Cheng Kun

Cheng Kun

Contents

Cheng Kun (simplified: 成昆, traditional: 成昆, pinyin: Chéng Kūn, jyutping: sing4 gwan1), also known as Yuanzhen (圆真) and by the sobriquet Hunyuan Thunderclap Palm (混元霹雳手), was the main antagonist of the novel. He was Xie Xun’s teacher, who massacred Xie Xun’s family and masterminded the six sects’ siege of Bright Summit. Zhang Wuji judged his martial arts to be nearly on par with the Three Dhutas of Shaolin. He was ruthless and obsessive in his pursuit of revenge against the Ming Order.

Biography

Origins and grudge

Cheng Kun loved his junior sister, but Yang Dingtian, the thirty-third Ming Order patriarch, took her as his wife. Yang Dingtian later neglected her, and Cheng Kun began an affair with her. She revealed the Ming Order headquarters’ secret passageways to him. One day, Yang Dingtian discovered them while practising Qiankun Daniu; he suffered a fatal qi deviation, and his wife killed herself out of remorse. Cheng Kun swore to destroy the Ming Order.

He leaked the news of Yang Dingtian’s death, leading to Yin Tianzheng’s split to form the Tianying Order, Fan Yao’s departure, and decades of infighting among Yang Xiao, Wei Yixiao, and the Five Unbound Adepts.

Massacre of Xie Xun’s family

To avenge himself on the Ming Order, Cheng Kun killed Xie Xun’s entire family except Xie Xun. He drove Xie Xun to slaughter martial artists across the jianghu in an effort to draw him out, which made the Ming Order the enemy of the orthodox sects.

Infiltration of Shaolin

Kongjian, the foremost of Shaolin’s Four Divine Monks, took Cheng Kun as a disciple and gave him the Dharma name Yuanzhen. Kongjian sought to reconcile Cheng Kun and Xie Xun and agreed to endure thirteen punches from Xie Xun. After Xie Xun struck him with the Seven Injuries Fist, Cheng Kun hid and did not appear. Kongjian died regretting his trust in Cheng Kun. No other Shaolin monk knew the truth, so Shaolin believed Xie Xun had killed Kongjian without cause.

Siege of Bright Summit

Cheng Kun secretly orchestrated the six sects’ siege of Bright Summit. He used the secret passageways to reach the summit and, while Yang Xiao, Wei Yixiao, and the Five Unbound Adepts were locked in an internal power struggle, he struck them with Huanyin Finger, crippling them. Zhang Wuji rescued them. Cheng Kun feigned death after Yin Yewang injured him and escaped.

Later schemes

Cheng Kun used his disciple Chen Youliang, an eight-bag elder of the Beggars’ Guild, as an insider. He fought Shi Huolong, the twenty-fifth Beggars’ Guild chief, who wounded him with an incomplete Eighteen Palms of Dragon Subduing but was killed by Cheng Kun’s Hunyuan Gong. The Beggars’ Guild later captured Xie Xun and Zhou Zhiruo. Chen Youliang used Zhou Zhiruo to force Song Qingshu to poison the Wudang heroes, but the plan was foiled by the Yellow Dress Maiden, the Seven Xias of Wudang, and Zhang Wuji. Xie Xun was transferred to Shaolin.

Cheng Kun then abducted and imprisoned Shaolin’s abbot Kongwen, intending to use the Slayer of the Lion Festival to pit the jianghu against itself. When his plan failed, he set fire to the temple in an attempt to kill Kongwen. Fan Yao and other Ming Order members rescued Kongwen.

Final confrontation

Cheng Kun fought Xie Xun in the back mountains of Shaolin. Xie Xun pushed him into the well used for the Diamond Vajra Array. In the darkness, Xie Xun’s blindness gave him the advantage. Xie Xun gouged out Cheng Kun’s eyes, severed his tendons, and left him a cripple imprisoned at Shaolin for the rest of his days.

Martial arts

Cheng Kun practised Hunyuan Gong (混元功), Shaolin Nine Yang Skill, and Lion Roar. His techniques included Small Capture Hand (小擒拿手), Thunderclap Fist (霹雳拳), and Huanyin Finger. His Huanyin Finger sent a cold, thread-like force through the victim’s meridians, causing numbness and chills.

See also

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