Xiao Xingchen (晓星尘, Xiǎo Xīngchén) is the third of Baoshan Sanren's students to leave her mountain for the mortal world. He is the younger martial brother of Yanling Daoren and Cangse Sanren, Wei Wuxian's martial uncle, and the martial uncle-in-law of Lan Wangji.
Appearance[]
Xiao Xingchen is described as a young man with a lean build. He wears white cultivation robes and carries a sword wrapped in white cloth on his back. He walks as if he is stepping on clouds.[1]
Before his blindness, his dark eyes shine brightly and gently.[1]
After giving up his eyes, bandages about four inches wide cover the upper half of his face. A slight tinge of blood seeps from the bandages. The lower half of his face is quite handsome, although somewhat emaciated.[2]
Personality[]
Xiao Xingchen has a soft personality but a solid heart, gentle on the outside but determined on the inside. The cultivation world describes Xiao Xingchen as the "bright moon and gentle breeze," paired with Song Lan's the "distant snow and cold frost."[3] He enters cultivation society to help save the world.[4]
He is initially sympathetic to Xue Yang's delinquent ways due to his youth, demonstrating his kind heart. Yet he is also intelligent, aware of Jin Guangyao's use of flattery to smooth tense situations.[1]
Xiao Xingchen is mildly self-conscious about his lack of storytelling skills.[5]
Trivia[]
- Because Xiao Xingchen was raised in the same sect as Cangse Sanren, he is technically the martial uncle of Wei Wuxian. In fact, Xiao Xingchen once told A-Qing the story of his shijie Cangse Sanren, who had the opportunity to marry a wealthy clan leader but ran off with a subordinate instead, a fact that displeased A-Qing.[5]
- Xiao Xingchen and Xue Yang were originally part of a different story altogether that author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu planned while she was in junior high.[6]
- According to Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, it is easy to make Xiao Xingchen laugh. Both Xue Yang and A-Qing find out about this, but they do not tell Xiao Xingchen. Song Lan does not know about this because he lacks a "funny bone."[7]
- Xiao Xingchen’s name comes from the Tang Dynasty poetry 嫦娥 cháng é (lit. To the Moon Goddess). The poem has a line which goes 长河渐落晓星沉 cháng hé jiàn luò xiǎo xīng chén. This translates roughly as "The Milky Way slides low and stars dim as approaches daylight."[8]
References[]
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