#yaoxian

[a-blue-nony]

[guangshi-091305]

Are you someone who likes Wei Wuxian rarepair fics/art/headcanons? Do you want to read/write/draw/see more of your favourite Wei Wuxian rarepairs? Are you looking for a Wei Wuxian Rarepair community where you can brainstorm your content, share the joy and feel at home without restraints? Would you like to stay up-to-date with Wei Wuxian rarepair-centric events?

Say no more! Because I have finally put finishing touches on my Wei Wuxian rarepair server and it's finally usable now. Not only is it a server to cater to a large number of Wei Wuxian rarepairs, we're also dead dove friendly (when kept in its channels). Not to mention the Wangxian, Ningxian and Chengxian channels we also have.

Some things to keep in mind are that the server is bottom Wei Wuxian ships and Novel canon based so if those are not your jams...

Otherwise, feel free to DM me and ask for an invite <3

[journeytothewestresearch]

Can you please tell me what abilities sun wukong have because am always confused about it i even hear some people says that sun wukong is omniscient and omnipresent and can control time or that he is is a boundless character

At no point in JTTW is Monkey ever depicted as a boundless character with omniscience, omnipresence, and control over time. Anyone claiming that has never read the novel. Never ever trust any online claims about Sun Wukong unless a cited quote is provided.

Having said that, I am slowly compiling a comprehensive list of all of Monkey's magical abilities and skills, complete with corresponding Chinese terms and citations. However, I am nowhere close to being done (and won't be for years), so I can only give you a general list at this time. But I will link to my past articles where applicable.

The following is based on a list I wrote a few months ago for someone looking to make their D&D campaign more authentic.

Immortality - He has six layers of immortality. But these are more like layers of invulnerability. As a "bogus immortal" (yaoxian, 妖仙) he is still susceptible to injury and death because he hasn’t yet achieved Buddha-nature and broken free of the wheel of rebirth (see note #1 here for an explanation).

Invulnerability - He has an adamantine hide that can't be pierced or hurt by earthly or heavenly weapons and elements (this doesn't count the times that he allows himself to be cut). This is thanks to all of the immortal foodstuff he had eaten in heaven being refined within his body by his samadhi fire, giving him a "diamond body" (jingang zhi qu, 金鋼之軀). Sometimes he uses this invulnerability to freak out demons by blocking a sword strike with his bald head. However, he can still be hurt. For example, he is twice wounded by special elements born from spiritual cultivation, samadhi fire and wind (the book treats cultivated and heavenly elements as two different things). Also, one villain, a scorpion demoness energized with Buddhist dharma power, is able to successfully penetrate his skin by stinging him in the face with her tail.

72 changes - He can transform into anything. The only flaw is his tail, which doesn't always change the way he wants it to. Or, a character recognizes him because of his red butt.

Cloud somersault - This allows him to fly 108,000 li (33,554 mi / 54,000 km) in a single leap. The skill is actually a metaphor for instantaneous enlightenment, for those who achieve it will immediately arrive in the Buddha's paradise.

Magic hairs - He can change any one of his 84,000 hairs into anything he wants (tools, random objects, living creatures, etc.) These include hair clones, which are autonomous copies of himself that can range into the tens, hundreds, thousands, millions, or even billions. However, he only deploys these on a small scale in the novel. He never uses the power to its full stated extent.

Super strength - His greatest feat is carrying two mountains while running "with the speed of a meteor." But there are characters physically stronger than him. For instance, Monkey cannot escape the grip of the Great Peng bird once he is caught in his powerful talons.

Martial arts - He is proficient in armed and unarmed combat, being able to go toe-to-toe with deities with centuries more combat experience than him. "Short Fist," a historical style, is listed as his preferred boxing method. But he mainly relies on his magic iron staff for fighting.

General magic - Monkey is shown capable of calling forth gods and spirits, growing or shrinking to any size, parting fire and water, creating impassable barriers, conjuring wind storms, casting illusions, freezing people in place, putting anyone to sleep, unlocking any lock, bestowing superhuman strength, bringing the dead back to life, turning invisible, changing someone's appearance, traveling to and from heaven and hell, etc.

Magic Eyes - He can see through illusions. But this isn't always portrayed consistently, for I know of several times where Guanyin fools him, and even a god of the soil, a lesser deity, is once able to do the same thing.

Medicine - He can diagnose maladies and concoct medicines to solve the issue.

You can see that omniscience, omnipresence, and control over time are not listed. I think the problem is that people are confusing Sun Wukong at two different points in his character arc. The powers listed above come from the journey itself (ch. 13 to 100). The omni-level powers would come after he achieves Buddhahood at the end of the novel (ch. 100). However, it's very, very important to know that the story ends before Sun Wukong, now the "Victorious Fighting Buddha," performs any feats (i.e. he has no feats as a Buddha). I'm sure people could assign him powers ascribed to other Buddhas in religious literature, but what happens after the story ends is beyond canon.

I hope this helps.

[mulberry-leaves-yearn-for-envy]

Interest Check

Hey y'all, I'm thinking of hosting another event for october, so here's a voting poll for which Wei Wuxian rairpair you would like for it to be centered around.

Editing to add: Bottom Wei Wuxian Dynamics

[wombathos]

a few points -

1) you know what, maybe I do condone all of jin guangyao’s actions

2) it is interesting how it’s explicitly pointed out that nmj doesn’t notice this prime fuckery because he isn’t “someone mindful to such things”. generally sympathetic to meng yao, sure, but entirely unaware of the kind of stuff meng yao has to deal with on a regular basis (wwx, of course, has a way better awareness for this kind of bs)

3) lan xichen I love you so much

[wwjgyd]

Ship you didn't expect to ship but now you do.

hmm I think this applies mostly to the JGY ships that are not my main ones so Yaoxian and Chengyao. Su She ended up getting more unexpected ships too though they strike me more as once you think about him as a character they naturally become options like SMS/QS or SMS/LXC or SMS/JGY/LXC.

Su She/Meng Shi and WRH/Meng Shi would definitely count. The very rare times I actually like any NMJ-ship but that heavily depends on exact circumstances. Absolutely out of left field is WRH/(JGY)/SMS but idk if that even counts because that's more based on one thing leading to another from one specific AU (in which JGY isn't even alive) and suddenly you are there. Most ships I didn't expect to ship don't fall in the "I don't think I'd like this but end up doing" and more in the "I hadn't even thought of this but now I think about it yeah interesting" hmmm I'm fairly sure I'm forgetting the most obvious one. If I remember more gotta add them.

[chenqingssuibian]

Hi! For the character ask meme: how about JGY?

ah. the problematic fave.

How I feel about this character: Jin Guangyao is Very Personal To Me. I relate to him more than I am honestly comfortable with, let alone comfortable sharing. He is brilliant, and underestimated; he has complicated feelings, and he shuts them away half the time behind a smiling mask, and by the time he has turned back to deal with them they have turned bitter and rotten. Jin Guangyao, to me, is a character who is defined by choice, or the lack of it. I don’t think he was born good, or is inherently good - I don’t think anyone is. Jin Guangyao could’ve been good, though, and that is what is tragic about him. He could’ve been great, even. The things he wanted-power, respect, and, for a long time, to be Jin Guangshan’s son-got in the way. The worst part about it is I’m not sure I would’ve made a different decision. I know, intimately, what it is to want the love of someone who cannot give it and is not worth the love I give. I wish he had given up on it sooner; a lot of things would’ve been different.

Romantic Ships: 3zun, XueYao, SangYao, NieYao, SuYao, uhh. I thing YaoXian (meaning, Wei Wuxian/Jin Guangyao) would be a VERY interesting dynamic. That would be sexy. Maybe I should write it...

Non-Romantic Ships/BrOTPs: GOD, I wish he and Jin Zixuan could’ve been real brothers. I wish he could’ve had that with all of his siblings. I also wish he could’ve been petty almost-friends with Lan Wangji, and battled Jiang Yanli for party-organizing rights. That would’ve been great. If only.

Unpopular Opinion: I... can’t think of any? Is it an unpopular opinion that he really did love Qin Su before he found out about You Know What, or at least thought he could come to love her? Is that unpopular? I feel like that’s part of what makes it so horrible. Is it an unpopular opinion or theory that he either knew about or was actively involved in the plot to kill Jin Rusong? It seemed pretty obvious to me (see, in CQL, the scene where he says “SongSong had to die) but perhaps that is just a Me Thing. I’ve got nothing else.

One thing I wish would happen/had happened in canon: See, all my wishes for Jin Guangyao involve him being content with being simply Meng Yao, which he never would’ve been. He wanted power, and respect, and to be in charge - he never would’ve been content with... I don’t know, marrying into a powerful family, or simply working his way up. He was always going to do everything he could to become a Jin, because it was what his mother wanted for him and also because I think there was a part of him that truly wanted to be one, beyond the power and wealth it would bring. (Perhaps THAT’S my unpopular opinion lol)

send me an ask!

[mxtxconfessions]

I think WWX and JGY interacting is interesting and wouldn’t mind seeing more. But I hate the pairing Yaoxian.

[foxspiritmatchmaker]

Chap 318 cover for Fox Spirit Matchmaker manhua, featuring Dongfang Yuechu’s drawing of his *Yao Xian JieJie.

*Yaoxian Jiejie is the nickname DongFang Yuechu gives Honghong, Yaoxian = Spirit, Jiejie = older sister

[journeytothewestresearch]

Dr. Sun references Robert Campany’s (1985) wonderful paper “Demons, Gods, and Pilgrims: The Demonology of the Hsi-yu Chi”, which explores the place of demons within the Buddho-Daoist hierarchy and how they can move up and down within it. I have the article archived on my research blog, along with a roughly two-page overview. Please read that if you don’t want to slog through the 22-page original.

Sun Wukong is most definitely a demon within the context of said hierarchy. As I write in the overview:

There are two types of powerful demons who are subjugated by [a former] master or an appropriate agent (e.g. a rooster god defeating a centipede demon). The first acquires magic powers via Daoist cultivation and, lacking celestial rank, causes havoc (think of Monkey as a young immortal). It is only through their subjugation and addition to the cosmic order that they achieve higher spiritual status. Apart from Red Boy, another example is the Black Bear spirit (ch. 16-17), who is subdued by Guanyin and installed as the guardian of her magic island. The second, being the most common, is one who previously held heavenly rank and was banished to earth. This exile is the result of breaking a rule, the need to burn off negative Buddhist karma, or because of a deficiency in their Daoist cultivation, requiring that they work their way back up the spiritual hierarchy. All five of the pilgrims fit into this category in one way or another.

Monkey actually fulfills the role of both types. One, he causes havoc after acquiring his powers but is later inserted into the hierarchy when he’s made the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses. Two, he is later banished from heaven for attempting to take the thrown.

Another part of the overview relates to @sketching-shark​‘s astute observations about the nature of demons in Asian culture:

The demons of Journey to the West are paradoxical on two counts: one, such beings are realistic, with detailed descriptions of their appearance, speech, and feelings, and yet they are often reduced to mere illusions brought forth by the unfocused or disquieted mind; and two, they are evil from a Western perspective, but not wholly evil from an Eastern perspective. Their ambiguous nature is revealed by the Chinese hanzi used to describe them (e.g. yaojing 妖精; yaoguai, 妖怪), suggesting these beings are “undeveloped” or “bogus” and have yet to complete their cultivation.

Again, Sun fits the bill because he has yet to complete his cultivation. This is highlighted by the Jade Emperor when he refers to our hero as a “bogus immortal” (yaoxian, 妖仙) (Wu & Yu, 2012, p. 193). The journey proper helps temper Monkey’s spirit, as well as allows him to gain Buddhist merit (zhenguo, 正果, lit: “right fruit”). This ultimately leads to his elevation in spiritual rank to Buddhahood and attainment of true immortality (as one free of the wheel of rebirth).

I’m a big fan of the term “demonic divine” when it comes to Sun Wukong.

Sources:

Campany, R. (1985). Demons, Gods, and Pilgrims: The Demonology of the Hsi-yu Chi. Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), 7(1/2), 95-115. doi:10.2307/495195

Wu, C., & Yu, A. C. (2012). Journey to the West (Vol. 1). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

is sun wukong really a demon or is the term ''demon'' used as an allegorical term for his attitude and misdeeds?

Well anon, while I definitely can't claim any expertise on the Chinese concept of "demon," I will say from what I know that "demons" in Chinese culture do seem to be quite different from those from a Euroamerican background.

Mainly, "demon" in Euroamerican culture generally seems to refer to a strictly evil entity--traditionally originating as fallen angel--whose primary goal is to lead humans astray so that they'll sin and be doomed to an eternity in hell. They stand as the polar opposite of the angels and heaven, and while this kind of demon has been depicted in a wide variety of forms, their goals are unchanging.

A "demon" in Chinese mythology, on the other hand, is a "yaoguai," or an entity that's perhaps more akin to the English term "monster" in that while they certainly can be--and as demonstrated by Journey to the West often are-- malevolent to humans, as a group they seem far less interested in leading humans into a life of sin and far more interested in fulfilling their own desires, as well as in cultivating Taoist power so that they can attain a humanoid and immortal form. Yaoguai seem to have a wide variety of origins--to give a sample, the Lady White Bone originated from a human skeleton, Sun Wukong came from a giant stone, and Red Boy was the progeny of two married yaoguai--and they also seem to lead a wide variety of different kinds of lives (some are married with kids, some are warlords, some just keep to themselves, etc.). That said, there does seem to be a commonality between many of them in terms of living in mountain caves and having a distinct preference for human flesh. Even so, there seems to exist a much more fluid boundary between animals, yaoguai, humans, and even gods than Euroamerican thinking usually permits and that seems to be significantly based on how one chooses between the possibilities inherent in one's life. It is this fluidity that makes Sun Wukong such an interesting case; you could argue, after all, that he is both monkey, human, demon, god, and buddha all at the same time.

Here's a few samples from professor of Chinese literature Hongmei Sun's analysis of Sun Wukong in her pretty excellent work Transforming Monkey that go over the ambiguous character of the monkey king:

And finally, as Sun notes, Andrew Plaks argues that “the characteristic Chinese solution to the problem of duality ‘consists in the conception of a universe with neither beginning nor end, neither eschatological nor teleological purpose, within which all of the conceivable opposites of sensory and intellectual experience are contained, such that the poles of duality emerge as complementary within the intelligibility of the whole.’ This argument about the Chinese concept of complementary duality provides an interesting explanation for the coexistence of contradictions in the narrative. It may also count as one of the cultural situation ‘generative of ambivalence and contradiction’ that folklorist Laura Makarius discusses. The concept of complementary duality in Chinese culture certainly helps explain the fundamental ambiguity regarding the teachings in the journey, the most famous being the merging boundary between god and demon.”

-----

So in conclusion--and keeping in mind as always that I'm in no way an authority on this & that people who know more should feel free to add on to what I've said here or correct me if I'm wrong--I think you could certainly describe many aspects of Sun Wukong (including much of his behavior) as demonic, but that this only counts for a part of his multifaceted character. He may be a yaoguai, after all, but he is also the Buddha Victorious in Strife.

----

Also (and in hopes of not being too annoying lol) I’d like to tag the ever-interesting @journeytothewestresearch to this to see if they might have something to add about the nature of Sun Wukong specifically or yaoguai in general.

[david-a-b]

#赵氏河大桥 #耀州区 (at Yaoxian) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1amhwLJaAG/?igshid=1x8hchgtnnx8v

[itsmedicinesfakianakis]

Evolution of Fe–rich phases in Mg melt and a novel method for separating Al and Fe from Al–Si–Fe alloys

Publication date: 15 November 2017 Source:Materials & Design, Volume 134 Author(s): Tong Gao, Zengqiang Li, Yaoxian Zhang, Jingyu Qin, Xiangfa Liu The recycling of high Fe–contained Al–Si alloys is a green industry and how to separate Al and Fe is the key point therein. An efficient technique using Mg melt to separate Al and Fe is proposed in this study. By introducing Al–14wt% Si–4wt% Fe alloy into Mg melt and adjusting melting, holding and cooling parameters, the evolution behavior and separation performance of Fe–rich intermetallics were investigated. A separation layer with Fe–rich particles was obtained at the bottom of the cooled ingot. A meta–stable phase Fe3Al0.7Si0.3 was detected, which only exists above 699°C confirmed by a thermodynamic calculation. Making β–Al5SiFe phase from the initial Al–14wt% Si–4wt% Fe alloy transform to Fe3Al0.7Si0.3 in Mg melt is beneficial to achieve higher separation efficiency since the Fe3Al0.7Si0.3 phase is Al–poor, indicating that quantities of Al are released to the Mg matrix. Holding at 750°C for 30min followed by a further holding at 650°C for 30min is regarded most proper in this study. This work may be referred by relative study on the evolution of intermetallics by introducing one matrix alloy into another melt.

Graphical abstract

http://ift.tt/2uR5wNW from OtoRhinoLaryngology - Alexandros G. Sfakianakis via Alexandros G.Sfakianakis on Inoreader http://ift.tt/2wZDIUD

[wombathos]

wei wuxian i love you but this is a bit of an odd thought to have about a table

[mulberry-leaves-yearn-for-envy]

So our top 3 ships chosen for next months event are:

NingXian (Wen Ning/Wei Wuxian) at 29.2%

SangXian (Nie Huaisang/Wei Wuxian) at 16.2%

And YaoXian (Jin Guangyao/Wei Wuxian) at 11.7%

Thank you for your votes, interest check/announcement will be out once the event is finalised.

Interest Check

Hey y'all, I'm thinking of hosting another event for october, so here's a voting poll for which Wei Wuxian rairpair you would like for it to be centered around.

Editing to add: Bottom Wei Wuxian Dynamics

[wombathos]

one of those 5+1 fics but it’s about wei wuxian and jin guangyao being super overprotective over their respective lan boys, so it’s like ‘five times jin guangyao convinced wei wuxian to do a murder and one time wei wuxian convinced jin guangyao’. for a moment I went ‘oh but they’re not that murder-happy in canon, like how would this even work’ and first off maybe they just do crimes and it’s not always murder but also it hit me this would work great post-sunshot while cloud recesses is still recovering. so it’s the start of a jgy and wwx ‘‘‘‘‘friendship’’’’’ - it’s got it all, jgy manipulating wwx because he doesn’t have the power to help cloud recesses in a more straight forward way and wwx absolutely being aware of what’s happening but still going along with it because, well, their interests align. the problems cloud recesses face are nothing they feel like they’re in the position to do much about publicly especially since their own influence is pretty limited at this stage and they don’t want to accidentally hurt the lan boys by stepping in too openly for them, but, if there were people taking advantage of cloud recesses’ relative weakness and they happened to be in the area.... who knows what might happen

[wombathos]

six sentence sunday for the everything’s fucked au I am determined to write

“And the less prominent sects of course are as hungry for your blood as ever and always enjoy the opportunity to knock GusuLan down a peg.”

“If only there were a sect powerful enough to change the tide.”

A pause as Jin Guangyao’s gaze dropped. “I have offered my help,” he said, voice quiet. “But it has not been accepted. Publicly our clans have become distanced - the other clans believe it is my doing and follow my lead, while in truth…” He trailed off.