Wen Fangshan (simplified: 温方山, traditional: 溫方山, pinyin: Wēn Fāngshān, jyutping: wan1 fong1 saan1), also known as Third Grandfather (三爷爷 — Sān Yéye), was the third of the Five Wen Elders (温家五老 — Wēnjiā Wǔlǎo) of the Wen family (温家) and the father of Wen Yi (温仪) in Sword Stained with Royal Blood. Along with his four brothers, he participated in capturing and crippling Xia Xueyi (夏雪宜), the Golden Serpent Gentleman (金蛇郎君), but was eventually killed by his own steel staff after being poisoned in a temple.
Biography
Role in the Wen family
Wen Fangshan was the third of five brothers who formed the Five Wen Elders, a powerful martial arts family based in Shiliang (石梁). As the third elder, Wen Fangshan worked with his brothers to maintain the family’s power and influence in the jianghu.
The Wen family was known for its ruthless methods and was feared by many in the jianghu. They operated from Wen Family Fort (温家堡 — Wēnjiābǎo) and were skilled in various martial arts techniques, most notably the Five Elements Formation (五行阵 — Wǔxíng Zhèn), which required all five brothers to work together.
Father of Wen Yi
Wen Fangshan was the father of Wen Yi, his only daughter, who was known for her beauty, gentleness, and innocence. Despite being raised in a martial arts family, Wen Yi did not learn martial arts herself, and Wen Fangshan allowed her to remain relatively sheltered from the family’s more violent activities.
However, Wen Fangshan’s role as Wen Yi’s father would become central to the tragic events that unfolded when Xia Xueyi fell in love with Wen Yi, creating a profound conflict between family loyalty and personal relationships.
Conflict with Xia Xueyi
The Wen family’s conflict with Xia Xueyi began when Wen Fanglu (温方禄), a member of the Wen family, murdered Xia Xueyi’s entire family. Xia Xueyi vowed revenge and, after obtaining the Golden Snake Sword and mastering powerful techniques, began a campaign of revenge against the Wen family, killing forty members over two years.
During this time, Xia Xueyi proved to be far superior to any individual member of the Wen family in martial arts. The Five Wen Elders, including Wen Fangshan, were unable to match him individually and lived in constant fear of his attacks.
Capture of Xia Xueyi
When Xia Xueyi fell in love with Wen Yi and returned to visit her, the Five Wen Elders, including Wen Fangshan, saw an opportunity to capture him. They deceived Wen Yi, telling her that they had accepted her relationship with Xia Xueyi, and asked her to serve him lotus seed soup. Unbeknownst to Wen Yi, the soup contained “Immortal Intoxication Honey” (醉仙蜜 — Zuìxiān Mì), a powerful sedative that paralysed Xia Xueyi completely.
With Xia Xueyi unable to use his martial arts, Wen Fangshan and his brothers used the Five Elements Formation to defeat him. They then severed the tendons in his hands and feet, rendering him a cripple without any martial arts abilities, and forced him to lead them to the treasure.
Wen Fangshan’s participation in using his own daughter as bait to capture Xia Xueyi demonstrated the family’s willingness to sacrifice personal relationships for their goals, showing that even a father’s love for his daughter was secondary to the family’s objectives.
Encounter with Yuan Chengzhi
When Yuan Chengzhi (袁承志) first arrived at the Wen family fortress, Wen Fangshan was the first to test Yuan Chengzhi’s martial arts. He used his neili to attempt to lift Yuan Chengzhi off the ground during a greeting, but Yuan Chengzhi was able to resist the force and maintain his position, demonstrating his exceptional neili and earning Wen Fangshan’s surprise and respect.
Wen Fangshan was also the second of the Five Wen Elders to formally challenge Yuan Chengzhi in combat. He was proud of his Dragon-head Steel Staff (龙头钢杖 — Lóngtóu Gāngzhàng) and believed it to be a formidable weapon. However, Yuan Chengzhi was able to defeat him using only a wooden sword, shattering Wen Fangshan’s confidence and pride.
Wen Fangshan and his brothers also attempted to use the Five Elements Formation against Yuan Chengzhi and Huang Zhen (黄真), the first disciple of the Huashan School. However, Yuan Chengzhi, who had learnt techniques from Xia Xueyi’s manual specifically designed to counter the formation, was able to break it using a jade hairpin (玉簪 — yùzān).
Attempt to seize the treasure and death
After their defeat by Yuan Chengzhi, Wen Fangshan and his brothers kidnapped Xia Qingqing (夏青青), Wen Yi’s daughter, and forced her to lead them to the treasure. However, Xia Qingqing was able to deceive them and lead them to a broken temple, where they encountered poison from the Five Poisons Order.
Wen Fangshan was poisoned by the toxic substances in the temple, which caused him to lose his mind and become insane. In his madness, he began wildly swinging his Dragon-head Steel Staff, and in his frenzied state, he accidentally struck himself in the chest with his own weapon, killing himself.
This tragic end, where Wen Fangshan was killed by his own weapon after being poisoned, served as a form of poetic justice for his role in capturing and crippling Xia Xueyi, demonstrating that those who use treachery and cruelty may eventually face similar fates.
Martial arts
Five Elements Formation
Wen Fangshan, along with his four brothers, mastered the Five Elements Formation (五行阵 — Wǔxíng Zhèn), a powerful formation technique that required all five brothers to coordinate their movements and attacks. The formation was based on the Five Elements theory and was extremely difficult to break, allowing the Five Wen Elders to overcome opponents who were individually superior to them.
Wen Fangshan and his brothers also created variations of the formation, including the Eight Trigrams Formation (八卦阵 — Bāguà Zhèn), which was used by the Wen family’s second generation, and the Yi Wood Formation (乙木阵 — Yǐmù Zhèn), which was used to trap Huang Zhen, the first disciple of the Huashan School.
Dragon-head Steel Staff
Wen Fangshan’s signature weapon was the Dragon-head Steel Staff (龙头钢杖 — Lóngtóu Gāngzhàng), a formidable steel staff with a dragon-head design. He was extremely proud of this weapon and considered it one of his greatest assets in combat. However, his overconfidence in the weapon’s power led to his humiliation when Yuan Chengzhi defeated him using only a wooden sword.
Relationships
Family
- Wen Fangda — Wen Fangshan’s eldest brother and leader of the Wen family
- Wen Fangyi — Wen Fangshan’s second brother
- Wen Fangshi — Wen Fangshan’s fourth brother
- Wen Fangwu — Wen Fangshan’s fifth brother
- Wen Yi — Wen Fangshan’s daughter, who fell in love with Xia Xueyi
- Xia Qingqing — Wen Fangshan’s granddaughter, daughter of Wen Yi and Xia Xueyi
Enemies
- Xia Xueyi — The Golden Serpent Gentleman, who sought revenge against the Wen family, fell in love with Wen Yi, and was captured and crippled by the Five Wen Elders
- Yuan Chengzhi — The protagonist who broke the Five Elements Formation and defeated Wen Fangshan in combat
Legacy
Wen Fangshan’s legacy is one of tragic irony and the consequences of choosing family loyalty over personal relationships. His role as Wen Yi’s father, combined with his participation in using her as bait to capture Xia Xueyi, created a profound moral conflict that defined his character. His eventual death, where he was killed by his own weapon after being poisoned, served as a powerful reminder that those who use cruelty and treachery may eventually face similar fates.
His story also highlights the theme of family versus individual morality in the novel. Despite being a father who should have protected his daughter, Wen Fangshan chose to prioritise the family’s goals over Wen Yi’s happiness, demonstrating the destructive nature of blind family loyalty when it conflicts with moral principles.
Behind the scenes
Representing the conflict between family and personal relationships
Wen Fangshan’s role as Wen Yi’s father made him central to the theme of conflict between family loyalty and personal relationships. His participation in using his own daughter as bait to capture Xia Xueyi demonstrated the family’s willingness to sacrifice personal relationships for their goals, showing that even a father’s love for his daughter was secondary to the family’s objectives.
Contributing to the tragic story
Wen Fangshan’s actions contributed significantly to the tragic story of Xia Xueyi and Wen Yi. By participating in the plot to capture Xia Xueyi using Wen Yi as bait, he demonstrated the family’s cruelty and lack of moral principles. His role in the betrayal haunted Wen Yi for the rest of her life, as she had unwittingly participated in the capture of the man she loved.
Demonstrating the consequences of cruelty
Wen Fangshan’s eventual death, where he was killed by his own weapon after being poisoned and driven insane, served as a form of poetic justice. After years of using poison and treachery against others, he himself fell victim to poison, and his own weapon, which he had been so proud of, became the instrument of his death.