sect masters and demonic lords use the same construction, and the pronoun is neutral about morality while being specific about rank.

The misuse is a standard joke. A junior who adopts the pronoun is claiming a seat they have not got, and the genre humiliates them for it on schedule.

Why the pronoun is a status claim

This Venerable One is the standard translation, and it works because the English venerable carries the sense of earned rank. Some versions render it as this seat or keep the pinyin, and both lose the combination of modesty and claim the original has.

It is not the same as this old man, which claims age rather than position. The two pronouns signal different kinds of seniority, and a character who uses one and not the other is signalling which kind they are.

The pronoun is easy to over-translate as majesty. The claim is to a seat, not to a crown, and translations that go regal lose the institutional flavour of the original.

What readers confuse it with

This Venerable Self 本尊

The sibling pronoun, claiming a self rather than a seat. Both are senior self-references, and the choice between them is a small characterisation detail novels use consistently.

This Old Man 老夫

The age-claiming version. Where this one claims position, that one claims seniority by years, and the two are used by different kinds of character.

Sect Master

The position that most commonly licenses the pronoun. The seat being claimed is the sect master's seat, and the pronoun is the audible version of the title.

Common questions

Is it rude?

Not rude, exactly — it is a claim. The pronoun asserts that the speaker holds a position that entitles them to speak that way, and the rudeness is entirely in whether the claim is true.

Who uses it?

Sect masters, hall lords, demonic cultivators, and ancient monsters. Anyone with a seat worth claiming, and the genre is consistent that the pronoun follows the position rather than the personality.

What is the literal meaning?

This seat or this base. The speaker refers to themselves by the position they occupy rather than by a name or a person, and the construction is what makes it a rank claim.

Can a junior use it?

They can, and it is a mistake. The pronoun without the seat behind it is a claim the speaker cannot support, and the genre treats the attempt as an invitation to be corrected.

Where this term is in use

From the novels published on this site:

• My Brother Wants My Dao Companion. Off to Martial Uncle He Goes. — A family dispute over a dao companion, settled by the most senior relative available.

All 23 free cultivation novels

More in Self-Reference

Source: cultivationnovel.com · Cultivation Glossary