Wen Fangyi (simplified: 温方义, traditional: 溫方義, pinyin: Wēn Fāngyì, jyutping: wan1 fong1 ji6) was the second of the Five Wen Elders (温家五老 — Wēnjiā Wǔlǎo) of the Wen family (温家) 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), and was eventually poisoned to death by a black spider.
Biography
Role in the Wen family
Wen Fangyi was the second of five brothers who formed the Five Wen Elders, a powerful martial arts family based in Shiliang (石梁). As the second elder, Wen Fangyi worked closely with his eldest brother Wen Fangda 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.
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 Fangyi, 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 (温仪), Wen Fangshan’s daughter, and returned to visit her, the Five Wen Elders saw an opportunity to capture him. They secretly added a special poison called “Immortal Intoxication Honey” (醉仙蜜 — Zuìxiān Mì) to the lotus seed soup that Wen Yi prepared for Xia Xueyi, which paralysed him completely.
With Xia Xueyi unable to use his martial arts, Wen Fangyi 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.
Encounter with Yuan Chengzhi
Years later, when Yuan Chengzhi (袁承志) and Xia Qingqing (夏青青) came to the Wen family fortress, Wen Fangyi was the first of the Five Wen Elders to officially challenge Yuan Chengzhi in combat. He boasted that he could identify Yuan Chengzhi’s martial arts school within three moves, but Yuan Chengzhi was able to deceive him, making it impossible for him to determine the school.
Humiliated by this failure, Wen Fangyi became enraged and used his ultimate technique, the Vermillion Sand Palm (朱砂掌 — Zhūshā Zhǎng), a powerful palm technique characterised by palms that appeared red as blood. Under the pale moonlight, his red palms appeared even more frightening and intimidating.
Wen Fangyi 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).
Death
Wen Fangyi eventually met his end when he was poisoned by a black spider (黑蜘蛛 — Hēi Zhīzhū). The exact circumstances of his death are not fully detailed, but it occurred during the events surrounding the Wen family’s attempts to seize the treasure, marking the end of the second of the Five Wen Elders.
Martial arts
Five Elements Formation
Wen Fangyi, 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.
Vermillion Sand Palm
Wen Fangyi’s signature technique was the Vermillion Sand Palm (朱砂掌 — Zhūshā Zhǎng), a powerful palm technique that gave his palms a red, blood-like appearance. This technique was one of his ultimate moves, which he used when facing formidable opponents like Yuan Chengzhi. The technique appeared particularly frightening under moonlight, creating an intimidating and menacing presence.
Single sabre
Wen Fangyi was skilled in using a single sabre (单刀 — Dāndāo) as his weapon, which he used when participating in the Five Elements Formation. This weapon choice was part of the coordinated attack pattern used by the Five Wen Elders.
Relationships
Family
- Wen Fangda — Wen Fangyi’s eldest brother and leader of the Wen family
- Wen Fangshan — Wen Fangyi’s third brother and father of Wen Yi
- Wen Fangshi — Wen Fangyi’s fourth brother
- Wen Fangwu — Wen Fangyi’s fifth brother
- Wen Yi — Wen Fangyi’s niece, daughter of Wen Fangshan
- Xia Qingqing — Wen Fangyi’s great-niece, daughter of Wen Yi and Xia Xueyi
Enemies
- Xia Xueyi — The Golden Serpent Gentleman, who sought revenge against the Wen family and was captured and crippled by the Five Wen Elders
- Yuan Chengzhi — The protagonist who broke the Five Elements Formation and humiliated Wen Fangyi in combat
Legacy
Wen Fangyi’s legacy is one of arrogance and eventual downfall. His boastful claims and overconfidence, which led to his humiliation at the hands of Yuan Chengzhi, demonstrated the dangers of underestimating one’s opponents. His participation in capturing and crippling Xia Xueyi, and his eventual death by poisoning, serve as a reminder that cruelty and treachery often lead to one’s own destruction.
His story also highlights the theme of family unity and coordination in the novel. As part of the Five Wen Elders, Wen Fangyi’s effectiveness depended on working together with his brothers. When the formation was broken, the individual members of the family were unable to match their opponents, demonstrating the importance of coordination and teamwork in martial arts.
Behind the scenes
Representing family arrogance
Wen Fangyi represented the arrogance and overconfidence of the Wen family. His boastful claim that he could identify Yuan Chengzhi’s martial arts school within three moves, only to be deceived and humiliated, demonstrated the family’s tendency to underestimate their opponents and overestimate their own abilities.
Contributing to the tragic story
Wen Fangyi’s actions contributed 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 willingness to use any means necessary to achieve their goals, showing little regard for personal relationships or moral principles.
Demonstrating the consequences of cruelty
Wen Fangyi’s eventual death by poison served as a form of poetic justice. After years of using poison and treachery against others, he himself fell victim to poison from a black spider, demonstrating that those who use cruel methods may eventually face similar fates.