the last of the name meta (finally!) (that's a lie i'm gonna end up talking about xue yang's courtesy name when i finally get back to reading mdzs). anyway have fun! again, formatting sucks on the website, and all translations are mine.

the oath of sworn brotherhood if we're going to talk about sworn brotherhood, there's absolutely no way we can avoid mentioning the iconic oath of the peach garden (桃园三结义) in the classic novel 三国演义 / Romance of the three kingdoms, in which 张飞 Zhang Fei, 刘备 Liu Bei, and 关羽 Guan Yu swear brotherhood to each other. this is a novel every Chinese-educated person will know, and it's not uncommon to see references to this particular trio today. for instance, a lot of danmei readers will comment on particularly intimate interactions with remarks like "well anyway Guan Yu wouldn't do this for Zhang Fei".

anyway!! this oath is still used today by a lot of modern triads and secret societies to bind their members for life, and it certainly serves as the inspiration for the 3zun oath (I mean, three renowned warriors swearing an oath of brotherhood together? yeah). iirc, the exact wording of the oath also serves as inspiration for the oath they swear in cql/the untamed.

translation: Though we, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, are of different families, we unite now as one, and align our hearts towards the common goal of saving the endangered and aiding the imperilled. We shall serve the nation above, and pacify the people below. We do not seek to have been born in the same year, the same month, or on the same day; we only wish to die in the same year, in the same month, and on the same day. With the heavens and the earth as our witnesses, let this oath be an honest reflection of our hearts. Should we turn our backs on justice and forget our debts, may the heavens and the people unite to strike us down!

(yeah, they don't die on the same day, unfortunately.)

Lan Huan, Lan Xichen 蓝涣蓝曦臣

• 涣 huan → v. (of water) to disperse, dissipate
• 曦 xi → n. sunlight, usually of the early morning
• 臣 chen
  • n. subject, minister; used as a humble self-referential pronoun when addressing one's sovereign
  • v. to submit oneself to another's rule or authority
• 曦臣 xichen → brings to mind 晨曦 chenxi / the first rays of morning light

Zewu-jun 泽芜君

• 泽 ze → n. pond/marsh; lustre; moist/damp; (literary) favour/beneficence
  • water (and thus moisture) is heavily associated with a ruler’s beneficence in classical Chinese texts. rainfall was seen to be the generosity of the heavens; therefore, just as plants need rain to flourish, the people need their ruler’s generosity to flourish.
• 芜 wu → adj. (of a neglected grassland) mantled with wild, unrestrained plant growth
  • this character is more associated with lands that are not visibly changed by human activity, such as abandoned cities and untended graves. there’s this sense that Lan Xichen’s beneficence is so great he leaves an overabundance of it everywhere he goes, yet his nobility is exactly what makes him untouchable and isolated.

Jin Guangyao 金光瑶

• 孟 meng
  • in ancient times, this character was used to refer to the eldest sibling.
• 瑶 yao → n. beautiful jade; later used to refer to objects of beauty in general
• 光 guang → n. light; honour, glory; brightness
  • the Jin clan follows the practice of generation names, so the members of each generation are all supposed to use the same character in their name. that's why 金子轩 Jin Zixuan and 金子勋 Jin Zixun both have the 子 zi character in their name. by giving Jin Guangyao the 光 guang character of the previous generation, Jin Guangshan has effectively taken him out of the line of succession.

Lianfang-zun 敛芳尊

• 敛 lian → v. to hold back; to restrain; to accumulate
  • this character is used in 收敛锋芒 / to hold back the cutting edge of one’s blade; commonly used together with 韬光养晦 / to conceal one’s brilliance and cultivate obscurity as well as 虚怀若谷 / to be hollow and accepting as a valley, which describes a modesty that allows one to absorb others’ opinions.
• 芳 fang → adj. fragrant; virtuous (metaphorical)

edited to include links to my other name meta posts:

• vol 1: wangxian, jiang family
• vol 2: nie brothers
• vol 4: more about wei wuxian
• vol 5: lan sizhui