‘The Untamed’: Why does everyone hate Jiang Cheng?
The Untamed has a number of complicated storylines going, and it can be hard to keep track of all the ins and outs in the series. One of the most polarizing characters to have emerged is Jiang Cheng (Wang Zhou Cheng). With a myriad of reasons to feel he is either the worst or wholly misunderstood, we are diving in on Jiang Cheng and what makes fans of the show so passionate about his character.
Jiang Cheng: the backstory
When Wei Wuxian (Xiao Zhan) is adopted by Jiang Fengmian (Lu Jiangmin), Jiang Cheng becomes Wei Wuxian’s new brother. The two get off to a rocky start, as Wei Wuxian is terrified of dogs, and Jiang Cheng is forced to get rid of his pets for his new brother. However, Jiang Cheng does come around and eventually the two develop an authentic brotherly bond.
Unfortunately, Jiang Fengmian’s favoritism of Wei Wuxian does begin to create tension between the brothers. The tension reaches a peak as Wei Wuxian defended Lan Wangji (Wang Yibo) from Wen Chao (He Peng), and Wen Chao subsequently murders the Jiang Clan in retaliation. Wei Wuxian becomes the new patriarch of Yiling, which Jiang supports, as he is relieved that his brother has survived Wen Chao’s massacre.
However, when Wei Wuxian goes against the Jin Sect to defend two Wen Sect members, Jiang Chen becomes increasingly concerned about Wei Wuxian and his alliance with those in the dark arts.
After Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng’s sister, Jiang Yanli (Xuan Lu) sacrifices herself to save Wei Wuxian, all of the tension between the two comes to a head, and Jiang Cheng murders Wei Wuxian.
When Wei Wuxian is eventually reincarnated, he regrets his previous actions that led to Jiang Yanli’s death and his rift his Jiang Cheng. In contrast, Jiang Cheng’s hatred and jealousy for Wei Wuxian just grows.
Wei Wuxian: the hero
Those who hate Jiang Cheng obviously l0ve Wei Wuxian, and for good reason. Wei is the charming, bright, loyal hero of The Untamed, and the show’s fans are completely on Team Wei Wuxian.
While Wei Wuxian has made some mistakes with tremendous consequences, he is not malicious. The original tension in the relationship between Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian comes from their father’s clear favoritism and Wei Wuxian’s exceptional talents, which are out of his control.
While Jiang Cheng blames his brother for the near-annihilation of the Jiang Clan, Wei Wuxian’s love for Lan Wangji, which is what gives The Untamed its depth, is what caused him to go against Wen Chao, so fans can’t help but forgive him.
Wei Wuxian’s true intentions for Jiang Cheng
Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian fight, and Jiang Cheng knocks Wei Wuxian unconscious. As Jiang Cheng is gearing up to fight Lan Wangji as well, Wen Ning (Paul Yu) appears and reveals to Jiang Cheng that Wei Wuxian once saved Jiang Cheng’s life by placing his own golden core into Jiang Cheng.
For cultivators, a golden core is a person’s life. The discovery that Wei Wuxian had saved his life without his knowledge challenges Jiang Cheng, as he is both frustrated that he was weak enough to need his brother’s help, and frustrated that he didn’t realize his brother had stepped in for him. The brothers do manage to find a new relationship, but they still have serious tension between them.
Jiang Cheng can be cruel and angry, but understanding his anger towards his adopted brother is a big piece to the dynamic relationships in The Untamed. The two’s bond has withstood death, jealousy, and sacrifice, and seeing how the brothers have managed to ride such a roller coaster gives each of their characters a new level of depth.
Monstastay6
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to be honest…i didnt like him just because he was dramatic and salty so basically what this read.
December 22, 2019Salvia
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Jiang Cheng did not murder Wei Wuxian, the latter chose to jump off the cliff after the death of their sister. Jiang Cheng is always more barks than bites, especially when it comes to his adoptive brother.
February 27, 2020Aina
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But also, the reason why he got captured by the Wen sect and thus lost his core, was only because he wanted to distract the soldiers from finding Wei Wuxian.
April 14, 2020It
Supriya
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Sorry, but i found this whole article to be biased. If it is only just based on mdzs drama version also .There were lots of detail which had been missed which most likely create misunderstanding among untamed fans for jiang Cheng character. He was the one who sacrifice his golden core ,whole family and also forgive wei wuxian multiple time in series .wei Wuxian may be a hero for other in series but we shouldnt also forget most of the time jiang Cheng had to pay for his heroism .he had character who is bad at showing his affection but he also never leave wei wuxian side .yes he was angry and remained angry but if you watch the series in detail you will get to known he do always care and remain by wei wuxian side .and also he really is not responsible for wei wuxian death .
Sorry if my comment seemed rude .but i think i should point out this to justify jiang Cheng character.
April 24, 2020Kelex
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I feel like people are giving Jiang Cheng a hard time because of their love for Wei Wuxian. It’s easy to see how a person with Cheng’s temperament would chafe against Wei Wuxian literally all the time. It’s also easy to see Jiang Chen as an older brother (which he is) with a younger brother who refuses to grow up (which Wei does), and he’s hvaing to shoulder all the responsibility. I also think people need to stop and realize, there are things that we, as the audience know, that Jiang Cheng doesn’t. We know about the Golden Core; Cheng doesn’t. We know that there was a second flute at Nightless City and the puppet that kills Yanli isn’t under Wei’s control. Jiang Chen doesn’t know that. We know that Wei was willing to let his right hand be cut off for the Jiang Clan; Jiang Chen doesn’t know that because it’s presented in the drama as a voice-over from Wen. He finds these things out at the last, and grappling with that knowledge at all once puts Jiang Cheng in a hard place. So much that Jiang Chen doesn’t know, or doesn’t want to see. He is the Jiang Clan Leader now; he can’t think just about Wei Wuxian.
June 20, 2020Shivi
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I just wanted to inform you all that the ones who hate A-Cheng are mainly the ones who have also read the book.
In the book, JC led a siege to the Burial Mounds and killed WWX by his own hands (somewhat).
Then JC tortured people who he thought practiced Demonic Cultivation because he thought they were WWX who came back-
He believed every rumour about WWX.
June 24, 2020I hate when people say that he suffered alot because of WWX, when JC was the one who is ready to turn on WWX at the drop of a hat. He never stood up for WWX in the book. Ever. Even tho he knew WWX was a good person.
Yvonne
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Its clear how even the headline is inclined more to WWX and just flaunt here how everyone ‘despises’ JC because yes, he’s the visibly hot-headed and violent character that is easily latched on to hate and get annoyes while in fact, I think JC is the most complex character in MDZS/The Untamed because he embodies both good and bad flaws. Firstly, JC GENUINELY LOVES WWX! That was never not true or questionnable. What people tend to forget it that JC sacrificed so much and endured as much torment and pain as WWX but clearly the hate is more into him because of the simple fact that WWX is dead and JC is not, festering and developing into an angry and brusque character. The fact that WWX ‘died’ can be likened that he was absolved of his sins (though never pardoned) but JC was the one who lived through 13 years of purposefully being left out, intentionally being discared and abandoned (even if it was for his own good) and struggled to balance everything an adult still has trouble managing on his slender shoulders ALL ALONE. Don’t you all go hatin on JC for how he treats WWX, its understandable and WWX (and even LWJ) is not blameless for everything that’s happened.
June 24, 2020