Lan Zhan (蓝湛, Lán Zhàn), courtesy name Lan Wangji (蓝忘机, Lán Wàngjī) is the second young master of the Gusu Lan Clan. Titled as Hanguang-Jun (含光君, Hánguāng-jūn), Lan Wangji is one of the Twin Jades of Lan, alongside his older brother, Lan Xichen.
Although the man he loved died thirteen years prior to the start of the story, Lan Wangji recognized Wei Wuxian soon after his resurrection in the body of Mo Xuanyu. Eventually, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian acknowledged their feelings for each other and became cultivation partners.
Appearance
"Although all of the clans in the cultivation world used extravagant words to describe the Gusu Lan Clan’s uniform as the best-looking uniform and Lan Wangji as an incomparable beauty who only appeared once in a blue moon, nothing could help the bitter facial expression that made him look as though his wife had passed away..."[1]
Lan Wangji is beautiful, with fair skin and black hair. The outlines of his waist and back are smooth and graceful, yet strong. He has light eyes[2] and long eyelashes,[3] and dresses in the characteristic white robes and forehead ribbon of the Gusu Lan Clan.[2]
His back is marred with thirty-three scars inflicted by the Discipline Whip. Beneath his collarbone, lies a scar from the Qishan Wen Clan's Branding Iron.[2]
Personality
In his youth, Lan Wangji is stubbornly obedient to the rules of his clan, to the extent that he punishes himself for stepping outside the Cloud Recesses at night alongside Wei Wuxian, although Wei Wuxian had actually pulled him outside when tumbling off a wall.[4] However, he breaks the rules if they contradict his personal sense of justice.[5]
Lan Wangji has a strong moral compass. He does not care to gain fame and glory from night-hunting; he goes wherever people need help or, as other cultivators comment, "wherever the chaos is."[6] Although society had declared that the remnants of the Qishan Wen Clan had to die, Lan Wangji rescues the innocent child Lan Sizhui and raises him as a member of the Gusu Lan Clan.[7]
Lan Wangji is stubborn from childhood on, insisting on visiting his mother's house after she had passed away, even after knowing she would not return.[8]
On the surface, Lan Wangji has a taciturn demeanor, as Lan Xichen explains to Wei Wuxian:
"With Wangji’s personality, how could he say anything if you do not ask? There are some things that even if you ask him he would not say."[8]
However, internally, Lan Wangji is a passionate person who feels deeply. After kissing the blindfolded Wei Wuxian, he is so distraught at his own behavior that he attacks trees to vent his frustration.[9] After Wei Wuxian's death, Lan Wangji becomes drunk for the first time in his life in an attempt to understand why Wei Wuxian enjoyed the taste, and, in a fit of grief, brands his own chest with the iron of the Qishan Wen Clan.[7] He displays jealousy when the resurrected Wei Wuxian becomes friendly with a waiter, causing the man to remark that Lan Wangji looked as if the waiter had put his arm around his wife.[10]
Perceptive and intelligent, Lan Wangji recognizes Wei Wuxian from a single song.[11] He notices small but important details, such as the maple leaves that indicate another exit from the cave of the Tortoise of Slaughter,[12] and that the Water Ghosts has led them to the center of Biling Lake.[13]
Lan Wangji's love for Wei Wuxian reveals his selfless nature. After he risks his own life to save Wei Wuxian, Lan Wangji confesses his feelings. The traumatized Wei Wuxian responds only by repeating "get lost." Nevertheless, Lan Wangji fights thirty-three elders from his own clan to protect him. Once Wei Wuxian is resurrected, Lan Wangji continues to protect him despite believing that Wei Wuxian had always known and does not return his feelings.[5] He also dislikes being thanked by Wei Wuxian, knowing that he often thanks him as a way to praise Lan Wangji while denigrating himself.[7]
Trivia
- Lan Wangji ranks second on the list of cultivator gentlemen of his generation.[2]
- His fan nickname is Wangji (汪叽), a homophone of his courtesy name.
- On this note, fans also call him "Second Brother Lan" (蓝二哥哥). This is the second of a trend where the semes in Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's works are counted in the order of appearance (Big Brother Luo, Second Brother Lan, San Lang (third son), etc).
- His ability to become drunk on a single cup of liquor is genetic.[14]
- According to author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, Lan Wangji apparently likes to tie up Wei Wuxian during sex.[15]
- The author's weibo confirmed that Lan Wangji had known of Wei Wuxian's fear of dogs since their teenage years. When Jin Zixuan brought his dog with him while he was studying at the Cloud Recesses, the dog once chased Wei Wuxian up a tree while he was breaking curfew to sneak Emperor's Smile. Lan Wangji managed to redirect the dog, but he continued to wait under the tree until other disciples came.[16]
- Lan Wangji is strongly implied to have kept the peony Wei Wuxian tossed him in Yunmeng,[17] preserving it as a bookmark.[18]
- His courtesy name 忘机 Wàngjī comes from the proverb 鸥鸟忘机 ōuniǎo wàngjī (lit. seagulls forget tricks). This proverb is derived from a fable found in the Daoist text 列子 lièzǐ from the 4-5th century BCE. It was later turned into the 15th century guqin song 忘机 wàngjī. The song can be heard here. The fable goes as follows:
- On a faraway shore there was a man who loved the seagulls. He would go early in the morning every day to play with them, and the seagulls would come in flocks of hundreds. His father knew of this and said: since you go every day, the seagulls must like you very much. Why don't you catch a couple and bring them home for us to play with too. The next day the man went to the shore as usual, but now his heart only held the desire of capturing a seagull, and on that day not one of the seagulls would land on the beach. Thus, a person ought to forget all bad intentions or tricks that they hold in their heart.[19]