Jin Guangshan (金光善, Jīn Guāngshàn) is the former leader of the Lanling Jin Clan. Jin Zixuan is his only legitimate son, but his many illegitimate children include Jin Guangyao, Mo Xuanyu, and Qin Su. He is the father-in-law of Jiang Yanli and the grandfather of Jin Ling and Jin Rusong.
Appearance[]
Jin Guangshan wears the peony-embroidered robes of the Lanling Jin Clan with a vermillion mark on his forehead.[1]
He is described having handsome features[2] and a square-shaped face.[3]
Before his death, although he appears weak and sickly, his age still seems to be about thirty or forty due to his cultivation.[4]
Personality[]
Jin Guangshan is a womanizer whose many extramarital affairs reach the point of obscenity.[5] He has a low view of women, declaring that art and reading are wasted on women, who should focus on their appearance first and foremost.[6] Nevertheless, he is also frightened of his hot-tempered wife.[7]
He is also ambitious, as he positions the Lanling Jin Clan to take over the cultivation world after the fall of the Qishan Wen Clan.[3] To cement his power, he is willing to shelter mass murderers,[8] assassinate fellow clan leaders, annihilate clans,[6] and use his own son's death for political gain.[9]
Jin Guangshan seems to have been quite prideful, as he responds to Wei Wuxian's verbal callouts by kicking over a table and storming away during a banquet.[3]
History[]
Marriage and Affairs[]
Jin Guangshan married Madam Jin, a woman who frightens him with her strong temperament.[7] He never dares to disobey her to her face, even agreeing to the engagement of their son Jin Zixuan to Jiang Yanli at Madam Jin's insistence.[10]
While traveling in Yunmeng, he hears rumors of a famous prostitute who excels in both literature and the arts. He conceives a child with Meng Shi,[7] but forgets her quickly, as he considers her ability to read dangerous in a woman.[6]
He even forces himself upon the wife of his close friend, Qin Cangye of Laoling Qin Clan. In the aftermath, Madam Qin is too frightened to tell her husband or remind Jin Guangshan that he had a daughter with her, Qin Su.[9]
Jin Guangshan also travels to Mo Village, where he seduces the teenaged Second Lady of Mo and produces their child Mo Xuanyu. Unlike his other mistresses, Jin Guangshan rather favors the Second Lady of Mo is, and he visits her for four years before tiring of her.[11][12]
When Meng Shi dies, her son Meng Yao approaches Golden Carp Tower with the pearl Jin Guangshan had left his mother, requesting his father's acceptance into the clan. As Meng Yao happens to arrive on Jin Zixuan's birthday, Jin Guangshan insists that Meng Yao be removed immediately, causing Meng Yao to be kicked down the stairs of Golden Carp Tower.[7]
After learning that his son Jin Zixuan does not fancy his betrothed, Jin Guangshan initially intends to keep the engagement anyways, but eventually agrees to Jiang Fengmian's insistence that they break the engagement.[10]
Sunshot Campaign[]
During the war, Jin Guangshan leads the Langya front. Although his son Meng Yao arrives with a recommendation letter from his fellow clan leader Nie Mingjue, Jin Guangshan refuses to acknowledge his son's feats or even to see him. When he eventually requests the aid of the Qinghe Nie Clan, Jin Guangshan even pretends not to know Meng Yao's name at all, to Nie Mingjue's irritation.[7]
After Meng Yao successfully infiltrates the Qishan Wen Clan to spy on Wen Ruohan, Jin Guangshan finally accepts his son into the Lanling Jin Clan.[13] However, the fact that Meng Yao takes the name Jin Guangyao rather than the expected generational Jin Ziyao implies that Jin Guangshan never wished to consider Jin Guangyao a legitimate heir to the Lanling Jin Clan.
Flower Banquet[]
Jin Guangshan's ambition to succeed the Qishan Wen Clan for control of the cultivation world emerges not long after the end of the war. He throws a lavish, week-long banquet for all the clans to celebrate the end of the fighting.
At this time, he had already begun lusting after Wei Wuxian's most powerful weapon, the Yin Tiger Tally.[6] To this end, he recruits many guest disciples talented in Demonic Cultivation,[13] though only Jin Guangyao's recommendation, Xue Yang, has any success.[6]
Night-Hunt at Mount Baifeng[]
Jin Guangshan hosts the Night-hunt at Mount Baifeng,[2] and to say that he minds Wei Wuxian's emergence as a troublemaker during the hunt would be impossible.[3]
Downfall of Wei Wuxian[]
Jin Guangshan allows his nephew Jin Zixun to force the surviving remnants of the Qishan Wen Clan into labor for the Lanling Jin Clan. When Wei Wuxian crashes a private banquet to confront Jin Zixun over this, Jin Guangshan seizes the opportunity to suggest that Wei Wuxian turn over the Yin Tiger Tally for all the clans to guard. Although Jin Guangshan did so to threaten Wei Wuxian by reminding him of the lives on their side lost due to the weapon's power, Wei Wuxian correctly calls Jin Guangshan's ambition to rule the cultivation world. After Wei Wuxian leaves, Jin Guangshan unleashes with fury, kicking over a table before storming away despite the many guests present.[3]
When Wei Wuxian kills several cultivators of the Lanling Jin Clan to free the Wen remnants, Jin Guangshan seeks to poison Wei Wuxian's sworn brother Jiang Cheng against Wei Wuxian. Noting that Jiang Cheng is sensitive to his father's favoritism of Wei Wuxian, Jin Guangshan skillfully claims that Wei Wuxian had disparaged Jiang Cheng, prompting Lan Wangji to object.[14]
Around the time of his grandson Jin Ling's birth, Jin Guangshan proposes the idea of a Chief Cultivator, elected by all the clans. Nie Mingjue suspects another attempt to consolidate power, but Jin Guangshan persists in his idea.[15]
Once Jin Zixun approaches his uncle to reveal that he has been afflicted with the Thousand Sores and Hundred Holes Curse, Jin Guangshan hires experts to remove the curse, but none are able to succeed. Suspecting Wei Wuxian as the culprit, Jin Guangshan and Jin Zixun plot to have Jin Zixun ambush Wei Wuxian on Qiongqi Path on the day of Jin Ling's one-month celebration. Unfortunately, both Jin Zixun and Jin Zixuan are accidentally killed by Wei Wuxian and the sentient Fierce Corpse Wen Ning.[15]
Jin Guangshan initially claims that he will have mercy so long as Wen Ning and his sister Wen Qing turn themselves in. However, as the two sibling surrender, Wen Ning loses control and kills thirty cultivators, including some from the Qinghe Nie Clan and the Gusu Lan Clan. This gives Jin Guangshan the perfect opportunity to renege on his promise of mercy.[16][17] According to author Mo Xiang Tong Xiu, Wen Ning's behavior is no accident, implying that Jin Guangshan may have requested that Xue Yang manipulate Wen Ning through demonic cultivation.[18] Jin Guangshan then executes Wen Qing, but keeps Wen Ning alive for examination.[19]
Jin Guangshan leads a gathering of three-thousand cultivators to Nightless City, where he pours out the ashes of Wen Qing – and, allegedly, Wen Ning – and proclaims an oath to forever oppose Wei Wuxian. When Wei Wuxian confronts him on his hypocrisy, the ensuing battle eventually leads to the Bloodbath of Nightless City.[17]
Jin Guangshan is second only to Jiang Cheng in leading the First Siege of the Burial Mounds, resulting in the death of Wei Wuxian's death and the remaining remnants of the Qishan Wen Clan.[20]
Having lost his legitimate son, Jin Guangshan also brings Mo Xuanyu back to Golden Carp Tower to learn cultivation, an act Jin Guangyao perceives as a threat.[13]
Massacre of the Yueyang Chang Clan[]
Jin Guangshan continues to support Xue Yang's efforts in demonic cultivation, hoping that Xue Yang can recreate the half of the Yin Tiger Tally that Wei Wuxian had destroyed before his death. Jin Guangyao frequently brings his father's political opponents to be Xue Yang's experimentation suspects, including He Su and the entire Tingshan He Clan.[6]
Xue Yang first tests the reconstructed Yin Tiger Tally on the Yueyang Chang Clan, massacring nearly the entire clan. Once he is caught by Xiao Xingchen and brought to Golden Carp Tower's Discussion Conference, all clans support capital punishment save the Lanling Jin Clan. Jin Guangshan wishes to protect his only demonic cultivator, but he caves once Nie Mingjue appears and threatens to kill Xue Yang on the spot in fury.[8]
However, once Nie Mingjue leaves, Jin Guangshan immediately commutes Xue Yang's sentence to life imprisonment[13] and may play a role in pressuring Jin Guangyao into killing Nie Mingjue, despite the fact that they are sworn brothers.[9][21]
After Nie Mingjue's death, the Lanling Jin Clan threatens Chang Ping, the surviving leader of the Yueyang Chang Clan, into reneging his speeches against Xue Yang. Eventually, Xue Yang is released.[8]
Death[]
Although Jin Guangshan becomes quite ill towards the end of his life, Jin Guangyao had already decided to kill him after realizing that his father would never care about him.[9]
He thus hires Xue Yang and two dozen old and/or maimed prostitutes, including Sisi, to rape his father to death. Jin Guangshan attempts to escape, but Xue Yang ties him to the bed while Jin Guangyao mocks him behind a curtain. The prostitutes are ordered to continue even after he was dead, and then all save Sisi are killed.[5]
Aftermath[]
Madam Jin is so infuriated by her husband's ignominious death that she falls into depression herself, eventually succumbing after a few years.[4]
Jin Guangyao, meanwhile, gains control of the Lanling Jin Clan and is elected to the position of Chief Cultivator. He attempts to right many of his father's wrongs,[8] though his attempts to cover his own misdeeds eventually lead to his own downfall.[9]
Relationships[]
Madam Jin[]
Madam Jin is Jin Guangshan's wife. They have a tumultuous relationship, as he is frightened of her temper,[7] and she, in turn, is disgusted by his sordid behavior. Their relationship only worsens after the death of their son.[6]
Jin Zixuan[]
Jin Zixuan is the only legitimate child of Jin Guangshan, and Jin Guangshan seems to value him immensely, as Jin Guangyao later claims that he could never compare to "a single hair on Jin Zixuan's head."[9] Nevertheless, Jin Guangshan is willing to use his son's death to dispose of his political enemies.[17][9]
Meng Shi[]
Jin Guangshan seeks out Meng Shi after hearing rumors of her famous skills in prostitution. He leave her a pearl trinket of little actual value, and a son, Meng Yao.[7] Although it would have cost Jin Guangshan little to purchase Meng Shi's freedom, he declines, considering her a troublesome woman due to her ability to read.[6]
Jin Guangyao[]
Jin Guangyao is the son of Jin Guangshan and the prostitute Meng Shi. Jin Guangshan initially refuses to acknowledge or see him, even with Nie Mingjue's recommendation.[7] However, after Jin Guangyao wins acclaim during the Sunshot Campaign, Jin Guangshan accepts him into the Lanling Jin Clan.[13] Unfortunately, he does not care for Jin Guangyao, as he frequently exploits his son's desire to please him. Namely, Jin Guangshan seems to primarily use Jin Guangyao to dispose of political rivals.[9]
Once Jin Guangyao realizes his father will never love him, he arranges Jin Guangshan's murder, calling it a "suitable death for an old stallion."[9]
Second Lady of Mo[]
Jin Guangshan seduced the Second Lady of Mo when she was sixteen years of age, producing Mo Xuanyu a year later, and by the time she was twenty, Jin Guangshan had tired of her.[11] Nevertheless, the fact that he returns for Mo Xuanyu implies that she is rather favored among his mistresses.[12]
Mo Xuanyu[]
Mo Xuanyu is the illegitimate son of Jin Guangshan and the Second Lady of Mo.[11] After the deaths of Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun, Jin Guangshan briefly brings Mo Xuanyu to Golden Carp Tower to learn cultivation, in an act interpreted as a subtle threat by Jin Guangyao.[13]
Jin Zixun[]
Jin Zixun relies on his uncle to help him remove the Thousand Sores and Hundred Holes Curse. Together, they summon many medics and cursed experts, to no avail. As a result, Jin Guangshan supports Jin Zixun's efforts to ambush Wei Wuxian at Qiongqi Path, with disastrous results.[15]
Qin Cangye[]
Qin Cangye seems to have been a close friend of Jin Guangshan.[5][9]
Madam Qin[]
Jin Guangshan forces himself on Madam Qin while drunk one night, resulting in the conception of Qin Su. Madam Qin is too frightened to approach him about his daughter after the fact.[9]
Qin Su[]
As Jin Guangshan approves of the marriage between Jin Guangyao and Qin Su, he seems not to realize that she was his daughter.[9]
Web Series Divergence[]
In the Web Series, rather than play a crucial role on one of the many battlefronts, Jin Guangshan allows Jin Zixuan and Jin Zixun to take part in the Sunshot Campaign, but he himself does not lead any battles. He only arrives to slaughter the remaining members of the Qishan Wen Clan and assert his power in the aftermath of victory.[22]
Jin Guangshan also pressures Jin Zixuan and Jiang Yanli to marry after the initial cancelation of their engagement,[22] but the arrangement was not his preference in the novel.[10]
Rather than propose the position of Chief Cultivator, Jin Guangshan proposes the watchtowers in the Web Series,[23] implying that they are another attempt to gain power. In the novel, Jin Guangyao proposes the watchtowers to help people in areas far from cultivation clans, and Jin Guangshan refuses the request.[13]
Gallery[]
.JPG "JGS Concept Draft (Donghua).JPG (3.84 MB)")
References[]
|