Hanguang

Hanguang (Chinese: 含光) was a talented smith on the Xianzhou Zhuming. He was a disciple of General Huaiyan and the father of Yunli.^[1]

History

Sometime after his senior frater Yingxing forged his first sword, Hanguang asked why he as short-life species would come all the way to the Xianzhou to learn craftsmanship. Yingxing told Hanguang of his background and how his weapons would outlive him to avenge his family who fell to the Borisin. Hanguang later stopped him from naming the sword "New Blade: Zero One" according to the Cloud Knights standard-issue template, quoting Huaiyan that a blade's name carries its destiny. Yingxing then named the sword "Departure".^[2]

Hanguang eventually became an exceptional swordsmith, described as the greatest master craftsman since Yingxing, who had since been banished from the Xianzhou after the Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae. Travelers from all over would visit the Flamewheel Forge to get one of his swords. He had an unusual passion for forging, and dreamed of forging a sword with self-awareness that would surpass humans. He believed it would make warriors invincible without any prior training. In order to create this kind of weapon, he infused heliobi into swords and forged swords that could grant their wielders strength and valor, and even make decisions for them.^[1]

However, these swords would absorb all the anger, fear, and bloodlust they experienced during countless battles, becoming "cursed swords." The soldiers wielding them were consumed by malice, turning into puppets possessed by their swords. Despite the devastating effects, outworlders encouraged Hanguang to keep forging cursed swords. Obsessed with becoming a famed swordsmith, and spurred on by outworlders claiming they needed his swords for all sorts of reasons, Hanguang forged a total of 1,382 heliobus cursed swords.^[1]

One day, the Flamewheel Forge was overrun by visitors from afar. The chaos of the mob eventually broke out into a massacre. Hanguang was fatally stabbed by one of the swords he forged. Though many other people died, including Yunli's mother, Yunli managed to escape and was later adopted by Huaiyan.^[1]

Yunli grew to resent her father for his sins and made a vow to hunt down all the cursed swords he forged. Upon finding a cursed sword, she will separate it from its heliobus, melt it down, and add it to her sword, the "Blade of Forged Remnants."^[3] In order to reclaim these swords, Yunli has to duel their bloodthirsty wielders, often suffering serious wounds as a result. She has found 313 cursed swords so far.^[1]

Known Cursed Swords

Name	Abilities	Current Status
Guyun	Grants its wielder swordplay skill	Smelted down and reforged into a guzheng during Yunli's Companion Mission Swords to Plowshares.
Crimson Thorn	Drains life force from others to heal its wielder	Destroyed[4]

Missions and Events

Trailblaze Missions

• The Lethe Below the Living
  • Primeval and Other Times (flashback)

Character Mentions

Character Stories

Character	Stories
Yunli	Character Story: Part I Character Story: Part II Character Story: Part IV

Readables

• Sword Hunt Journal: Crimson Thorn

HoYoLAB Articles

• Pom-Pom's Intel｜Unveiling the "Starforge" Xianzhou Zhuming

Trivia

Etymology

• 含光 Hánguāng is an invisible sword described in the Chinese classic text Liezi (Chinese: 列子). 含 hán means "to keep in the mouth" or "to contain." 光 guāng means "light." According to Liezi, Hanguang is one of the three legendary swords owned by Kongzhou (Chinese: 孔周), all of which are unable to kill people due to their physical properties.^[5]

Other Languages

Language	Official Name
English	Hanguang
Chinese (Simplified)	含光
Chinese (Traditional)	含光
Japanese	含光
Korean	함광
Spanish	Hanguang
French	Hanguang
Russian	Ханьгуан
Thai	Hanguang
Vietnamese	Hanguang
German	Hanguang
Indonesian	Hanguang
Portuguese	Hanguang

References