![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
salinea(repost of something I wrote on tumblr in April 2020 for archiving purpose)
In fanfiction, it is extremely frequent to see Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng refer to one another as “brother”, either in dialogue, or described as such through the narrative. This always struck me as hitting the wrong note, because in the actual narrative of Mo Dao Zu Shi there is not a single instance where the word “brother” is used to refer to one another, not even once.
Yet it is obvious why fanfics go there. It does fittingly describe the nature of their relationship. Wei Wuxian was brought back to Yunmeng by Jiang Fengmian to be raised by him in a way that looks much more like an adoption than anything. It is probable that the main reason that he didn’t formally adopt Wei Wuxian was because Yu Ziyuan would never have stood by it. Despite her opposition and her worry that Wei Wuxian might usurp Jiang Cheng’s place as heir to the sect, it is obvious that Wei Wuxian wasn’t treated as a servant (as the son of a servant) or as a simple disciple. He was part of the family unit in more ways than not, and they grew up close and their relationship displayed a kind of intimacy and rivalry that is typical of brotherhood.
For Jiang Yanli, it was an obvious fact that Wei Wuxian was her brother, and she claimed him as such, both in dialogue and in the narration from her point of view. Most notably and strikingly, during the Phoenix Mountain hunt. At the time, Jin Zixun was specifically emphasizing Wei Wuxian’s lower status as a servant:
And Jiang Yanli is rectifying this to prop up Wei Wuxian against potential insults:
“As close as a brother” which describes their relationship very fairly.
And she very soon emphasizes it even more:
Not just “like a brother” but straight out calling him her brother. This is the main time she does so in dialogue, and most publically; but the narration also gives us multiple times when she refers to Wei Wuxian as her brother, or to both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian as her brothers in an equal manner. The earliest in the timeline is even during the flashback when Wei Wuxian had just been brought back to Yunmeng as a child! So that early on, she was comfortable thinking of Wei Wuxian as her brother, period.
And it’s also there during her death scene – after Wei Wuxian had caused the death of her beloved husband.
Yet for all of that Jiang Yanli claims Wei Wuxian as her brother, Wei Wuxian never calls her his sister. Instead, he calls her Shijie – Sect (Elder) Sister. It is likely that he feels it would be disrespectful and presumptuous for him to call her sister directly.
Given how easily Yanli uses the term “brother” to describe her relationship to Wei Wuxian, I feel that it is very meaningful that Jiang Cheng never does.
That’s why I don’t like when fanfics easily call them “brothers” – it elides something about how the narrative presents their relationship. The lack of such “brotherly” terms in the text is a symptom of how ill-at-ease their relationship is. Not quite one thing, nor quite the other.
If not brother, then what?
The other easy way they could be described instead is their relationship of being fellow disciples of the same sect. It is indeed how their relationship is first introduced to us by the narrative:
Shidi, Sect (Younger) Brother; much like Yanli is Shijie, Sect (Elder) Sister.
However, aside from this introduction, the narrative doesn’t describe them by using those terms. Jiang Cheng is never calling Wei Wuxian “Shixiong”, either.
There is one other instance where those terms are used to call them, though, and it’s in the mouth of Jin Guangyao during the dramatic climax at Guanyin Temple:
In all those instances, it’s obvious Jin Guangyao is doing it to emotionally rile and wound Jiang Cheng by criticising his failures and poking at his vulnerabilities. Ultimately, destabilizing him emotionally helps him in the fight, and later on, avenging himself on Jiang Cheng’s insulting him by wounding him in return. Using those specific terms allows him to emphasize Jiang Cheng’s responsibility in the breakdown of his relationship with Wei Wuxian and framing it as a failure in duty.
There is also one instance where Wei Wuxian tries to call Jiang Cheng “Shidi”, and that’s the earliest in the timeline that we see of their relationship, during the childhood flashback:
Thus resoundingly rejected, it is possible Wei Wuxian never tried again to call Jiang Cheng using that term; even though that whole scene did end up with a reconciliation.
Still, their relationship as fellow disciples of the same sect warrants a bit more exploration. Immediately, Jiang Fengmian brought back Wei Wuxian to be a disciple, and not only that, but to be an elder disciple of Jiang Cheng ; a Shixiong, not a Shidi. It’s unclear to me if this seniority is a matter of their relative age (Wei Wuxian being slightly older) or order of official acceptance in the sect (I’m not sure how it would work out since Jiang Cheng grew up in Yunmeng, obviously, but I don’t know enough to rule it out altogether either). Even more than that, he became the Da Shixiong, the head disciple of the sect. It gives one way for Wei Wuxian to outrank Jiang Cheng, even though otherwise as heir to the Sect, Jiang Cheng is obviously in the superior position. It is possible that though unable to more closely adopt Wei Wuxian into the family, Jiang Fengmian viewed it as a way to strengthen Wei Wuxian’s position as more than a mere servant.
Perhaps this element of hierarchical back and forth is why they don’t, in the end, really refer to one another by those terms.
Jin Guangyao wasn’t entirely wrong to criticise the frailty of their bonds as members of the same sect. From the start, there were a lot of tumultuous feelings and stimming resentment underneath their relationship. Jiang Cheng was immediately jealous and felt inferior to Wei Wuxian, in particular in regard to how much his own father cared for him. Yu Ziyuan obviously disapproved of Jiang Fengmian’s favorable treatment and encouraged that interpretation out of genuine worry for her son, therefore discouraging Jiang Cheng to become close to Wei Wuxian. Not insensitive to those feelings, Wei Wuxian always saw his welcome in the Jiang family as a benevolent favour creating a high obligation for him, to the point that it perhaps weighed on him. And Wei Wuxian always had a hard time realising the emotional value he has for other people, never realising how deeply Jiang Cheng had come to rely on him and his support.
They clearly both were under a lot of diverging pressures and fraught tensions with regard to their relationship in a way that perhaps never allowed them to properly relax into it. That it didn’t affect Jiang Yanli in quite the same way is probably a mixture of Jiang Yanli’s own brand of awesomeness and because her share of pressure was somewhat lower.
Yet despite their relationship being the fulcrum of this emotional tug-of-war by their parental figures, Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian did grow genuinely close, and cared deeply for one another. It’s hard to think it could be described merely as a relationship between a sect leader and a subordinate, a young master and a servant.
Servant, as we’ve seen, is what people who want to insult Wei Wuxian try to use.
Here is a rare instance where Wei Wuxian is called a servant outright, framing an attempt to humiliate him and manipulating Yu Ziyuan in allowing Wen Chao’s revenge against Wei Wuxian.
The topic of a servant status is clearly brought up as a possible sensitive point for Wei Wuxian, yet most often discarded.
Here by Jiang Cheng, but Wei Wuxian was bringing it up, perhaps, because he disliked Jiang Cheng’s easy brushing off of MianMian’s status.
Much, much later:
This time it is Wei Wuxian who is quick to disclaim that his status in the Jiang household was really that of a servant. However it could still be Wei Wuxian being willing to cling to past grudges or bad feelings, and to maintain a carefree and cheerful attitude out of nonchalant bravado as is his habit.
Overall, it’s pretty clear that Wei Wuxian isn’t really called a servant of the Jiangs, just that his status as a son of a servant is brought up by people trying to demean him.
Even Yu Ziyuan doesn’t actually call him that straightforwardly:
She’s always prompt to draw in the subtext that Wei Wuxian’s treatment is too favourable, that it is above the station he should have… but she doesn’t quite go as far as calling him a servant either.
When Yu Ziyuan brings it up, what she’s always driving with this is that Jiang Fengmian is treating Wei Wuxian too nicely in comparison to his own children (and the narrative never actually calls her wrong for that, instead emphasizing indeed Jiang Fengmian’s coldness and even indifference towards Jiang Cheng).
Yu Ziyuan was also trying to stop Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng from growing too close:
Generally speaking, Yu Ziyuan’s admonishment to Jiang Cheng reinforces the idea that in order to preserve his dignity as a future sect leader, he needs to be kept remote from those of lower status.
Internalizing that informs a lot of Jiang Cheng’s behaviour towards Wei Wuxian, from teenagers at least, as trying to keep him in check and chiding him for misbehaviour, and yet finding in this comradeship a salutary release from the pressure weighing on him. And Wei Wuxian has also internalized that by playing the role of the troublemaker, he can draw out the anger of Yu Ziyuan on him instead to protect him, secure in the knowledge of Jiang Fengmian’s indulgence. Caught between fraught family dynamics, they try their best to protect one another (and I should be remiss to not mention how much Jiang Yanli also does to protect and nurture them in a way their parents rather fail to). But those very behaviours they have to protect one another are also what end up making their relationship so fragile as adults, by leaving essential unsaid words between them.
There is another reason, perhaps, for why they avoided qualifying one another with “brother”, and that comes up to the rumours of Wei Wuxian being a bastard son of Jiang Fengmian.
There is nothing in the story to reinforce the idea that the gossip might be true, yet it is clearly hurtful and a genuine source for worry for everyone in the family, driving even the mild tempered Jiang Fengmian to snap, and for Wei Wuxian to angrily call out to Jiang Cheng to listen to him.
The worry of feeding into those rumours is a large part of what drives Yu Ziyuan to be so wary of Jiang Fengmian’s affectionate treatment of Wei Wuxian. It’s clearly an insult to the reputation of the Sect leader, and to his own legitimate family. And Wei Wuxian, as well, framed it as an insult to his own parents, whose waning memories he does cherish greatly. If they acknowledged one another as brothers, it may come too close to pretending like those rumours could be true, which none of them want to do.
In the end, there is one moment where they put to words what their relationship means to them, and that’s Wei Wuxian’s grand “Twin Pride of Yunmeng” declaration:
Wei Wuxian is the one who put it to words and it clearly meant a great deal to Jiang Cheng, to bring it back so many years later during the Guanyin Temple dramatic scene; so let’s unpack it.
Wei Wuxian draws onto the relationship between both their fathers, he emphasizes its hierarchical nature but without using a word as demeaning as servant. But he also compares them to the Two Jades of GusuLan, who are, indeed, a pair of brothers.
So I guess it does sneak in, subliminally.
There is one fanfiction in which I thought the use of “brother” was done perfectly, and that was newamsterdame’s “many envies” (https://archiveofourown.org/works/18773845/chapters/44538778). This is because this fic plays putting it to word as a climatic shift after 20,000 words of build up. It first introduces the idea early on, voicing that “Jiang Fengmian never called him a son, Jiang Cheng never called him a brother. But they were family.”, and plays with it until when finally Jiang Cheng acknowledges Wei Wuxian it’s a big cathartic payoff. (Overall this entire fic is a magistral, wonderfully satisfying exercise in set up and pay off).
But when stories don’t make that sort of work (without being A/U or, say, set in a long time post canon after unshown reconciliation), I feel like it really cheapens the tragedy of Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian’s relationship
In the end, they simply called one another by their names, without naming anything of what they meant to one another.
(All quotes from Exiled Rebel Scanlations, thanks to mrmissmrsrandom for beta, and to the nonnies I initially conversed with when I first ranted about this topic)
In fanfiction, it is extremely frequent to see Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng refer to one another as “brother”, either in dialogue, or described as such through the narrative. This always struck me as hitting the wrong note, because in the actual narrative of Mo Dao Zu Shi there is not a single instance where the word “brother” is used to refer to one another, not even once.
Yet it is obvious why fanfics go there. It does fittingly describe the nature of their relationship. Wei Wuxian was brought back to Yunmeng by Jiang Fengmian to be raised by him in a way that looks much more like an adoption than anything. It is probable that the main reason that he didn’t formally adopt Wei Wuxian was because Yu Ziyuan would never have stood by it. Despite her opposition and her worry that Wei Wuxian might usurp Jiang Cheng’s place as heir to the sect, it is obvious that Wei Wuxian wasn’t treated as a servant (as the son of a servant) or as a simple disciple. He was part of the family unit in more ways than not, and they grew up close and their relationship displayed a kind of intimacy and rivalry that is typical of brotherhood.
For Jiang Yanli, it was an obvious fact that Wei Wuxian was her brother, and she claimed him as such, both in dialogue and in the narration from her point of view. Most notably and strikingly, during the Phoenix Mountain hunt. At the time, Jin Zixun was specifically emphasizing Wei Wuxian’s lower status as a servant:
No disciple had ever dared say such lofty words in front of so many people. A moment later, as Jin ZiXun finally regained his composure, he yelled, “Wei WuXian! You’re only the son of a servant—how dare you be so bold!!!”
(Departure, part 2)
And Jiang Yanli is rectifying this to prop up Wei Wuxian against potential insults:
Jiang YanLi added, “Besides, hunting is hunting, so why bring the matter of discipline to the table? A-Xian is a disciple of the YunmengJiang Sect. He grew up with my brother and I, and so he’s as close as a brother is to me. Calling him the ‘son of a servant’—I’m sorry, but I won’t accept this. And thus…”
(Departure, part 2)
“As close as a brother” which describes their relationship very fairly.
And she very soon emphasizes it even more:
Jiang YanLi’s voice was soft, “Madam, A-Xian is my younger brother. Him being humiliated by others, to me, isn’t just a small matter.”
(Departure, part 2)
Not just “like a brother” but straight out calling him her brother. This is the main time she does so in dialogue, and most publically; but the narration also gives us multiple times when she refers to Wei Wuxian as her brother, or to both Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian as her brothers in an equal manner. The earliest in the timeline is even during the flashback when Wei Wuxian had just been brought back to Yunmeng as a child! So that early on, she was comfortable thinking of Wei Wuxian as her brother, period.
At last, one step at a time, she finally managed to carry her two brothers back to Lotus Pier. In a hushed voice, she woke up the doctor and asked him to bandage Wei WuXian’s and Jiang Cheng’s wounds.
(Departure, part 3)
And it’s also there during her death scene – after Wei Wuxian had caused the death of her beloved husband.
But she couldn’t say anything that was the opposite either. And so, she didn’t know what else she could say to Wei WuXian, under such circumstances. It was just that she felt like she had to see this brother of hers once more.
(Nightfall, part 3)
Yet for all of that Jiang Yanli claims Wei Wuxian as her brother, Wei Wuxian never calls her his sister. Instead, he calls her Shijie – Sect (Elder) Sister. It is likely that he feels it would be disrespectful and presumptuous for him to call her sister directly.
Given how easily Yanli uses the term “brother” to describe her relationship to Wei Wuxian, I feel that it is very meaningful that Jiang Cheng never does.
That’s why I don’t like when fanfics easily call them “brothers” – it elides something about how the narrative presents their relationship. The lack of such “brotherly” terms in the text is a symptom of how ill-at-ease their relationship is. Not quite one thing, nor quite the other.
If not brother, then what?
The other easy way they could be described instead is their relationship of being fellow disciples of the same sect. It is indeed how their relationship is first introduced to us by the narrative:
“The YiLing Patriarch has died? Who could have killed him ?”
“Who other than his shidi, Jiang Cheng, putting an end to his own relative for the greater good. Jiang Cheng led the Four Clans of YunmengJiang, LanlingJin, GusuLan, and QingheNie to destroy his “den”—LuanZang Hill.”
(Prologue)
Shidi, Sect (Younger) Brother; much like Yanli is Shijie, Sect (Elder) Sister.
However, aside from this introduction, the narrative doesn’t describe them by using those terms. Jiang Cheng is never calling Wei Wuxian “Shixiong”, either.
There is one other instance where those terms are used to call them, though, and it’s in the mouth of Jin Guangyao during the dramatic climax at Guanyin Temple:
Jiang Cheng, “You’re the chief cultivator, after all. Fight me if you can—why the chit-chat?”
Jin GuangYao, “You’re still avoiding it? Nothing is over there except for your shixiong. Did you really come here chasing after A-Ling?”
[…]
Jin GuangYao, “Fine. Mr. Wei, you see? Your shidi didn’t come looking for you. He doesn’t even want to spare you a single glance.”
Wei WuXian smiled, “Now those are strange words. It’s not the first day Sect Leader Jiang treats me like this. Do I need you to keep on reminding me?”
Hearing this, Jiang Cheng’s lips twisted slightly. Veins popped from the back of the hand with which he held Zidian. Jin GuangYao turned to him again, sighing, “Sect Leader Jiang, look—it’s just so difficult being your shixiong, isn’t it?”
(Hatred, part 4)
[…]
Jin GuangYao wasn’t swayed, continuing with a smile, “… Back then, the LanlingJin Sect, the QingheNie Sect, and the GusuLan Sect had already finished fighting over the biggest share. The rest could only get some small shrimps. You, on the other hand, had just rebuilt Lotus Pier and behind you was the YiLing Patriarch, Wei WuXian, the danger of whom was immeasurable. Do you think the other sects would like to see a young sect leader who was so advantaged? Luckily, you didn’t seem to be on good terms with your shixiong, and since everyone thought there was an opportunity, of course they’d add fuels to your fire if they could. No matter what, to weaken the YunmengJiang Sect was to strengthen themselves. Sect Leader Jiang, if only your attitude towards your shixiong was just a bit better, showing everyone that your bond was too strong to be broken for them to have a chance, or if you exhibited just a bit more tolerance after what happened, things wouldn’t have become what they were. Oh, speaking of it, you were also a main force of the siege at Burial Mound…”
(Hatred, part 7)
In all those instances, it’s obvious Jin Guangyao is doing it to emotionally rile and wound Jiang Cheng by criticising his failures and poking at his vulnerabilities. Ultimately, destabilizing him emotionally helps him in the fight, and later on, avenging himself on Jiang Cheng’s insulting him by wounding him in return. Using those specific terms allows him to emphasize Jiang Cheng’s responsibility in the breakdown of his relationship with Wei Wuxian and framing it as a failure in duty.
There is also one instance where Wei Wuxian tries to call Jiang Cheng “Shidi”, and that’s the earliest in the timeline that we see of their relationship, during the childhood flashback:
That night, Jiang Cheng locked Wei WuXian outside his room, refusing to let him in.
Wei WuXian knocked on the door, “Shidi, Shidi, let me in. I want to sleep.”
Inside of the room, Jiang Cheng shouted with his back on the door, “Who’s your shidi?! Give me back Princess, give me back Jasmine, give me back Love!”
(Departure, part 3)
Thus resoundingly rejected, it is possible Wei Wuxian never tried again to call Jiang Cheng using that term; even though that whole scene did end up with a reconciliation.
Still, their relationship as fellow disciples of the same sect warrants a bit more exploration. Immediately, Jiang Fengmian brought back Wei Wuxian to be a disciple, and not only that, but to be an elder disciple of Jiang Cheng ; a Shixiong, not a Shidi. It’s unclear to me if this seniority is a matter of their relative age (Wei Wuxian being slightly older) or order of official acceptance in the sect (I’m not sure how it would work out since Jiang Cheng grew up in Yunmeng, obviously, but I don’t know enough to rule it out altogether either). Even more than that, he became the Da Shixiong, the head disciple of the sect. It gives one way for Wei Wuxian to outrank Jiang Cheng, even though otherwise as heir to the Sect, Jiang Cheng is obviously in the superior position. It is possible that though unable to more closely adopt Wei Wuxian into the family, Jiang Fengmian viewed it as a way to strengthen Wei Wuxian’s position as more than a mere servant.
Perhaps this element of hierarchical back and forth is why they don’t, in the end, really refer to one another by those terms.
Jin Guangyao wasn’t entirely wrong to criticise the frailty of their bonds as members of the same sect. From the start, there were a lot of tumultuous feelings and stimming resentment underneath their relationship. Jiang Cheng was immediately jealous and felt inferior to Wei Wuxian, in particular in regard to how much his own father cared for him. Yu Ziyuan obviously disapproved of Jiang Fengmian’s favorable treatment and encouraged that interpretation out of genuine worry for her son, therefore discouraging Jiang Cheng to become close to Wei Wuxian. Not insensitive to those feelings, Wei Wuxian always saw his welcome in the Jiang family as a benevolent favour creating a high obligation for him, to the point that it perhaps weighed on him. And Wei Wuxian always had a hard time realising the emotional value he has for other people, never realising how deeply Jiang Cheng had come to rely on him and his support.
They clearly both were under a lot of diverging pressures and fraught tensions with regard to their relationship in a way that perhaps never allowed them to properly relax into it. That it didn’t affect Jiang Yanli in quite the same way is probably a mixture of Jiang Yanli’s own brand of awesomeness and because her share of pressure was somewhat lower.
Yet despite their relationship being the fulcrum of this emotional tug-of-war by their parental figures, Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian did grow genuinely close, and cared deeply for one another. It’s hard to think it could be described merely as a relationship between a sect leader and a subordinate, a young master and a servant.
Servant, as we’ve seen, is what people who want to insult Wei Wuxian try to use.
Watching Madam Yu’s reaction, Wang LingJiao was quite pleased, “Wei Ying, if I remember correctly, is a servant of the YunmengJiang Sect, isn’t he? At the moment, without the presence of Sect Leader Jiang, I’m sure that, Madam Yu, you know what’d be the best to do. Or else, if the YunmengJiang Sect insists on defending him, it’d really make people suspect… if certain rumors… are really true… Hee hee.”
(Poisons, part 2)
Here is a rare instance where Wei Wuxian is called a servant outright, framing an attempt to humiliate him and manipulating Yu Ziyuan in allowing Wen Chao’s revenge against Wei Wuxian.
The topic of a servant status is clearly brought up as a possible sensitive point for Wei Wuxian, yet most often discarded.
Jiang Cheng, “The one that MianMian gave you? I didn’t.”
Wei WuXian exclaimed his regret, “I’ll find her for another one later.”
Jiang Cheng frowned, “You’re at it again. You don’t really like her, do you? The girl does look fine, but it’s obvious that she doesn’t have much background. Maybe she isn’t even a disciple. She seems like the daughter of a servant.”
Wei WuXian, “What’s wrong with servants? I’m also the son of a servant, aren’t I?”
Jiang Cheng, “How can you compare to her? Whose servant is like you, having your master peel lotus seeds for you and boil you soup. I didn’t even get to have some!”
(Poisons, part 1)
Here by Jiang Cheng, but Wei Wuxian was bringing it up, perhaps, because he disliked Jiang Cheng’s easy brushing off of MianMian’s status.
Much, much later:
Wei WuXian grinned, “Don’t worry. It’ll definitely work. Speaking of it, SiZhui, you don’t like Young Master Qin all that much, do you?”
Lan SiZhui thought about it, “I do not know either.” He responded with honesty, “He never did anything truly evil, but perhaps I find it difficult to deal with people of such character. I do not particularly like the tone with which he mentioned the word ‘servant’…”
He paused at this point. Wei WuXian was oblivious to it, “Typical, typical. Most of the people in this world look down upon servants. Servants sometimes even look down upon themselves… Why are you two looking at me like that?”
Halfway through, he interrupted, not knowing whether to laugh or frown, “Stop—is there a misunderstanding here? How could I compare? Lotus Pier isn’t the usual household, after all. I’ve beaten Jiang Cheng up way more times than he’s ever beaten me!”
Lan WangJi didn’t say anything, but instead gave him a silent hug. Wei WuXian couldn’t help but smile. He hugged back, stroking Lan WangJi’s back a couple of times. Lan SiZhui coughed. Seeing how confident Wei WuXian looked, not at all sensitive to the word ‘servant’, he was finally at ease.
(Extra : Intrusion, part 2)
This time it is Wei Wuxian who is quick to disclaim that his status in the Jiang household was really that of a servant. However it could still be Wei Wuxian being willing to cling to past grudges or bad feelings, and to maintain a carefree and cheerful attitude out of nonchalant bravado as is his habit.
Overall, it’s pretty clear that Wei Wuxian isn’t really called a servant of the Jiangs, just that his status as a son of a servant is brought up by people trying to demean him.
Even Yu Ziyuan doesn’t actually call him that straightforwardly:
Madam Yu scolded, “Of course you’ll go! Or else would your sister go? Look at her, still happily peeling lotus seeds. A-Li, stop peeling them. Who are you peeling them for? You’re the mistress, not somebody’s servant!”
Hearing the word ‘servant’, Wei WuXian didn’t mind much. He had finished all of the lotus seeds in the dish all at once, chewing as the soft, refreshing sweetness filled his mouth. Jiang FengMian, on the other hand, raised his head slightly, “My lady .”
Madam Yu, “What, something I said? Servant? You don’t want to hear the word? Jiang FengMian, let me ask you—this time, do you intend to let him go?”
Jiang FengMian, “It’s up to himself. He can go if he wants to.”
Wei WuXian raised his hand, “I want to go.”
Madam Yu laughed harshly, “How wonderful. He can go if he wants to. If he doesn’t want to, it’s definitely possible for him to stay. Why is it that A-Cheng has to go no matter what? Raising someone else’s child with such passion, Sect Leader Jiang, you really are a very nice person!”
(Courage, part 1)
She’s always prompt to draw in the subtext that Wei Wuxian’s treatment is too favourable, that it is above the station he should have… but she doesn’t quite go as far as calling him a servant either.
When Yu Ziyuan brings it up, what she’s always driving with this is that Jiang Fengmian is treating Wei Wuxian too nicely in comparison to his own children (and the narrative never actually calls her wrong for that, instead emphasizing indeed Jiang Fengmian’s coldness and even indifference towards Jiang Cheng).
The founder of the YunmengJiang Sect, Jiang Chi, was born a rogue cultivator. The ways of the sect were honest and unrestrained. Madam Yu’s manners were the exact opposite. And, both Jiang Cheng’s looks and personality took after his mother. He hadn’t ever been to Jiang FengMian’s liking. Since birth, he taught him in many ways, yet he still couldn’t change, which was why Jiang FengMian had always seemed as though he didn’t favor him too much.
(Poisons, part 1)
Yu Ziyuan was also trying to stop Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng from growing too close:
Wei WuXian was the son of Wei ChangZe, a servant of the YunmengJiang Sect, and ZangSe SanRen , a rogue cultivator . Both Jiang FengMian and his wife, Yu ZiYuan, were quite familiar with Wei WuXian’s parents. Despite this, Jiang FengMian never reminisced about his old friend in front of Wei WuXian and, moreover, Yu ZiYuan never spoke properly to Wei WuXian at all. It was lucky for him if she didn’t give him a few whips and send him to kneel in the ancestral hall so that he’d keep his distance from Jiang Cheng. Other people told him most of the things he knew about his parents. He really didn’t know much more than what everyone else knew.
(Dew, part 2)
Generally speaking, Yu Ziyuan’s admonishment to Jiang Cheng reinforces the idea that in order to preserve his dignity as a future sect leader, he needs to be kept remote from those of lower status.
Jiang Cheng went to her side. Madam Yu squeezed his arm with her slender fingers, then slapped his shoulder loudly, scolding, “There’s isn’t any improvement in your cultivation at all. You’re seventeen already, yet you’re still like an ignorant child, fooling around with others all the time. Are you the same as others? Who knows which sewers other people will be splashing in, but you’re going to be the leader of the Jiang Sect!”
Jiang Cheng stumbled from the slap, head lowered, not daring to protest. Wei WuXian understood—it went without saying that she was scolding him again, whether obvious or not. On the side, one of his shidi secretly stuck out his tongue toward him. Wei WuXian raised a brow at the shidi. Madam Yu, “Wei Ying, what trouble are you stirring up this time?”
Wei WuXian stood forward, accustomed to it. Madam Yu scolded, “You’re like this again! If you yourself don’t seek progress, then don’t drag Jiang Cheng along to fool around with you. You’re going to be a bad influence to him.”
(Courage, part 1)
Internalizing that informs a lot of Jiang Cheng’s behaviour towards Wei Wuxian, from teenagers at least, as trying to keep him in check and chiding him for misbehaviour, and yet finding in this comradeship a salutary release from the pressure weighing on him. And Wei Wuxian has also internalized that by playing the role of the troublemaker, he can draw out the anger of Yu Ziyuan on him instead to protect him, secure in the knowledge of Jiang Fengmian’s indulgence. Caught between fraught family dynamics, they try their best to protect one another (and I should be remiss to not mention how much Jiang Yanli also does to protect and nurture them in a way their parents rather fail to). But those very behaviours they have to protect one another are also what end up making their relationship so fragile as adults, by leaving essential unsaid words between them.
There is another reason, perhaps, for why they avoided qualifying one another with “brother”, and that comes up to the rumours of Wei Wuxian being a bastard son of Jiang Fengmian.
Madam Yu, “Talk about what? Get back to where? I’ll be talking about it right here. I have nothing to be ashamed of, anyways! Jiang Cheng, come over here.”
Jiang Cheng was stuck between his father and his mother. After a moment of hesitation, he moved to his mother’s side. Holding his shoulders, Madam Yu pushed him forward for Jiang FengMian to see, “Sect Leader Jiang, it seems that some things I have to say. Look carefully—this, is your own son, the future head of Lotus Pier. Even if you frown upon him just because I was the one who bore him, his surname is still Jiang! … I don’t believe for one second that you haven’t heard of how the outside people gossips, that Sect Leader Jiang has still not moved on from a certain Sanren though so many years have passed, regarding the son of his old friend as a son of his own; they’re speculating if Wei Ying is your…”
Jiang FengMian shouted, “Yu ZiYuan!”
Madam Yu shouted as well, “Jiang FengMian! Do you think that anything will change just because you raised your voice?! Do you think that I don’t know you?!”
[…]
Wei WuXian, “Jiang Cheng!”
Jiang Cheng gave no answer. With a few steps, he had already turned the corner of the hallway. Wei WuXian could only roll out of bed and chase over, dragging with him his stiff, sore body, “Jiang Cheng! Jiang Cheng!”
Jiang Cheng walked forward without a care for anything else. Wei WuXian was so mad that he threw himself over and clenched his neck, “Answer me if you heard me! Are you looking for a fight?!”
Jiang Cheng spat, “Go back to your bed and lie down properly!”
Wei WuXian, “I can’t do that, we need to get things straight! You really mustn’t listen to those messed-up nonsense.”
Jiang Cheng spoke coldly, “What messed-up nonsense?”
Wei WuXian, “Those things dirty your mouth even if you just say them. Both of my parents are real people in this world. I don’t want others assigning me to other households!”
(Poisons, part 1)
There is nothing in the story to reinforce the idea that the gossip might be true, yet it is clearly hurtful and a genuine source for worry for everyone in the family, driving even the mild tempered Jiang Fengmian to snap, and for Wei Wuxian to angrily call out to Jiang Cheng to listen to him.
The worry of feeding into those rumours is a large part of what drives Yu Ziyuan to be so wary of Jiang Fengmian’s affectionate treatment of Wei Wuxian. It’s clearly an insult to the reputation of the Sect leader, and to his own legitimate family. And Wei Wuxian, as well, framed it as an insult to his own parents, whose waning memories he does cherish greatly. If they acknowledged one another as brothers, it may come too close to pretending like those rumours could be true, which none of them want to do.
In the end, there is one moment where they put to words what their relationship means to them, and that’s Wei Wuxian’s grand “Twin Pride of Yunmeng” declaration:
Jiang Cheng was silent, as though he had finally become calmer. Wei WuXian put his hand on his shoulder again, “In the future, you’ll be the sect leader, and I’ll be your subordinate, like your father and my father. So what if the GusuLan Sect has its Two Jades? The Yunmeng Jiang Sect will have its Two Prides! So, shut up. Who said that you don’t deserve to be the sect leader? Nobody can say this, even you can’t either. If you do you’re looking for a beating.”
(Poisons, part 1)
Wei Wuxian is the one who put it to words and it clearly meant a great deal to Jiang Cheng, to bring it back so many years later during the Guanyin Temple dramatic scene; so let’s unpack it.
Wei Wuxian draws onto the relationship between both their fathers, he emphasizes its hierarchical nature but without using a word as demeaning as servant. But he also compares them to the Two Jades of GusuLan, who are, indeed, a pair of brothers.
So I guess it does sneak in, subliminally.
There is one fanfiction in which I thought the use of “brother” was done perfectly, and that was newamsterdame’s “many envies” (https://archiveofourown.org/works/18773845/chapters/44538778). This is because this fic plays putting it to word as a climatic shift after 20,000 words of build up. It first introduces the idea early on, voicing that “Jiang Fengmian never called him a son, Jiang Cheng never called him a brother. But they were family.”, and plays with it until when finally Jiang Cheng acknowledges Wei Wuxian it’s a big cathartic payoff. (Overall this entire fic is a magistral, wonderfully satisfying exercise in set up and pay off).
But when stories don’t make that sort of work (without being A/U or, say, set in a long time post canon after unshown reconciliation), I feel like it really cheapens the tragedy of Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian’s relationship
In the end, they simply called one another by their names, without naming anything of what they meant to one another.
(All quotes from Exiled Rebel Scanlations, thanks to mrmissmrsrandom for beta, and to the nonnies I initially conversed with when I first ranted about this topic)
no subject
Date: 23 March 2022 12:32 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 24 March 2022 04:36 pm (UTC)Thanks for commenting :)