Wei Wuxian’s Cultivation Method
We were asked a series of questions pertaining to Wei Wuxian’s cultivation that were fairly interesting. We’ve decided to sum up the contents of our reply here. (This reply occurred over a series of messages so I’ve rearranged the answers and questions it to the best that I can)
What would be the most appropriate form to address Wei Wuxian’s cultivation? Should it be called the “devil/monster path 魔道 (Mó dào)” or the “ghost path / 鬼道 (Guǐ dào)? And how does that apply in the context of the book? (妖魔鬼怪 (yāo mó guǐ guài) was the term that Lan Qiren used describe the various creatures in the novel)
If he’s not using the “devil/monster path/ 魔道”, then how does 邪魔歪道 (xié mó wāi dào]) and 邪门歪道 (xié mén wāi dào) come into play? This phrase has been used by various characters (ie. Jin Zixuan) to describe his mode of cultivation.
To answer question 1, you’d need to revert back to Chapter 13 of the novel.
"我问你，妖魔鬼怪，是不是同一种东西 / “I’ll ask you this; are yao, mo, gui, guai the same thing?”
” 魏无羡笑道：“不是。” / Wei Wuxian smiled as he replied, “‘No, they aren’t.”
“为何不是？如何区分” / “How are they different? How can they be differentiated?”
“妖者非人之活物所化；魔者生人所化；鬼者死者所化；怪者非人之死物所化.” / “Yao are created from non-human living beings; Mo are created from humans; Gui are created from the deceased; Guai are created from dead non-humans. ”
This exchange occurred when Lan Qiren questions Wei Wuxian on the classification of monsters, of which the book establishes that 魔 (Mo - devil/monster) from living (humans), and 鬼 (Gui - ghost) from the deceased (humans). Hence, based on this definition, as he’s only shown to animate the dead (humans) in the novel, it’s quite safe to say that he’s practicing 鬼道. (Ghost path.) C-fans have an additional meta that Wei Wuxian himself is a living person, so in terms of classification, he can only be classified as someone who is a “魔 (Mo - devil/monster)” (from a living person), practicing the “ghost” path. (ie. resurrecting the dead). To confirm this theory, “魔道 - devil/monster path” has only been mentioned once in the novel, “鬼道.- Ghost path” has been used 12 times. Wei Wuxian himself has also addressed that he “修鬼道” (cultivates the ghost path).
(As a note, 妖魔鬼怪 itself is a general idiom that refers to all beings that are seen to be evil. MXTX takes the idiom apart in the context of this novel)
Onto Question 2 (You might need to understand Chinese to fully appreciate this but I’ll try to explain it anyway).
邪魔歪道 itself is a common idiom which traditionally means to “stray from the traditional (or orthodox) path” [baidu dictionary definition] but it could also mean demonic/evil ways. This phrase is also commonly used in Buddhism teaching. “魔” in modern Buddhism loosely refers to Mara, a demon that claims lives and obstructs good deeds. The other term 邪门歪道 is a synonym of the former but without the religious connotations.
So here something that’s very interesting - this manner of which interpretation is used seems to depend on what the user is thinking. In Chapter 7 (footnote 7) Wei Wuxian has interestingly referred to his type of cultivation as “the cultivation method that he practiced in the past.” Also, in Chapter 14, when questioned by Lan Qiren, Wei Wuxian brings up the idea of a “fourth” source of power (ie. ghost path); and he questions as to why resentful energy can’t be used as a reservoir of power. From this, we can actually infer that Wei Wuxian feels that it is a source of unorthodox power, but not necessarily evil.
Contrarily, it’s obvious that the rest of the characters deem that his methods are downright evil. So hence, they would interpret idiom as demonic/evil ways.
Interestingly though, it seems like 邪魔歪道 were used by people in the “orthodox” clans - Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling, Jin Zixuan, etc. On the other hand, 邪门歪道 was used by Xue Yang and WWX. In the same way that 邪魔歪道 is more closely linked to religious teachings, the unorthodox is deemed as “evil”, hence the term 邪魔歪道 becomes a more fitting term used by those in the orthodox camp.
References (they’re all in Chinese):
(1) Definition of 魔，(2) Definition of 邪魔外道，(3) Definition of 邪门歪道 (4) Definition of 妖魔鬼怪 (4) Chinese Meta - Wei Wuxian is a central character in MDZS, why is he on the 鬼道 (ghost path) and not the 魔道 (devil/monster) path?
