The Gusu Lan Clan (姑苏蓝氏, Gūsū Lán Shì) is a cultivation clan based in the Cloud Recesses, a residence on a remote mountain outside the city of Gusu.[1] The current leader is Lan Xichen.
Uniform[]
The clan uniform consists of white robes with incantations stitched into the threads of the outer jacket to protect the wearer from low-level spiritual attacks.[2]
Members of the direct Lan bloodline are permitted to wear white forehead ribbons with the Gusu Lan Clan's official cloud motif sewn onto them. The forehead ribbons are about a finger's width wide.[3]
Guest disciples, associates and non-blood related disciples wear plain white forehead ribbons. The forehead ribbon means "to regulate oneself”, and as such, very few are permitted by the owner to touch it, unless they are either family or cultivation partners.[4]
History[]
The Gusu Lan Clan was founded by Lan An. He was born in a temple, became a famous monk at a young age, and chose to cultivate as a musician. He took his surname Lan after 伽藍, or the Chinese transliteration of samghārāma (सँघाराम) or 'monastery’. After searching for his "fated person" and becoming their cultivation partner, he founded the Gusu Lan Clan.[5] At some point, Lan An and his spouse had or adopted children. After their death, he left the Cloud Recesses and returned to the temple.[1]
At an unknown point in time, over three thousand rules were carved into a rock at the base of the mountain on which the Cloud Recesses exist, known as the Wall of Discipline.[6] A thousand more rules were added between the time Wei Wuxian studied there as a teenager and the Novel's present day, bringing the total number of rules to over four thousand.[1]
Shortly before the Sunshot Campaign, the Qishan Wen Clan forced the Gusu Lan Clan to burn down the Cloud Recesses.[7] Their residence was later rebuilt exactly as it appeared before, with the aid of Jin Guangyao.
The Gusu Lan Clan also owned multiple external establishments to house their clan members while they were away on night-hunts, including the small, elegant Bamboo Cottage.[8]
Despite the Gusu Lan Clan's proximity to the new Moling Su Clan, as both were located in the Jiangnan area, the clans were not on good terms with each other. This was due to the fact that the leader of Moling Su was a former Gusu Lan disciple, and drew heavily from their techniques.[9]
Practices[]
- Like many clans, Gusu Lan teaches a unique sword style, described as "firm”.[10]
- Its members have prodigious arm strength from required handstands.[11]
- All members of the Gusu Lan Clan must follow the rules inscribed on the Wall of Discipline outside the entrance. Visitors and guest disciples were also expected to follow all of the rules.[6]
- Punishments for breaking the rules include copying all the rules by hand,[12] being beaten with a plank if the infringement was severe enough,[5] or doing handstands while copying the rules.[11]
- Wei Wuxian describes the food in the Cloud Recesses as medicinal in taste and strictly vegetarian. The Gusu Lan Clan banquets, according to Wei Wuxian, are more solemn than a funeral.[13]
- All members of the Gusu Lan Clan wake up at exactly five in the morning and sleep at exactly nine at night.[14]
- Female and male cultivators are kept strictly separate, and interactions between the two are usually forbidden.[15]
- The forehead ribbon is a sacred object to members of the Gusu Lan Clan. Lan An taught that one can only let go of all regulations when they are with the one they love and cherish. Thus, a member of the Gusu Lan Clan cannot easily give another person permission to touch their forehead ribbon, nor can they take it off as they please. Furthermore, they absolutely cannot tie it on someone else – unless that person is their "fated person" (命定之人, mìngdìng zhīrén).[4]
Members[]
Clan Leaders[]
- Lan Xichen (Current)
- Qingheng-Jun (Predecessor)
- Lan Yi (Third)
- Lan An (Founder)
Direct Members[]
- Lan Qiren
- Madam Lan (by marriage to Qingheng-Jun)
- Lan Wangji
- Wei Wuxian (by marriage to Lan Wangji)
- Lan Sizhui
- Lan Jingyi
Guest Disciples[]
- Su She (Former; left to form the Moling Su Clan)
- Round-Faced Girl (Current)
Associates[]
Students who came to study:
Magical Tools and Techniques[]
Swords[]
Instruments[]
Items[]
Techniques[]
- Body-Locking Spell
- Chord Assassination Technique
- Evocation
- Inquiry
- Rest
- Silence Spell
- Purification Tone
- Eradication Tone
Trivia[]
- Despite the rule forbidding pets, Lan Wangji keeps a warren of rabbits in the mountain with Wei Wuxian's Little Apple.[14]
- As a teenager, Wei Wuxian reflects that if the founder of the Gusu Lan Clan was a monk, he must have been an ascetic.[5]
- Many of the direct Lan family can be described as cold on outside, passionate on inside:
- Lan An left the monastic life and his vows for his fated person.[5]
- Qingheng-Jun married his wife against the objections of his clan.[16]
- Lan Wangji faces his uncle's ire to elope with Wei Wuxian.[15]
- Lan Xichen chooses to seclude himself after stabbing his sworn brother Jin Guangyao, and still appears depressed several months later.[13]
References[]
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