Channeling qi...
Dongfang Bubai

Dongfang Bubai

Contents

Dongfang Bubai (simplified: 东方不败, traditional: 東方不敗, pinyin: Dōngfāng Bùbài, jyutping: dung1 fong1 bat1 baai3), known as the Eastern Invincible, was the leader of the Sun Moon Order who became the most powerful martial artist in the jianghu through mastery of the Sunflower Manual. His name meant “Unconquered East,” and he lived up to this epithet, never having been defeated in combat after achieving mastery.

Biography

Rise to power

Dongfang Bubai began his career in the Sun Moon Order as a deputy leader under the Wind and Thunder Hall elder. He formed a life-and-death friendship with Tong Baixiong, who once saved his life at great personal risk. During Ren Woxing’s leadership, Dongfang Bubai received exceptional promotions, rising rapidly through the ranks until he was appointed as the Bright Left Envoy and designated as Ren Woxing’s successor.

However, Ren Woxing had recognised Dongfang Bubai’s ambitious nature and deliberately gave him the incomplete Sunflower Manual, knowing that mastering this technique required self-castration and would transform the practitioner into an androgynous figure. This was part of Ren Woxing’s calculated scheme to neutralise a potential threat.

Usurpation and transformation

When Ren Woxing suffered a qi deviation while practising the Greater Star Absorbing Technique, Dongfang Bubai seized the opportunity to stage a coup. He imprisoned Ren Woxing beneath West Lake and took control of the Sun Moon Order.

To master the Sunflower Manual, Dongfang Bubai castrated himself and consumed special pills to cultivate his qi. This transformation gradually made his personality more feminine, and he eventually lost interest in managing the order’s affairs. He delegated all responsibilities to his male lover Yang Lianting, leading to widespread dissatisfaction among order members.

Final battle

Dongfang Bubai remained secluded in his private chambers on Blackwood Cliff, rarely emerging. When Ren Woxing, Linghu Chong, Xiang Wentian, and Shangguan Yun came to challenge him, Dongfang Bubai faced them in combat. Despite being outnumbered by four of the era’s greatest martial artists, he not only held his own but gradually gained the upper hand.

During the battle, Ren Yingying recognised that direct combat would fail and instead attacked Yang Lianting, causing Dongfang Bubai to become distracted. In attempting to save his lover, Dongfang Bubai exposed a fatal weakness and was struck in vital points by Linghu Chong, Ren Woxing, and Xiang Wentian. Severely wounded, he was killed by Ren Woxing.

Even in defeat, Linghu Chong and the others acknowledged that Dongfang Bubai remained undeniably the number one martial artist under heaven, and that even their combined efforts could not have matched him in fair combat.

Personality & traits

Dongfang Bubai represented the ultimate expression of power corrupted by personal obsession. Despite his unparalleled martial arts ability, he had become completely detached from the responsibilities of leadership, caring only for his personal pleasures. As literary critic Wu Aiyi analysed, Dongfang Bubai’s most terrifying quality was not madness but complete clarity—he was fully aware of his actions but simply no longer cared about his subordinates or the order’s welfare, only his own desires.

This calm, calculated self-absorption made him a chilling representation of absolute power divorced from responsibility. Ren Woxing himself acknowledged Dongfang Bubai as the first among the three and a half people he most admired, recognising both his martial arts supremacy and his strategic brilliance.

Martial arts abilities

Sunflower Manual

Dongfang Bubai mastered the incomplete Sunflower Manual, one of the most powerful martial arts techniques in Jin Yong’s works. This technique emphasised speed to the extreme, transforming the practitioner’s body into something like ethereal smoke, moving with supernatural swiftness.

Even with only an ordinary embroidery needle, Dongfang Bubai could parry Linghu Chong’s sword strikes. His movements were so fast that he could instantly strike all the vital points on a person’s head with a single needle, killing them instantly. His body moved like a red cloud, weaving between attacks so quickly that even Linghu Chong’s Nine Swords of Dugu could find no openings.

His internal energy was equally formidable. With a single needle, he could deflect attacks from Linghu Chong, who possessed exceptional neigong. During the battle, he blinded one eye each of Shangguan Yun and Ren Woxing, demonstrating both his precision and his devastating power.

The Sunflower Manual’s requirement of self-castration transformed Dongfang Bubai physically and psychologically, making him the most powerful yet most isolated figure in the martial arts world.

Relationships

Dongfang Bubai’s primary relationship was with Yang Lianting, his male lover who managed the order’s daily affairs. This relationship became Dongfang Bubai’s sole focus, leading him to neglect all other responsibilities. His devotion to Yang Lianting ultimately proved his undoing when Ren Yingying attacked him during the climactic battle.

His former friendship with Tong Baixiong had been genuine, but Dongfang Bubai’s transformation and obsession with power and personal pleasure severed these bonds. His relationship with Ren Woxing was complex—Ren Woxing had deliberately given him the Sunflower Manual to neutralise him, but Dongfang Bubai’s mastery of the technique made him even more dangerous than anticipated.

Behind the scenes

Dongfang Bubai represents one of Jin Yong’s most complex antagonists, embodying themes of power, corruption, and the cost of absolute mastery. His character explores how ultimate power can lead to complete isolation and detachment from human concerns.

Literary significance

The character serves as a warning about the dangers of pursuing power without maintaining human connections and responsibilities. Dongfang Bubai’s transformation from a capable leader to an isolated figure obsessed only with personal pleasure demonstrates how absolute power can corrupt absolutely, even when achieved through legitimate means.

His gender transformation through the Sunflower Manual has made him an iconic figure in discussions of gender and sexuality in wuxia fiction, with many adaptations exploring these themes in different ways.

Portrayals

Dongfang Bubai has been portrayed by numerous actors and actresses in film and television adaptations, reflecting the character’s unique gender presentation:

Laughing in the Wind

Other adaptations

Brigitte Lin’s portrayal in the 1992 film Swordsman II is widely regarded as the most iconic interpretation, transforming the character into a cultural phenomenon and establishing many of the visual and character traits that subsequent adaptations would reference.

See also

Advertisement