Chang Ping (常平, Cháng Píng) was the last leader of the Yueyang Chang Clan.[1]
Appearance[]
His appearance is not described in the Novel.
Personality[]
After the massacre of his clan, Chang Ping was very concerned with the survival of Yueyang Chang. He recognized his precarious position as a young, single, childless clan leader, viewing himself as helpless in the face of the powerful Lanling Jin Clan.[1]
Ultimately, his fear for the future of his clan led him to recant his witness against Xue Yang.[1]
History[]
Massacre of the Yueyang Chang Clan[]
One day, Chang Ping went out night-hunting with a few family members for about half a month. In that time, Xue Yang murdered almost all of the members of the clan, purposely destroying their protective array to allow a group of powerful evil spirits inside.[1]
Xue Yang's primary motive was revenge on Chang Ping's already-deceased father, Chang Ci'an, whose cruelty had caused Xue Yang to lose his little finger while he was seven years old.[2] Additionally, Wei Wuxian speculates that Xue Yang may have wished to test his reconstructed Yin Tiger Tally.[1]
After an initial dearth of evidence, Xiao Xingchen volunteered to lead the investigation. He uncovered Xue Yang's grudge against Chang Ci'an and apprehended Xue Yang, taking him to the Discussion Conference at Golden Carp Tower.[1]
Xiao Xingchen presented a straightforward list of evidence, convincing every clan except the Lanling Jin Clan, as Clan Leader Jin Guangshan wished to protect Xue Yang due to his talents in Demonic Cultivation. In the end, Nie Mingjue intervened and threatened to kill Xue Yang right there, and the Lanling Jin Clan caved.[1]
However, Xue Yang's death sentence was quickly commuted to life imprisonment, and Nie Mingjue conveniently died shortly thereafter. Lanling Jin Clan then began to pressure Chang Ping to invalidating all of his past speeches against Xue Yang. Eventually, he agreed to announce that the massacre had nothing to do with Xue Yang.[1]
When Xiao Xingchen spoke with him, Chang Ping responded helplessly:
"What can I do aside from this? If I don't tolerate it, the rest of our clan's people wouldn't be safe for long. I'm really grateful, Daozhang, but… please don't help me anymore. Now, helping me would be harming me. I don't want the Yueyang Chang Clan to end yet."[1]
Death[]
A few years later, Xue Yang masqueraded as Xiao Xingchen to kill the survivors of the Yueyang Chang Clan, including Chang Ping, via lingchi.[3]
Wei Wuxian later speculates that Xue Yang's motive for killing Chang Ping was actually to punish him for turning his back on Xiao Xingchen.[4]
Animation Divergence[]
In the animation, Chang Ping is transformed into a Fierce Corpse in Yi City, and Lan Wangji uses Inquiry to see his death by Shuanghua. Although his eyes are said to have been gouged out, the use of lingchi is cut from the Animation.[5]
References[]
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