Thread by @ninehoua

Why Blade and Dan Heng’s relationship is heavily implied to be romantic; A thread on the queer-coding behind #RenHeng and how it pays homage to the Xianxia Danmei genre

Yingxing is introduced as a short-lived human who rose to become a legendary furnace master. He used to have a family he cherished, so much so that the sole reason he became a craftsman was to avenge their deaths. From the get-go, this is a character who, although tragic, had the

freedom to choose his own path and make his own decisions. Yingxing was the one who made the firm decision to become a craftsman and he thrived pursuing this ambition willingly. He’s not restrained by external duties and destiny—Yingxing is the embodiment of unapologetic freedom.

Dan Feng is almost a complete opposite of Yingxing’s person. The fate of a High Elder is decided even before they are born. They’re chosen from birth to carry on the succession, and when they’re born, they’re immediately taken in by the Preceptors who’ll educate them and define

their future in their steed, leaving no room for free choice. While Yingxing had the freedom to forge his own path and identity, Dan Feng is bound by duty and his right to an identity has been stripped the day he was born.

If Yingxing is the embodiment of a short life’s unadulterated freedom, Dan Feng is the embodiment of celestial restriction and repression.

+ Dan Heng and Dan Feng’s story is also on going from being perceived by just their title and power to becoming “more human”/having their human side by nurtured, while YX starts off so shamelessly human but overtime develops to lose touch of his human side, becoming as a weapon.

(2) The Red Spider Lily (曼珠沙华) and the Lotus

Blade is strongly symbolized by the red spider lily, Dan Heng with the lotus. Both of their signature flowers have their own special meanings in Buddhism that contrasts one another.

The red spider lily is strongly associated with death and said to be the flowers that grow in Diyu, Buddhist hell and realm of the dead. There's also a legend associated with with Manzhu Shahua that tells the tragic story of two lover who were separated by fate.

The lotus is heavily associated with divine and spiritual figures in Buddhism. You’d often see various buddhas and bodhisattvas being depicted with lotuses to symbolize their purity and enlightenment. Not only that, contrary to death, the lotus is the symbol of rebirth.

More on dan hengs motifs here:

https://twitter.com/ninehoua/status/1686590772135800832

(3) Death and Rebirth

Aside from their respective signature flowers representing death and rebirth, the opening line of every single one of Blade and Dan Heng’s character stories is also meant to depict this. To date, they’re the only two characters with this opening repetition.

This symbolism is, once again, in reference to Buddhism. Death and Rebirth are both integral concepts in Saṃsāra. Without death and rebirth being part of that cycle, then there wouldn’t be a cycle to begin with. Only when these two stages are present, can the cycle be whole.

(4) Hell and Heaven

Blade is associated with Hell while Dan Heng is associated with Heaven. A lot of these symbols are tied with their heavy Buddhist motifs. Aside from the meaning behind their flowers and ults, you see this reflected a lot in their eidolon/skill/trace names.

For example, Blade’s first Eidolon is called “剑录大限，地狱变相”, meaning The sword records its ultimate fate (its end), Hell changes its appearance (Official EN vr: Blade cuts the deepest in hell). His skill name is also Hellscape or 地狱变 (Hell’s Transformation).

For Dan Heng, the lotus symbolism alone is already proof of his association with Heaven.

He’s also symbolized by the Azure Dragon, one of the 四象—four celestials beasts that appear in Chinese cosmic mythology. Dragons alone have divine connotations. +

Dan Heng’s enhanced NA is called Heavenly/Divine spear. A lot of the themes that appear in his story and Samudrartha talk about transcendence or re-ascending. Not to mention he’s also the descendant of an Aeon…

(5) The Buddha and King Yan

Dan Heng having direct parallels to the Buddha is nothing new. His true High Elder form being revealed is a direct reference to the birth of the Buddha, and so to are his heavy associations with lotuses, samsara, and divinity.

https://twitter.com/ninehoua/status/1686590804843016192

Blade contradicts Dan Heng being the representation of the Buddha by being associated with Yanwang or King Yan, ruler of Hell (Diyu).

Blade E5 is both a reference to the Ten Lords Commission and a Buddhist reference to the Ten Yama King that presides over the ten courts of hell.

十王判死，业镜悬照 means “the Ten Kings that preside over hell judge death; the mirror of karma reflects it.” Yanwang is the god of death who oversees the Ten Kings. To simplify, his role is strongly associated with judgment of souls and determines the fate of these souls based +

on the deeds they committed in life. Yanwang also embodies the concept of karma, which fits with Blade because he’s also strongly associated with that concept. This is reflected in his actions of pursuing Dan Heng, an action motivated by his strong inclination to actually face +

their shared karma rather than running away from it. In his eyes, to face punishment (negative karma) after being judged for their shared sins is the right thing to do.

(6) Yin and Yang: Interconnected forces

Blade harbors a lot of traits and symbols that can be associated with Yin (death, darkness, antagonistic, earth, etc), while Dan Heng has ones associated with Yang (heaven, light, heroism, life/rebirth, etc).

There’s actually way too many to list but here’s an obvious one:

Dan Heng is represented by the Azure Dragon, which is associated with Yang energy. Dragons on their own are attributed to Yang in the I Ching (Qian hexagram).

Meanwhile, Blade is more associated with death and demons. One of his voice lines literally talks about his 魔阴身 Demonic Yin body.

(7) The Star and the Moon

Dan Heng (Feng) is heavily associated with the moon, it appears frequently in his design and it’s also present in his title as 饮月君 Imbibitor Lunae. Blade’s past self, Yingxing, is associated with the star bc his name has the character for star 星.

At face value, these cosmic symbols might not mean that much, but there’s been a bunch of romance-centred Chinese media that use the star and moon to depict the love between two people. Take for example this frequently quoted line from an old Chinese love poem:

— ✵ Why them being written as a pair and having heavy parallels with one another is important in the context of queer coding ✵

Okay, I laid out the parallels Blade and Dan Heng have with each other, so what?

Well, these recurring patterns, matching motifs, paralleling symbols and themes all contribute to establish the great connection between these two characters.

As first established by the matching bracers, Blade and Dan Heng were conceptualized as dualities; they stand as mirrored reflections of one another. Their parallel narratives not only enhance their depth but constantly reiterate their symbiotic and complementary existence.

This alone, serves as a contribution to their overall romantic implications—implying a sense of incompleteness in their individual existence much like how a cycle can’t be whole without both death and rebirth, to complement one another through contrasts like Heaven and Hell.

More importantly, this is commonly seen in a lot of popular Xianxia Danmei works too. Since Xianxia in general is always set in a world heavily inspired by Buddhism and Daoism, symbols and character themes related to those two philosophies are guaranteed.

In this setting, the universe is divided into The Three Realms (三界) including the Heaven Realm and the Earth Realm (which includes the Underworld), and the Mortal Realm that lies in between those two.

For Xianxia Danmei in particular, the trope of soul-bonded pairs frequently emerges, being expressed through intertwined narratives, matching symbols, and mirrored themes (parallels). So It’s not really uncommon to see the main mlm pairing have opposing motifs because of this.

This depiction of two entities as opposing yet complementary forces manifests in a number of ways too. Maybe one character is more associated with the Heaven realm, and his partner with the Underworld. Either way, these motifs are usually emblematic of Yin and Yang principles.

Blade and DH pretty much encapsulates the depth, symbolism, and tropes seen in many Xianxia Danmei works, bringing together elements of duality and shared destiny in their narrative arc. It’s not a coincidence their parallels bear much similarity to that of popular queer works.

—Intertwined Stories: Connected through the Past, Present, and Future

Blade and Dan Heng were introduced in a period of conflict, both seemingly with dubious intentions or perceptions of one another, which is why most people assume that there’s no possibility of these two +

being romantically involved with one another. But this assumption is made with disregard of their narrative past and future.

Later on, in Kafka’s companion mission, it’s revealed that “they were good friends who were bad for each other” which adds to the more surface level +

understanding of their relationship (also, due to censorship, canon queer pairings can only be described as close friends at most i.e current Kiamei, Haikaveh, Eimiko).

Though, what makes it increasingly clear that their relationship is beyond “enemies” and “former friends” is when you take into consideration the greater picture of their entire story, from their shared history to their intertwined futures, and +

how it exhibits the same elements in many Xianxia Danmei stories.

Yingxing and Dan Feng were two people in a clearly intimate relationship who became victims of tragedy, whereby they committed a cardinal sin together that led to terrible consequences.

The details of that sin is still blurry, but it’s likely related to the reason behind Blade’s immortality (who was formerly short-lived).

Even if the sin itself is still unclear, we know either way through Blade’s voiceline that their sin is a shared sin. +

As a result of whatever sin they committed, Yingxing was effectively killed (experienced “true death”) then reborn to become Blade, an immortal, while Dan Feng was forcibly molted and reborn as Dan Heng.

Blade and DH are therefore both the products of Yingxing and DF’s shared sin. Had YX and DF not met and committed that sin together, Blade and DH would’ve also never existed because otherwise, YX would’ve just died and DF would’ve been reborn under normal circumstances.

Now that they’re both reborn with gaps in their memory, they both have to pay for the sins of their past selves—people who they once were. Narratively speaking, Blade is DH’s karma personified and vice versa—making their narrative existence and development rely on one another.

Their story essentially dips into numerous Buddhist themes: (1) Samsara (2) Karma (3) Dukkha

To put it briefly, Blade’s end goal is for him and Dan Heng to finally pay their debts (confront their karma, brought over by the actions of their past selves) and +

receive retribution (to be punished accordingly to be rid of karma) in order for both of them to attain true death (to be free from samsara or the cycle of death and rebirth entirely) and end both their sufferings (dukkha) in life. +

Both their stories are heavily dependent on these concepts and this end goal. These shared themes further solidifies how intertwined their stories are, making it impossible for both their arcs to end unless they face one another.

On top of that, there’s also been a number of foreshadowing and hints towards these two’s lingering attachment to one another (believe it or not). In the bracer lore, it’s foreshadowed that their current hatred will gradually be washed away by time +

(entailing character development with one another). It’s also cryptically mentioned how Blade for some reason doesn’t want to know if Dan Heng hates him, as if he can’t fathom the thought of it.

In recent 1.4 leaks, Dan Heng was also seen by Pompom to have felt some sort of longing towards Cloud Piercer, the weapon Yingxing crafted for Dan Feng, and said he had “unfinished business with the maker of that weapon” despite not knowing who that maker exactly is.

Dan Heng, someone who claims to hold no attachments to the past and Dan Feng, holding onto items related to Yingxing such as the bracer, the jade pendants, and Cloud Piercer despite not exactly knowing why, is very telling.

The fact that he feels a sense of longing and is unconsciously attached to them is also a clear showcase on how certain feelings are capable of transcending death and rebirth altogether.

What makes the fact that Dan Heng shares the same attachment as Dan Feng to these

related items that were related to Yingxing even more jarring is how it’s mentioned that Vidyadharas usually aren’t able to identity items belonging to their past selves as they don’t share the same sentiments with their past lives—but Dan Heng can?

Makes you ask how strong Dan Feng and Yingxing’s bond was to have these sorts of sentiments and attachments to be retained even after reincarnation, transcending death and rebirth altogether.

Aside from that, HYV is also kinda on the nose in pushing how intertwined these two characters are:
- in the official release trailer, they were already being depicted as reflection of one another
- dan heng appears in blade’s trailer while blade appears in samudrartha

- blade is the trigger that forced dh to unseal his true form
-etc...

— ✵ Why their story and its elements are important in the context of queer coding ✵

Not only does it show the interconnected and complementary nature of both their narrative existences, it also makes it increasingly clear how HYV took inspiration from Xianxia Danmei works +

when writing their stories. For one, reincarnation is among one of the most popular tropes and plot elements to use in Xianxia stories and both characters in this case, were indeed reincarnated but still tied to each other because of their past lives and shared history. +

This also applies to the utilization of shared Buddhist themes and concepts, something seen in every Xianxia work.

Aside from that, Dan Heng and Blade’s story on their own with their increasingly complex, conflict-ridden relationship is reminiscent of +

most popular Xianxia Danmei works. Tropes such as lovers to enemies to lovers, past lovers/past enemies, misunderstandings, conflict in general, etc are all pretty common within the scope of the genre.

Oh, and in case you need more convincing:

—Narrative similarities and possible foreshadowing: Usually, due to censorship, you can see MHY attempting to hint at queer relationships between playable characters by projecting it on NPCs written to parallel the stories of said charas

For HSR specifically, love stories between the long-lived Xianzhou people and short-lives are actually pretty rampant—this also applies to how it’s continuously emphasized that all love stories including Vidyaadharas are bound to end in tragedy.

(1) Bailu’s Companion Mission: Banxia and Liangmu
- Banxia wants to make her short-lived beloved Liangmu immortal by asking the Bailu to help her with it
- Liangmu referred to as a shining star by Banxia (YX..)
- Can be interpreted as foreshadowing for the events of the sedition

(2) Vidyadhara Egg: Jade pendants
- Blade and Dan Heng are both in possession of similar jade pendants

(3) Vidyadhara Egg: Vidyadhara in love with a short-lived human

—Beyond in-game content: HYV promotional material

HYV is pretty much pushing this pairing on their own too, making it clear the intentions they had while writing those two. They’ve done more than a lot in promoting Blade and Dan Heng as a CP/ship.

(1) In the CN 1.2 livestream, Blade’s VA said "而且呢他和丹恒终于见面了。很期待他们会擦出什么样的火花。" meaning he looks forward to Blade and Dan Heng meeting and what sorts of sparks will be ignited.

The phrase “擦出火花” has romantic connotations, often used to describe the sparking of romantic chemistry (falling in love). Remember that live streams are scripted, approved by HYV, so it’s very much intentional.

(2) Right after that livestream, a suspicious amount of RenHeng (exclusively ship/CP) memes started getting posted by big Weibo accounts (most of which never even posted HSR content prior), all of them being promoted and endorsed by HYV to advertise the game.

Here's a collection and translation of some of those posts if youre curious:

https://twitter.com/paragayyy/status/1677853231827886083

From lofter:
xilouxieyu594.lofter.com/post/2017217d_…

—Conclusion

Those matching bracers aren’t just BFF bracelets. Dan Heng and Blade’s relationship is very clearly intended to be romantic but it can’t directly be stated due to censorship laws.

Nonetheless, if you read their lore and understand the meaning behind in-game poems and shared symbolisms, it does get increasingly obvious.

HYV’s way of implying this is also one that is deeply rooted in Chinese queer media and literature, particularly through following the +

distinct patterns and niche tropes portrayed in Xianxia Danmei works. Denying their queer coding is to ignore its significance to their story being a way to pay homage to this genre.

—END OF THREAD

ALSO thanks kianasans mariya and yaya for helping me with this thread !

...tagging you ppl bc this thread took years of my life to complete @kianasans @xngyues @woofwoof92 @renhengDNI @uegtsu @fenhwk @catnagumo @montdelune @Zanoshia3 @cephalopaud @pishygorbe @sui08568088 @danhengova i might be forgetting sum ppl...

omg zhi.... i forgot about zhi....

@Kiwy_exe @_deathherrscher i like rnhng

@arachnxte kii i might eb going insane

@arachnxte i forgot like half of my rnhng mootsmnnmaka

@renhengnism @renrobins how could i forget

@flwrxielian 👍

i am Not sure if you like long thinkpoeces but ill tag you solely bc u like rnhng @melanleiv

Here's some further analysis on Blade and Dan Heng's relationship if you're still interested! Also thank you kianasans for taking the time to make it :3

https://twitter.com/kianasans/status/1700884464430157892

@mirukupowda m..may i indulge you with some rnhng? a compilation of all the romantic implications in their canon content? hahahahahah