The Cloud Recesses (云深不知处, Yúnshēn Bùzhīchù) is the residence of the Gusu Lan Clan located on a remote mountain outside the city of Gusu.
Description[]
The Cloud Recesses are constantly enveloped in mist, giving it the appearance of a place floating on an ocean of clouds in the immortal realm.[1]
Directly outside the entrance is the Wall of Discipline, inscribed with over 4000 rules in the Novel's present day.[1][2]
A bell rings every evening at nine, to remind the disciples to sleep between the hours of nine pm and five am.[3]
Layout[]
- Main Hall
- Lanshi (兰室, Lánshì, lit. Orchid Room) - a classroom.[4]
- Hanshi (寒室, Hánshì, lit. Frost Room) - the clan leader's room (name follows the clan leader's residence).[5] Lan Xichen's Hanshi is surrounded by bamboo.[6]
- Jingshi (静室, Jìngshì, lit. Quiet Room) - Lan Wangji's bedroom.[1]
- Mingshi (冥室, Míngshì, lit. Underworld Room or Room of Darkness) - watchtower where spirits are summoned.[7]
- Yashi (雅室, Yǎshì, lit. Elegant Room) – Possibly a place for guests to wait. Lan Xichen requested that Jin Guangyao wait for him in the Yashi before departing to Golden Carp Tower,[6] and as youths, he and Lan Wangji ate watermelon in the Yashi.
- Chamber of Ancients (古室, Gǔshì, lit. Ancient Room) - the clan's treasure pavilion, where the Mo Incense Burner was found.[8]
- Library Pavilion (藏书阁, Cángshū Gé). - the clan's large library. It has a large magnolia tree planted near a window.[9]
- Includes Room of Forbidden Books (禁书室, Jìnshūshì).[5]
- Back Mountain - where Lan Wangji keeps his rabbits and Little Apple.[7]
- Dormitory - for visiting disciples to stay in.
- Gentian House - former residence of the Lan brothers' late mother.[10]
- Cold Spring - where male disciples bathe to heal or improve their cultivation.[9]
History[]
Burning of the Cloud Recesses[]
Shortly before the Sunshot Campaign, Wen Xu leads the Qishan Wen Clan to approach the Cloud Recesses to accuse Qingheng-Jun of unspecified wrongdoing. They then force the members of the Gusu Lan Clan to burn their residence down, beginning with their Library Pavilion, in the name of "cleaning up the place" so that it would be "reborn from the firelight”.[11]
Lan Xichen flees with the ancient scrolls to save what he can of their history, and Lan Wangji's leg is broken when he refuses to burn the Library Pavilion.[11] In the aftermath, Qingheng-Jun is so severely injured that he languishes in a coma before succumbing to his injuries about a month later.[11][12]
Rebuilding[]
After the Sunshot Campaign, the Cloud Recesses are rebuilt exactly the same as before with assistance from Jin Guangyao.[13]
Web Series Divergence[]
The Web Series depicts Su She as betraying the Gusu Lan Clan to avoid being killed during the Burning of the Cloud Recesses. Moreover, Qingheng-Jun is not mortally wounded during the burning, as he had apparently died before the series even begins.[14]
Trivia[]
- The name of the Cloud Recesses is derived from a line in the poet Jia Dao's "Visiting the Absent Hermit":
- 松下问童子，言师采药去, 只在此山中，云深不知处 – (When I questioned your pupil under a pine tree, he answered, "My teacher went to get herbs." But how can I tell toward which corner of the mountain, through all these clouds?)
- The Chinese name literally translates to "Somewhere unknown deep in the clouds”.
Gallery[]
.png "Room of Forbidden Books (Animation).png (1.54 MB)")
References[]
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