it's almost time for jiujiuween !
everyone is invited to celebrate jin ling and jiang cheng in this halloween event (that's mostly an excuse to put them into random costumes!)
more info below!
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@purplenies
it's almost time for jiujiuween !
everyone is invited to celebrate jin ling and jiang cheng in this halloween event (that's mostly an excuse to put them into random costumes!)
more info below!
it's almost time for jiujiuween !
everyone is invited to celebrate jin ling and jiang cheng in this halloween event (that's mostly an excuse to put them into random costumes!)
more info below!
for omega jiang cheng day of xicheng love month 23💙💜
"your pheromones smell sweeter than any roll cake~"
a liddol nyancheng with his favorite toy!
Local Sect Leader Gaslights Children!
(x)
I think what kills me about Jiang Cheng antis is that a lot of their talking points reek of anti survivor rhetoric. As someone who is a survivor and has done a lot of advocacy for victims and survivors of power based personal violence, I want to be the first to inform you that the narrative of the “pretty survivor” (which is steeped in cishet normative, white supremacist, and ableist ideas) is an extremely rare case. Trauma survivors are rarely pretty. The Wei Wuxian’s of the world are incredibly uncommon.
Trauma–especially intense, horrific trauma like what Jiang Cheng went through–often leads to intense issues of anger and hatred. It makes you deeply emotional and can often lead to you becoming unstable. Jiang Cheng lost his entire family and community in the span of a few years. He didn’t have access to therapy (something that literally anyone would need to heal from that), he had to rebuild his entire sect, likely had to fight an uphill battle in order to be a significant part of Jin Ling’s life, all while cleaning up the mess that Wei Wuxian left behind.
This is not to hate on Wei Wuxian, he’s my third favorite character (after Jiang Cheng and Lan Wangji) and I love him deeply, but he left behind a legacy that Jiang Cheng had to clean up. Whether or not he realized this would happen, Wei Wuxian created a cultivation path (gui dao/ghost cultivation) that is extremely dangerous and horrific. While I still don’t know if I believe that Jiang Cheng killed every demonic cultivator he came across, I don’t know that it was necessarily a bad thing that he did kill them. We’ve talked a lot in the cxc server about gui dao and demonic cultivation and just how much it harms the mind and body. Wei Wuxian is the exception to the rule in having such control over it and even he eventually succumbed to it. If demonic cultivators are causing great harm, then a cultivators job is to stop that harm and the source of it. That may mean killing the demonic cultivator. I think people get mixed up when (I think it was Jingyi) said that Jiang Cheng kills the wrong person. I believe it was @twilightarc-gm who said that “wrong” doesn’t imply innocent but rather the fact that the person isn’t Wei Wuxian. We know that Jiang Cheng spent thirteen years trying to find Wei Wuxian and when he does find him, he doesn’t kill him despite having literally every reason to.
Like idk y’all, if the guy that got my entire clan wiped out, my sect burned down, and caused the deaths of my sister and her husband died and came back from dead, I wouldn’t just threaten him with a dog and yell at him. I would kill him. But he doesn’t he has every opportunity to in multiple instances after confirming that it’s Wei Wuxian, but he never does. He seems more interested in dragging Wei Wuxian home (literally stating that he’s going to bring Wei Wuxian home to Lotus Pier to kneel before his parents’ graves). Like that doesn’t imply that he’s going to kill Wei Wuxian, but rather make him repent.
I think it’s telling that despite a lot of Jiang Cheng’s hurt and pain, he still chooses to not severely hurt or kill Wei Wuxian, it would be within his right to do so, but in the end after it’s all over, he let’s Wei Wuxian go. He doesn’t tell Wei Wuxian that he sacrificed himself for him, because he knew that Wei Wuxian would feel guilty and obligated to him, just like Wei Wuxian knew Jiang Cheng would feel guilty and obligated. That to me shows a survivor choosing to break the cycle of hurt and pain and I have to question why Jiang Cheng antis so often choose to ignore the side of him that does love Wei Wuxian (it’s up to the viewer whether they see that love as romantic or platonic), enough so to let him go and not burden him with pain.
Jiang Cheng’s story and character arc is at it’s core about trauma, survival, and rising above dire circumstances despite the odds. He attempts the impossible and manages to succeed in it. And to ignore that is a disservice to his character, survivors of trauma, and the effort MXTX put into creating such a complex and interesting character.
PSA on single-character Chinese names
The usage of single-character names BY THEMSELVES is considered a little odd in modern Mandarin. Multi-character names are fine, for example, Wangji is fine by itself, but if you’re referring to him by birth name, you wouldn’t usually refer to him as JUST Zhan. You will have to use his full name (Lan Zhan), or add a prefix or suffix to the name, like A-Zhan, or Zhan’er. Unfortunately, the Netflix subs of CQL tends to omit the prefixes / suffixes from the names, thus translating A-Ying, for example, as simply Ying. This is an inaccurate translation.
There ARE occasions when single-character names may be used by themselves. For example, when JFM is referring to WWX early in CQL while talking to LQR, he calls him “Ying” and in LWJ’s letter to WWX, inviting him to JL’s hundred day celebration, he also refers to him as just “Ying” near the end of the letter (see below). However, this is somewhat formal dated usage, and is no longer common in modern Mandarin. I believe this is part of a larger evolution of Chinese language away from a more single-character focused lexicon, which I will explain below.
THE EVOLUTION OF CLASSICAL TO MODERN CHINESE
The modern spoken form of Mandarin evolved from an olden form of written Chinese, which I’m going to refer to as classical Chinese for simplicity’s sake (I believe historians actually have different names for different eras of ancient written Chinese). At the same time though, modern Mandarin is VERY different from classical Chinese. Classical Chinese is pretty much like… an entirely different language from modern Mandarin. I’m going to quote this meta which I encourage you guys to read in full for an analysis on LWJ’s speaking style:
文言文 wenyanwen / classical/literary Chinese is related to but distinct from modern Mandarin… Modern Mandarin Chinese as we know and learn it today in classrooms is something that didn’t really get codified until the 20th century… classical Chinese can be summed up, like most things in Chinese, with a four-character idiom: 言简意赅 yanjianyigai. Broken down, we get:
言 yan - words, speech
简 jian - simple, brief
意 yi - meaning, intent
赅 gai - complete, full, comprehensive
Classical Chinese (which is heavily focused on single-character root words, thus condensing a lot of meaning into a relatively short sentence) was largely a written form of Chinese used by elites. Historians do not seem to believe that people spoke classical Chinese, but a vernacular form of Chinese which we don’t have record of. Typically though, languages tend to become increasingly diverse over large swaths of land, which leads to the emergence of dialects native to different regions. As a result, people from different regions may not actually understand each other.
However, China was united as a kingdom over vast swaths of land for many periods in dynastical history. It had a political system where magistrates stationed in even the faraway reaches of the kingdom reported to the emperor and his cabinet of ministers in the capital. As such, if you wanted to be a magistrate, you would have to learn this written form of Chinese, and take the imperial exam to be selected for the position. As a magistrate, you would be expected to correspond with officials from other regions in this written form of Chinese. This written form was thus able to bridge the differences in spoken Chinese.
But according to my Chinese teachers!!! (Disclaimer: they are high school language teachers, not Chinese history professors, so I cannot completely guarantee the historical accuracy of these claims,) When modernization happened, transportation became more advanced and urbanization became more and more of a thing. Thus, society saw a greater intermingling of people from different regions who couldn’t necessarily understand each other in spoken Chinese. This necessitated the emergence of a new common spoken tongue. Modern Mandarin, which is often referred to as putong hua (lit. common language), was thus born.
THE MOVE FROM SINGLE TO MULTI-CHARACTER WORDS
According to my Chinese teachers (see previous disclaimer again), modern Mandarin basically moved away from the single-character focused lexicon of classical Chinese, towards increased usage of multi-character words. For example, the modern word for “conflict” 战争 is made of root words 战 and 争 both of which rooooughly mean “conflict” as well. In a classical lexicon, the root words would likely be used by themselves, but modern Chinese mostly uses multi-character words.
And this, according to my Chinese teachers, was to improve the understandability of spoken Chinese. Chinese language has a GREAT NUMBER of homophones, which can get REALLY FUCKING CONFUSING. The Zhan (战) in “conflict” sounds exactly the same as 站 (to stand) 占 (to occupy) 湛 (as in Lan Zhan), and more. As such, while the root words 战 and 争 may carry the intended meaning perfectly well in writing, in speech, they individually sound like a bazillion other words. Which thus necessitates these multi-character words. 战 may have many homophones, but 战争 has a great deal less homophones.
So why do we generally not do single-character names in speech anymore? BECAUSE IT CAN GET REALLY FUCKING CONFUSING. Like if you wanted to say something as simple and functional as “go to Zhan” (去湛那边), the Zhan of his name (湛) is a perfect homophone for 站 (to stand), so it literally just sounds like “go stand there” 😭😭😭 At least if you use his surname (Lan Zhan), a prefix (A-Zhan), or a suffix (Zhan’er) it becomes a whole lot clearer that you’re referring to a person.
THE TLDR;
This is a very long and roundabout way to say: please don’t replicate the Netflix subs in your fics. If you’re referring to someone with a single-character name, add a prefix or suffix to the name, like A-Cheng, or Cheng’er, or else use the full name, Jiang Cheng. Multi-character names are generally fine, for example, Wanyin, Wangji, or Xichen are all fine. Wuxian seems to be a little bit of a grey area. It does not seem to be used by characters in the novel, probably because it sounds like 无线 (wireless), which is the reason why the Chinese fandom likes to refer to him as “WiFi” 🤣
nIES IS THAT YOU 😳 it me,, @SerpentHell,,, ndjdjsxm
omg hi pup 😳 we reunite in another site
they are the same picture
Jiang Cheng’s arrogance and pride are actually really important for him to have as a leader. Arrogance has a negative connotation, but in the martial arts world of ancient fantasy China it’s a show of strength that Jiang Cheng has to put up.
In MDZS the sects are family-based (thanks, Wen Mao!) and so their power is very much like noble families, where people are loyal to the main inner family because, well, they’re the direct descendants of the founder. There isn’t quite the same “divine right of kings” as you get in European countries, but there is the implication that by virtue of family/bloodline, they should be in charge. This tracks with principles of filial piety, too.
However, Jiang Cheng’s entire family was murdered. He presumably still has relatives through his mother’s side (MeishanYu) but Yu Ziyuan married out, so he doesn’t have the same claim there that he would have with the paternal family. Since all the Jiangs would stay with the Jiang sect, they’ve all been killed, so he doesn’t have support from paternal family, either. What this means is that all the people who naturally would have been his disciples, all those that would have been under his leadership just because of his birth, are gone. (Sure there might be a few still floating around, who hadn’t been at Lotus Pier at the time of the massacre, but certainly not enough for a whole sect!)
So Jiang Cheng has to rebuild the Jiang sect based on merit. He has to convince rogue cultivators to come together under his banner, to follow him as their leader. He has to have that arrogance and pride, because if he is wishy-washy at all, who is going to follow him? He has to draw that around himself as armor, he has to be prickly, he can’t show weakness - not if he is to rebuild his sect and get his revenge.
And he did that himself. He had already drawn people to his banner and was already calling himself the Jiang Sect Leader before they found WWX. Even if people then joined the Jiang sect due to WWX, WWX wasn’t teaching them. WWX refused to teach anyone demonic cultivation, so who was the person actually teaching and leading these recruits? Jiang Cheng.
And WWX leaves the Jiang sect, and WWX dies, and Jiang Cheng continues to build the Jiang sect up. He’s all alone, trying his best to maintain a connection with his last living family (Jin Ling), trying to keep the Jiang sect independent and strong. Of course he has that attitude, of course people say that you shouldn’t offend the Jiang sect and especially not Jiang Cheng! He has had to defend himself and his position in a way that no other sect leader has, because it’s not just “should you be the leader” it’s “should this sect even exist at all?”
I do think the arrogance and competitiveness is a defense mechanism and I do think that these are flaws that can be leveraged to take advantage of JC, but I also think that flaws and strengths are two sides of the same coin. Without the arrogance to think that he could resurrect his sect and become a leader, would he have done it? Sometimes you have to fake it ‘til you make it.
Yes so much to all of this!!! This is all so true. One of the reasons one of my favorite novel passages is:
the most laughable one was the YunmengJiang Sect, the people of which either had been killed or had scattered, leaving only Jiang Cheng, who was younger than even Lan XiChen and was still a child born yesterday, who had nobody in his hands but still dared call himself sect leader, holding up the banner of rebellion as he recruited new disciples.
– Ch. 61 of the ExR translation
This is why I don’t think at Guanyin Temple Jin Guangyao was actually being entirely facetious when says, “Sect Leader Jiang, you’re truly extraordinary, the youngest sect leader who rebuilt the YunmengJiang Sect on his own.” before taunting him about ‘golden elixirs’ and trying to take those accomplishments away from him. The whole reason JGY’s so effective at unbalancing him is because he starts out with the truth!
"are you a jiang cheng apologist" no, because what the fuck does Jiang Cheng have to apologise for
lwj is almost as guilty for all the things jc is criticised for
Everyone is guilty for all the things Jiang Cheng is constantly criticized for. Torturing cultivators? Check. Not helping the Wen remnants? Check. Not standing by Wei Wuxian? Check. Shouting? Check. Lying? Check. Being an asshole at some point in their life? Absolutely check.
Everyone jokes around about the Lan’s Silencing Spell, including myself, but um, using your sect’s magical coercion spell to silence someone else’s voice multiple times is actually kind of fucked up? Nobody says anything about the Lans and Nies being equally, if not more so, complicit in what ends up happening with the Wens and Wei Wuxian, but it’s still Jiang Cheng who gets the most criticism, and I will never be okay with this.
Hell, Wei Wuxian himself committed pretty much all of these! As much as we love Wei Wuxian for his endlessly giving heart, we should keep in mind that he also didn’t do anything about the Wens until Wen Qing and Wen Ning were involved. That isn’t a criticism. That is just the nature of the society and culture that they live in, where blood feuds are a thing and wiping out a clan who killed your family is simply an equal and just exchange regardless of individual involvement. Wei Wuxian committed a massive cultural taboo for helping the Wen remnants. That isn’t to say he shouldn’t have helped, or that everyone isn’t complicit in the death of a bunch of villagers who were trying to move on, but that responsibility and criticism certainly shouldn’t only land squarely on Jiang Cheng’s shoulders.
Especially when Jiang Cheng was still little more than a child himself. The Jiang sect was completely wiped out. Jiang Cheng was barely holding onto any political power as it is. They were being intentionally left out of political meetings by the other three sects. They were extremely vulnerable to being swallowed up and becoming subsidiary to the Jin sect. Jiang Cheng had an immense responsibility to his people who walked with him through war when he had nothing to offer them at time other than his word, and part of that responsibility was to not go around pissing off your next door neighbors who had a hell of a lot more power than you do at the moment.
And amidst of all this, Jiang Cheng was being actively lied to the entire time! He couldn’t possibly have known that Wei Wuxian, his genius cultivator shixiong, no longer had a golden core, whose only option was now demonic cultivation and who was neck deep in a veritable thunderstorm of trauma and self-hatred. Especially when Wei Wuxian was constantly telling him he was fine. Especially when Wei Wuxian was doing everything he could to make sure Jiang Cheng could never know the truth. While I do think Jiang Cheng was wrong about what options were available to him, I personally think he was the least obligated out of everyone to help.
You know whose sects didn’t get wiped out? Who still had political power and was actually at the table when the remaining Wens and labor camps were being discussed? Who still had experienced disciples and opinionated elders? Who had at least much more experience navigating the complicated web of political manipulations than Jiang Cheng? The Lans. The Nies. Both equally capable of putting a stop to Jin Guangshan. Both equally responsible for the murders of a bunch of villagers. Both absolutely one hundred percent more obligated to do so and in a position where it was possible than Jiang Cheng was.
But sure, let’s freaking blame the traumatized teenager whose family and sect were slaughtered for not being able to help.
THIS!
Not saying JC’s actions are all pardonable etc but duuuude the lack of understanding people have of the sociopolitical climate in this novel is astounding...like MDZS may not be for you too if you can’t understand all of that
meow meows
gotta nom them all
have mushroom hualian to calm your nerves!
Singing at the jiujiu farm.
Nie Mingjue for an art giveaway on twitter!