u/Shyam_Lama

東邪西毒 (Cantonese: Dung Che Sai Duk, Mandarin: Dōng Xíe Xi Dú) is the name of a 1994 movie by Wong Kar Wai from Hong Kong. (And in my humble opinion it's one of the greatest movies ever made, but that's digression.)

In English the movie is titled "Ashes of Time", but clearly that's not what the Chinese characters mean at all. I've looked up the meaning in my Mandarin dictionary, and it rather seems to mean something like "East Disaster, West Poison", where the "disaster" is of a supernatural kind brought about by demons.

My questions:

• Is my own translation correct? If it's all wrong, let me know. If it's loosely correct but can be refined, also do let me know.
• Is (or could) there be a difference in meaning when it is interpreted as (or by) Cantonese as opposed to Mandarin?

I think I once read or heard a tale about a king who wanted to come down from his throne but was somehow (through some previously taken oath or divine law or supernatural restriction) constrained to remain on it and never to leave it until someone would willingly take his place permanently, bound by the same constraint to remain on it until the next willing successor was found. So the incumbent king did what he could to find candidates and convince them through enticement or reason that ascending his throne was either an attractive option or the right thing to do.

I can't remember more details though, or where I read it or what culture this tale originated in. Does the narrative ring a bell with anyone here?