Yue Su (simplified: 岳肅, traditional: 岳肅, pinyin: Yuè Sù, jyutping: ngok6 suk1) was one of the founders of the Huashan School’s Qi faction. Along with Cai Zifeng, he read the Sunflower Manual (葵花宝典) at the Shaolin Order’s Putian Temple, inadvertently causing the split between the Sword and Qi factions that would plague the Huashan School for generations.
Biography
Yue Su and Cai Zifeng were both disciples of the Huashan School who visited the Putian Temple of the Shaolin Order. There, they discovered the Sunflower Manual, a legendary martial arts manual. Due to time constraints, they agreed to each read half of the manual and then compare notes back at Huashan.
However, when they returned to Huashan and tried to verify their notes, they discovered that their halves did not match. Each believed the other had misread or misremembered their portion, and neither could practice the techniques from their incomplete understanding.
This disagreement led to a fundamental split in the Huashan School:
- Yue Su founded the Qi faction (气宗), believing that internal energy (qi) was paramount
- Cai Zifeng founded the Sword faction (剑宗), believing that sword techniques were paramount
Death
When the Sun Moon Order learned that the Huashan School had read the Sunflower Manual, they sent ten elders to attack Huashan. Both Yue Su and Cai Zifeng were killed in this battle, and the incomplete Sunflower Manual was taken by the Sun Moon Order.
Personality & traits
Yue Su was portrayed as a skilled martial artist who was passionate about internal energy cultivation. His disagreement with Cai Zifeng over the interpretation of the Sunflower Manual demonstrated his conviction that qi cultivation was the foundation of martial arts.
Martial arts abilities
Yue Su was a master of internal energy who founded the Qi faction of the Huashan School. His emphasis on qi cultivation over sword techniques would become the core philosophy of the Qi faction for generations to come.
Relationships
- Cai Zifeng: His fellow disciple and co-founder of the factions, with whom he disagreed over the interpretation of the Sunflower Manual.
- Yue Buqun: A later leader of the Qi faction who inherited Yue Su’s legacy (though not necessarily a direct descendant).
Behind the scenes
Yue Su’s character represents the historical origins of the Sword-Qi faction split that defines much of the Huashan School’s internal conflict in Laughing in the Wind. His disagreement with Cai Zifeng over the Sunflower Manual created a schism that would last for generations, ultimately leading to the tragic “Jade Maiden Peak” battle where the Sword faction was nearly exterminated.
The story of Yue Su and Cai Zifeng serves as a cautionary tale about the dangers of incomplete knowledge and the destructive power of ideological disagreements within martial arts schools.
See also
- Laughing in the Wind characters
- Cai Zifeng – Co-founder of the factions
- Huashan School – Yue Su’s faction
- Qi faction – The faction Yue Su founded
- Sunflower Manual – The manual that caused the split
External links
- Yue Su (Chinese) on Chinese Wikipedia