I’ve seen several people wondering why in fanfics Lan Wangji addresses Wei Wuxian using his birth name instead of ‘you’ because it doesn’t sound quite right in English (e.g. Lan Wangji saying “I want to protect Wei Ying” to Wei Wuxian). I find it intriguing because it does not happen in the novel or in any adaptation, either he uses ‘Wei Ying’ on its own to call/admonish him or he simply uses ‘you’. So it’s not a translation issue, it’s something that seems to have sprung from the English fandom at some point and spread from there. I’d like to share some thoughts about second and third person addressing and what they say about the speaker’s speech patterns (as always, please do point out if I made a mistake somewhere, this is mostly based on observations not on formal knowledge of linguistics).
Chinese terms of address form a very very intricate system (look upon this and despair) that evolved with time periods. People will address each other and themselves differently depending on various parameters such as their relationship and respective social status.
Addressing someone in the third person can be used as a way to convey polite respect and there are many examples in MDZS:
[33 lashes scene] LWJ: I ask Uncle for my punishment (audio drama S3E13)
[WWX is about to leave] LXC: Hum? Why do you remain here?
LWJ: Brother is here so my place is here as well. (ch.49)
WWX: It’s because that young master Qin lied to us.
LSZ: How did senior Wei determine that? (ch.120)
“多谢蓝宗主给魏某这个机会。” (……) “那么请蓝宗主听听看，这支曲子有没有什么古怪？”
WWX: I must thank Sect leader Lan for providing me with this opportunity. (…) I request that Sect leader Lan listen carefully if there’s anything amiss with this song. (Wei Wuxian is also using here the humble term of self-address ‘魏某’, literally ‘this person named Wei’, instead of the first person pronoun ‘I’) (ch.63)
See, it’s not only Lan Wangji, that’s something that polite characters say in certain situations and that includes Wei Wuxian as contrary to appearances, he does actually know when and how to show proper respect.
Notice that it’s always titles or honorifics (on its own or as a suffix to the family name) which demonstrate formality and deference towards the person addressed. On the contrary, using someone’s birth name indicates close familiarity (or even rudeness). So in my opinion it doesn’t make sense in Chinese to have Lan Wangji use ‘Wei Ying’ as a replacement of ‘you’.
It’s noteworthy that it is actually Wei Wuxian who does address Lan Wangji occasionally in the third person by using his title, Hanguang-Jun:
WWX: If it’s not for punishment, why would you do a handstand for no reason?
LWJ: As meditation (’meditation’ is literally ‘to calm one’s heart’).
WWX: Whatever could trouble the heart of the icy Hanguang-Jun? (ch.114)
[WWX takes a bite out of an apple dropped by a fierce corpse]
LWJ: Do not eat that. We will buy some tomorrow.
WWX: But this is to save Hanguang-Jun some money.
LWJ: That will never be necessary. (ch.122)
Wei Wuxian uses both ‘Lan Zhan’ and ‘Hanguang-Jun’ throughout the story. During his Yiling Laozu days, it is more to create distance than to be respectful. While pretending to be Mo Xuanyu, Wei Wuxian calls Lan Wangji exclusively by his title with the exception of two slip-ups that occur when Fairy makes an apparition (”Lan Zhan, save me!!”). After it is revealed that Lan Wangji was aware of his identity all along, Wei Wuxian routinely alternates between his birth name and his title, putting them at an equal level of casualness. However, using the title with the third person address is more like a tongue-in-cheek phrasing, it’s Wei Wuxian showing exaggerated courtesy in a playful manner.
The way I feel it, at the heart of it, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji are equals and treat each other as such. They respect one another without unnecessary act of self-humbling.
(This is absolutely not meant to be critical of writers who write Lan Wangji’s speech that way, I just find it interesting that this became a fandom trend although it’s not based on the source material and I think it should be acknowledged as such.)
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