Nie Huaisang (聂怀桑, Niè Huáisāng) is the current leader of the Qinghe Nie Clan and the younger half-brother of Nie Mingjue. Notorious for his incompetence, he is often nicknamed the Head-Shaker (一问三不知, lit. one question three don't knows) amongst the common people and cultivators alike.
Appearance[]
Nie Huaisang has an elegant and attractive face, but his nervous demeanor shows through his facial expressions.[1] He takes care to dress stylishly, often adorning himself with rings of jewelry and carrying a paper fan.[2]
Personality[]
Despite his intelligence, Nie Huaisang is a poor student who seems unwilling to focus on tasks he is not interested in, including his saber and schoolwork. He prefers to use his intelligence on other areas, such as painting fans, skipping classes, searching for birds, and catching fish.[3] Although Nie Huaisang is mostly able to live life as a dandy while his brother leads the Qinghe Nie Clan, Nie Mingjue dies young, and the unprepared Nie Huaisang inherits their clan. As a result, Nie Huaisang's anxiety, helplessness, and over-reliance on the aid of Nie Mingjue's two sworn brothers, Lan Xichen and Jin Guangyao, leads to his infamy among both cultivators and commoners. As one commoner explains:
"If he doesn't know it, he won't say anything; if he does know it, he's too scared to say anything. If someone asks too harshly to force him, he'd shake his head again and again while crying 'I don't know!' and then beg the other person to let him go."[3]
However, beneath his helpless exterior, Nie Huaisang possesses an extremely crafty mind and a very strong loyalty towards his older brother. When he manages to track Nie Mingjue's missing body to one severed arm, he shows himself to be well-aware of his limitations, as he recognizes that he is not capable of suppressing its resentful energy or finding the rest of his brother.[4] However, he then sets out to plan an elaborate and lengthy scheme that results in both finding his brother's missing body, the exposure of his killer's crimes and misdeeds before all society, and the death of his killer.
This plot reveals a cold and manipulative side to Nie Huaisang, as he willingly encourages the mentally ill Mo Xuanyu's performance of the Sacrificial Ritual to bring back Wei Wuxian, repeatedly risks the lives of the junior disciples, the people of Mo Village,[4] and the children of Yunping City,[5] kills cats in a gruesome fashion,[4] and tricks Lan Xichen into mortally wounding his best friend and Nie Mingjue's killer, Jin Guangyao.[6]
Trivia[]
- In Chinese culture, names often reflect the parent's desires or expectations for their child. The character 桑 sāng means mulberries. Mulberry leaves are grown and fed to silkworms to make silk of the highest quality. Farming is the work of the common people, but growing mulberries instead of essential goods like cotton suggest the wealth and security needed to indulge. Thus, it appears that Nie Huaisang's parents expected him to be someone who prizes simple luxuries and lives a comfortable, unambitious life.
- According to the author, Nie Huaisang will eventually take over the position of Chief Cultivator.[7]
- Mo Xiang Tong Xiu has also stated that the reason for the height difference between Nie Huaisang and Nie Mingjue can be attributed to their different mothers, which may imply that Nie Huaisang's mother was on the short side.[8]
- Mo Xiang Tong Xiu originally planned to give Nie Huaisang an accomplice in his plan of revenge, but she eventually decided the accomplice was unnecessary.[7]
References[]
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