My thoughts/analysis on Hanguang-Jun aren’t as involved as the one for Zewu-Jun, because I do think Hanguang-Jun is a bit more... straight-forward? as far as figuring out what it means. What I wanted to talk about more was, like, connotations, specifically the English connotations vs the Chinese ones. I am not talking about literary allusions because I don’t know enough of Chinese classical canon to speak on that, and I’m pretty sure other people have done so already.
I think the common English translation for it is “Light Bearing Lord,” yes? What I want to focus on here is the “Bearing” aspect. Because... I have also... seen ppl go “ah, light bearing lord, bearer of light, lucifer. ergo, Lan Wangji is similar to Lucifer” which.. I have salt about because not everything is about Christian mythology and Christian-adjacent stuff, Janice, god. But that’s... a whole other gnarled web of stuff. Anyway. Onto the breakdown.
I believe that “bearing” has a certain kind of meaning/physical translation in English, yes? I think it brings more to mind the action of, say, holding in one’s arms, as one might an armful of gifts or other sundries, or a small animal perhaps (say, a puppy or a bear cub (hah)). “Light-bearing” might bring to mind the image of someone holding a lantern. Anyway the point I’m trying to make here, it’s an external bearing, and yes the bearer is bearing said thing (in this case) light with them, but it’s an external light.
The han (含) in Hanguang-Jun, on the other hand, is more commonly used, imo, in the context of like.. holding in one’s mouth. (bear with me). I.e. if I encountered the character in the wild, with no other context, I would assume they’re talking about holding something in one’s mouth, such as like... a cough drop, or other kind of hard candy, or even something you maybe are trying to hide. That’s a more “layperson” usage of the term, imo, like a usage you’re likely to encounter, as a layperson (source: me as a layperson who sometimes encounters Chinese). But along that vein, it also has meaning of “contain, include”; “keep” (imo as in, keep inside; an example given is 含泪, which the dictionary gives as “tearfully” or “with tears in one’s eyes” but I think morphographically more resembles “holding back tears” as far as understanding the word construction goes); “nurse, cherish, harbor.” I.e., if what I’m trying to get at isn’t clear, it’s an internal kind of “bearing.” Depending on usage and context, it can also mean to permeate, and even endure (in the sense that if something is permeated with something, then that something endures).
So it’s not so much that Hanguang-Jun is “just” a “bringer” of light, nor is the emphasis on the fact that he brings light, but the fact that he is permeated with light. I.e. that it’s something inherent to him. Which in the context of Lan Wangji’s character, says a lot about him as a person, his character, and his reputation.
Hanguang-Jun doesn’t just “bear” light or “bring” it; he holds/is permeated with light, as an intrinsic facet of his being.
