Jing Yuan's Lore

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Character Introduction

The Divine Foresight, one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou Alliance, leads the Cloud Knights of the Xianzhou Luofu.
A student of the Luofu's previous Sword Champion, though not known for his martial prowess.

Appearance

Jing Yuan has the appearance of a tall man with a light complexion. He has long white hair that's tied into a ponytail with a red ribbon, golden eyes, and a mole under his left eye.

Jing Yuan's clothing consists of an oriental-styled blouse modified with plating and golden armor in the shape of a nian on his right arm. He also has two capes that drape over both shoulders, waist armor with multiple belts, leather vambraces, red trousers with thigh harnesses, and tall boots, with a scroll and tassel attached at his hip.

Character Stories

Character Details

The Divine Foresight, one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals. Although his appearance may be one of indolence, he is more meticulous than seemingly meets the eye. He does not consider saving a situation from the brink of disaster to be a show of wisdom, and is thus fastidious with routine affairs to avoid any potential problems. Due to his careful management, Xianzhou has enjoyed many years of peace, with Jing Yuan's seemingly lazy demeanor having earned him the moniker of the "Dozing General."

Character Story: Part I

• Unlocked at Character Level 20

"Master Diviner, why do we use a square board but round pieces for starchess?"
"Perhaps it's based around the round sky and square earth? Ancient civilizations believed the earth was flat. This set is modeled after the old days of nation-states and imperial conquest over a singular planet, so naturally it's square. As for the pieces... People back then believed the sky was a round dome, and chess pieces spun around like stars in that dome to reflect in human lives. That's why they are also round."
"No, no. That's incorrect."
"I've already predicted your next forty-eight moves. Jing Yuan, if you want to distract me with questions, I urge you to stop."
"Ah, how could you suspect such malice?"
"Don't interrupt me. Keep talking."
"It's true that chess is a metaphor and describes the human condition. The rules of war are clearly established, with each piece's actions fixed — advance, retreat, and jump. Advance or retreat is always in an orderly manner, which is why the board's square in its orderliness. As for the pieces, the sages said "use intellect with subtlety and suaveness." As each piece is meant to be sentient individuals, they are therefore circular."
"The origins of starchess are covered in the Gleaned Pearls of Verdure. I've read lots, Jing Yuan — why are you brazenly lying to me!"
"Cloud Knight moves to C3, taking your King. You lost, Lady Fu."
"Hang on! How did I not see this in my predictions? B—Back up. Let me see that move again."
"Chess pieces are like people. Each has its own sentience. There is no going back on the chessboard. How can anyone return to the past? Haha, how can the head of a Commission act like a sore loser?"

Character Story: Part II

• Unlocked at Character Level 40

Of an alliance spanning six mighty Xianzhou ships, the Cloud Knights emerged out of the ashes of the Flaming Catastrophe. They swore an oath to defend the Xianzhou ships and follow Reignbow's decree of The Hunt, a tradition carried out to this day. Despite the incredible longevity of long-life species, few generals have been able to pass the century mark after taking up the mantle due to the bloody nature of warfare. This is not so much fate as it is tradition. As the armed defenders of Xianzhou against crusading abominations, generals not only must take the lead for planning and dispatching, but also take the lead into battle. Amidst countless names erased too quickly and too cruelly in the annals of history, the Divine Foresight Jing Yuan, leader of the Cloud Knights of the Xianzhou Luofu, stands out from the rest with his centuries-old reign. Under his wise strategy, the Luofu's Cloud Knights have made a name for themselves among the Alliance, achieving an exemplary record. While there are those who complained that he feared combat so much so that he seldom resorted to arms, it remains true that his intellect is no less resourceful than the tip of the sharpest sword in solving thorny problems.

Character Story: Part III

• Unlocked at Character Level 60

One of the hottest pieces of gossip making the rounds today contends that Jing Yuan's family has served the Realm-Keeping Commission for generations.

According to the foxian custom of having babies "picking" their future, parents will put various objects and toys around an infant cub, and get them to choose their future career path by grabbing an item. Jing Yuan's parents hoped he would inherit the mantle of a scholar or official at the Realm-Keeping Commission, but Jing Yuan grabbed the toy sword.

It seems like prediction from the birthfate tradition came true. After graduating from the academy, Jing Yuan joined the Cloud Knights to escape from a "typical" life against his family's wishes.

His first expedition was recorded in the official Cloud Knights' battle record. The Navis Astriger carrying the troops had to make a forced landing on an ocean planet infested by abominations. One new long-life species known as Puppeteer Jellyfish hijacked the Cloud Knights' minds, stowing onto the ship and almost converting their warship into an alien hive. Jing Yuan quickly became aware of the crisis and identified the requirements of Puppeteer Jellyfish possession, then devised a way against them. The rest of the crew eventually passed this ordeal amongst identical friends and foes, defeated the real enemies, and returned home to safety.

This bloodless victory showed Jing Yuan's mettle to the Cloud Knights' generals. After returning to the Xianzhou, Jing Yuan demonstrated his adept skill and was appointed to a position of importance in the Knights.

His quick-witted and practical approaches had repeatedly given his superiors unforgettable surprises — and headaches. In the end, Jing Yuan was invited by the previous Sword Champion of the Luofu to join her team, and so the legend of the High-Cloud Quintet was formed.

Character Story: Part IV

• Unlocked at Character Level 80

As the most famous legend in Xianzhou history, the five heroes of the High-Cloud Quintet gathered to fight together. Their feats were almost endless: Driving out the borisin invading Thalassa. Destroying the alliance between the Houyhnhnms and the wingweavers in the Abundance Axis. Even rescuing the Xianzhou Yuque and defeating the living planet Ketu Mirage, preserving the eyes of the Alliance that gaze out to the stars...

However, all their achievements were no match for the cruelty of time. The High-Cloud Quintet fell apart after less than a hundred short years. As wars waned, the major ships went their separate ways as the Luofu began patrolling cosmic trade routes, seeking out supplies and support for the Alliance.

Old friendships became scattered to the winds, and enemies were either captured or dead. Only memories remain. Fallen generals don't have to endure such torment, but those who survive have to go through it all, no matter how great a vision one has dreamed of and no matter how many overwhelming enemies one has defeated, time will always reduce one's strength little by little yet cruelly spares one's life, leaving one cowering in a corner and hating one's own powerlessness.

Only the truly wise can stand proud in front of the undefeated enemy called time.

Light Cones

Toggle Columns:
RarityPath
3 Light Cones match the category selection:

Icon & Name	Rarity	Path
Before Dawn		Erudition
Perfect Timing		Abundance
Sleep Like the Dead		The Hunt

Missions and Events

Trailblaze Missions

• As Tomorrow Became Yesterday
  • Traverse Stars and Stride Cosmos
• Back to Earth in Evernight
  • Earth, Bear the Suffering of All (memory)
• In Our Time
  • Everything that Rises Must Converge (illusion)
  • The Sun Also Rises (illusion)
• Karmic Clouds Faded, War Banners Folded
  • Obsequies Performed, A Long Road Ahead
• Topclouded Towerthrust
  • Dragon Mislay, Dreams Astray
  • Oblation Obtained, Order Ordained
  • A Dragon Gallant, Its Ocean Distant
  • Demise of Immortality, Finale of Calamity
• Windswept Wanderlust
  • An Invitation Without Proffer
  • Devising Stratagems
  • Omniscient Inquiry of Arcana
  • Wood Sprouts Anew, Fate Tilts Askew

Trailblaze Continuances

• A Foxian Tale of the Haunted
  • Twin Bond
  • Percipient
  • Sword Essence
  • Foxian Dream
• Finest Duel Under the Pristine Blue (I)
  • Homecoming Wardance
  • By Words of Many
  • Emissary Mystique
  • Inquisition to Rectitude
  • Rogues on the Run
• Finest Duel Under the Pristine Blue (II)
  • A Web of Pasts Rewoven
  • I Shall Turn the Tide
  • Salvation by Starlance (illusion)
  • Ebb of Past Sins
  • A Fugue From Beyond

Companion Missions

• Vita Infinita
  • Frosty Blade's Trial
  • Total Recall (illusion)
  • The Dragon Returns Home
  • Clouds Leave No Trace
  • For I Have Touched the Sky

Events

• Penacony Food Fest
  • Food Fest Day Seven
• Luminary Wardance
  • Luminary Wardance
    • Even When Cheers Fade: Chapter 5
• Old Brews & New Friends
  • Old Brews & New Friends (illusion)

Character Mentions

Readables

• A Page From the Alchemy Commission's Official Gazette
• An Appeal from the Vidyadhara
• Correspondence From Realm-Keeping Commissioner
• Disciples of Sanctus Medicus: Collection of Exhibits
• Divination Report
• General's Diary
• Investigation of Ancient Pattern Rubbings from the Luofu
• Ten-Lords Commission Criminal Directory

Light Cones

• Before Dawn
• Perfect Timing
• Sleep Like the Dead

Items

• Jade Abacus of Allying Oath

Consumables

• Steamed Puffergoat Milk

HoYoLAB Articles

• Great Analyst Pom-Pom
• Luofu Sports Illustrated - The Luminary Wardance Special
• Pom-Pom the Grand Gourmet
• The Xianzhou Luofu Trailblaze Index
• The Xianzhou Luofu Travel Guide

Trivia

• According to the General's Diary readable, Jing Yuan at some point owned a pet lion named Mimi (Chinese: 咪咪 Mīmī).
  • Jing Yuan initially purchased Mimi thinking it was a grimalkin, a cat breed extinct on the Xianzhou. However, after the cat grew much larger than expected, he learned he was swindled and that Mimi was actually a lion — resulting in Mimi being renamed to "Wave-Treading Snow Lion" (Chinese: 踏浪雪狮子 Tà Làng Xuě Shīzǐ), which Jing Yuan sometimes shortened to just "Snow Lion."
  • Mimi's voracious appetite also caused the people of the Luofu to start referring to Jing Yuan as "The Glutton General," due to the amount of meat purchased for the Seat of Divine Foresight's meals.
• Talking with Qingzu in the Seat of Divine Foresight can prompt her to spin a tale about another pet lion named Snowmoon (Chinese: 朔雪 Shuòxuě). She states the lion waited patiently for 300 years for Jing Yuan to return from an expedition, and upon his return died peacefully of old age in his arms. It is ambiguous whether or not Qingzu is telling the truth, and also whether or not this is the same lion as Mimi, but there is an epitaph dedicated to Snowmoon on one of the Seat of Divine Foresight's stone lion statues.
  • Jing Yuan himself states he doesn't know who Snowmoon is, but tells the Trailblazer to decide for themselves whether to believe Qingzu's stories.
  • One of Yanqing's visitor dialogues also mentions Snowmoon.
• Jing Yuan's Lightning Lord has a similar appearance to the one wielded by the former general, Teng Xiao. It is possible that they may be the same entity, and that Lightning Lord is a power passed down from Luofu general to general.
• Jing Yuan is at least 721 years old.
• In Chinese, Jing Yuan distinctly speaks with Middle Chinese intonation, which is characterized by a more refined or poetic cadence.
  • Yanqing mimics this way of speaking in his sword inspection idle animation.
• The poem Jing Yuan reads in one of his idle animations, "life is as ephemeral as dew on a leaf, and full of worldly strife," is loosely translated from Chinese: 浮生一薤露，蜗角争是非 fúshēng yī xièlù, wō jiǎo zhēng shìfēi. This can be more directly translated as "life is as short-lived as dew on a plant, why argue right and wrong on things as small as a snail's antenna?"
  • The first half of the poem is a reference to 《薤露》 "Xie Lu", a elegy from the Han dynasty about mourning the dead and the brevity of life. The second half is a reference to one of the miscellaneous chapters of the Zhuangzi, "则阳" Zé yáng, "Sunny".
  • Sushang also attempts to read this poem out of a book in one of her idle animations, but struggles to interpret the fourth character, reading it as 韭 jiǔ instead of 薤 xiè.
• Jing Yuan has the following aliases:
  • The Divine Foresight (Chinese: 神策将军 Shéncè Jiāngjūn, "Divine Foresight General")
  • The Dozing General (Chinese: 闭目将军 Bìmù Jiāngjūn, "Closed Eyes General")
  • The Glutton General (Chinese: 暴食将军 Baòshí Jiāngjūn, "Gluttony General")
  • RealName_Online (username in Ghostly Grove, with the avatar of a white lion)
• Xianzhou starchess is based on Xiangqi (Chinese: 象棋 Xiàngqí), commonly known as Chinese chess. This chess game appears in Jing Yuan's splash art, his Character Story: Part I, his Character Trailer "Heaven and Earth as a Chessboard", and in the Seat of Divine Foresight.
  • The chess endgame in his splash art is a variation of 丹凤朝阳 dānfèng cháoyáng from ancient chess manuals. It is a draw endgame, with Jing Yuan as the black side.
  • The chess endgame in "Heaven and Earth as a Chessboard" is 长生不老 chángshēng bùlǎo, "Immortality" quoted from the Qing dynasty chess manual, Tao Lue Yuan Ji (Chinese: 韬略元机 tāolüèyuánjī). It is a draw endgame, with Yanqing as the red side and Jing Yuan as the black side.
• An NPC named "Jing Fang" in Exalting Sanctum claims to be the younger brother of Jing Yuan, but is quickly caught in his lie as soon as the Trailblazer mentions actually knowing Jing Yuan.

HoYoverse Shared VAs

• Jing Yuan shares the same English voice actor, Alejandro Saab, with:
  • Aquila
  • Cyno in Genshin Impact
  • Anton Ivanov in Zenless Zone Zero
• Jing Yuan shares the same Chinese voice actor, Sun Ye (孙晔), with:
  • Adam/Story in Honkai Impact 3rd
  • Kaeya and Dainsleif in Genshin Impact
  • Janus Beaufort in Tears of Themis
• Jing Yuan shares the same Japanese voice actor, Ono Daisuke (小野 大輔), with Wriothesley in Genshin Impact.
• Jing Yuan shares the same Korean voice actor, Ryu Seung-gon (류승곤), with Thoma in Genshin Impact.

Etymology

• 景元 Jǐngyuán was the first reign title of Cao Huan (Chinese: 曹奐 Cáo Huàn), Emperor of Cao Wei (Chinese: 曹魏 Cáo Wèi), during the Three Kingdoms period. 景 Jǐng means "scenery," and 元 Yuán means "primary."
• Jing Yuan's glaive, Starfall Reverie (Chinese: 石火梦身), is named after a quote from the Chinese Cí poem 行香子·述怀 "Song of Pilgrimage" by Su Shi (Chinese: 苏轼) (1037-1101):

  浮名浮利， "For wealth and fame in vain?"
  虚苦劳神。 "Time flies as a steed white"
  叹隙中驹， "Passes a gap in flight."
  石中火， "Like a spark in the dark"
  梦中身。 "Or a dream of moonbeam."

  • The same quote is written on Dan Heng's coat in the Xianzhou variant of Universal Script, shown in concept art released in Weekly Famitsu August 10, 2023 No.1808.