Character Study: Ningguang, the Eclipsing Star Part I
The biggest secret in Liyue, is not a secret in of itself, but Ningguang, who herself knows all the secrets of Liyue.
Liyue knows her by many names: the Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, the Lady of the Jade Chamber, socialite, ruthless businesswoman whose wealth is unsurpassed in all of Teyvat, Liyue's most beautiful and unsolvable enigma.
Fast-forward two years of Genshin, however, and while the titles still remain, we as her friends have witnessed her being more often than not simply "Ningguang". In this essay we'll attempt to chart her character arc over the last two years in chronological order, her relationships with her inner circle (most notable is Beidou, who brings out a lot of her character), and where this puts her now before the beginning of 2023 and our third Lantern Rite in Liyue.
A/N: Events will feature both EN and CN dialogue due to translation nuances. The Archon Quests, for the most part, were translated accurately.
Archon Quest Chapter I: Act I - III
When we first meet Ninggguang, she appears aloof, mysterious and cordial. Traveler observes that she certainly doesn't lack in ambition.
We also get a sense of her power in Liyue - from the Jade Chamber to the intelligence network of the Liyue Qixing, and this is further reinforced by the way the scenes frame her face and body. Typically, high camera shots are used in film to evoke a sense of authority, danger, fear and tension, which is a good allusion to how the traveler feels about meeting someone whom they've heard only whispers about.
Ningguang is the only character who uses a lot of idioms and metaphors in her Chinese lines - even Zhongli is more direct than her. In CN, she comes across as a very indirect person because of this, and one whose true motives are not clear from the start.
During the battle against Osial, we see a slightly different side of Ningguang - the side of her that is willing to sacrifice her life's work to protect Liyue Harbour. But Tianquan or no, there is a severity in her expressions after the Jade Chamber is destroyed, and a curtness in her tone that wasn't there before. She's clearly carrying on her duty and compartmentalizing what she's lost.
The way this particular shot is framed (bottom) as Madame Ping speaks of how the Jade Chamber was constructed, Ningguang's eyes are not shown on purpose, although you do see the rather polite smile she still wears.
We're left to guess what kind of emotions danced across those eyes when Madame Ping was speaking, referring to her not just as a businesswoman but the "backbone of the Liyue Qixing". Through it all, Ningguang still wears that cordial smile - the mask that she has learned to wear through years of practice in Liyue's marketplace.
We'll also see that although she still holds that smile, her eyes don't seem as vibrant as they were in her introduction to the Traveler (top - post-Osial, bottom - pre-Osial). Clearly the loss of the Jade Chamber has hit hard, but she has duties to a nation and to the people.
We don't get to realise the significance of this loss until much later during her hangout, which we'll get to later. But notice how after this quest, Ningguang never speaks of the Jade Chamber or Osial ever again to us, even during Moonchase, not until it rises once more and survives Beisht.
Chapter II: Act I
After the events of Osial, we finally meet Beidou before we head to Inazuma, after seeing 10293890321 voicelines about her in Ningguang's profile and vice versa.
We are given our first look at a person Ningguang seems to trust, more so than the traveler, because she's told Beidou all about Osial. This is significant as we, as the traveler, are turned away by Bu'yun post-Osial when we inquire about Ningguang - who is "tied up with administrative tedium".
As far as we know, Ningguang shut herself away after Osial, disappearing from public view - until Chapter II Act I, where Beidou mentions that she spoke with Ningguang about Osial. This is at odds with what we know of her in her introduction - the Liyue Qixing's primary focus is to lay low. But of all the Tianquans who have governed Liyue's laws, Ningguang is an exception.
Ningguang is a socialite; she revels in being the talk of the town, and yet after Osial and losing her Jade Chamber, she all but disappeared from the public limelight.
The loss of the Jade Chamber hit her harder than we know, especially when we remember that she values the Jade Chamber more than anything else in her life - it was her life's work, it was designed to be infinite, it was a symbol of her wealth and power, but she gave it all up in a fleeting moment.
To have her world views shattered by a single decision - this was most likely one of Ningguang's lowest moments. Zhongli describes her as someone who "always presses on" in his voiceline about her.
And yet, despite her relative seclusion post-Osial, she allowed Beidou to meet with her.
The Crux Fleet wasn't home to protect Liyue once, and it's likely that they set sail for home after hearing the news. We also know Beidou immediately went into Liyue Harbour from Guyun and didn't return for a long time - and the next time we see her, she has already spoken with Ningguang about Osial.
Ningguang doesn't trust easily, nor is she a direct person, but despite her disagreements with Beidou, the captain is someone she definitely trusts and confides in. We can only imagine the kind of conversations they would have had about what happened but it certainly plays a part in how Ningguang behaves later during Moonchase, when we next see her.
It's also the first time in-game that we know for sure Beidou and Ningguang do converse about other things apart from Beidou's unending list of fines to the Qixing. The severe expression on Beidou's face throughout this is up for contention of course, but I like to think it's because Ningguang confided in her about the pain of losing the Jade Chamber.
Character Voicelines: Ningguang & Beidou
Before we move into the events that eventually shape Ningguang's growth as a character, let's first talk about the stories and two voicelines she has about Beidou, and vice versa. These tell us the history they share before the current events of Genshin Impact, before the traveler wakes up.
They view each other as opposites, agreeing to disagree - however, as we do know, Beidou and Ningguang are also a reflection of yin/yang (deep-dive here!).
And yin/yang is not about forces that complement each other: yin/yang is about opposing forces that balance each other. They will never complement each other like missing pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. They only balance each other, like a scale in equilibrium.
Beidou admits to this off-handedly in Moonchase when Paimon observes that she seems to have a good relationship with Ningguang, especially in CN:
派蒙Paimon: 可上次看你们聊天，总觉得你们关系很好呢。When we saw you talking the other day, it felt like you had a really good relationship.
北斗Beidou: 势均力敌也算是一种平衡吧。虽然我对她的开水白菜实在无话可说。I suppose being evenly-matched is also a form of balance. Although I have no words for her plain cabbage soup.
The EN translation opted for "evenly-matched" as a translation for the word 平衡 Pínghéng. But it's also commonly used to mean "balance". The idiom for "evenly-matched" (势均力敌 Shìjūnlìdí) is usually used in context of a game/polls/tournament/etc. If you break down the etymology, it literally means "power/influence are equal (in a situation), (so our) strengths match".
Also worth noting is the fact that Beidou knows Ningguang's favourite food. From Ningguang's voicelines and Teyvat's Food Guide, a series of Chinese posts on HYV's official site, not many people know her culinary preferences, and would wrongly presume that she enjoys food befitting of her station.
In Teyvat's Food Guide (linked above!), the writer mentions this about Ningguang, having made Golden Crab (her least favourite food) for her:
I thought that a businesswoman like Ningguang would prefer some expensive cuisine, but Ningguang didn't eat that, and simply said: "I've seen people order "golden crab" at every banquet, but I have no desire for such frivolousness. If you want to treat me to such a dish, you might as well just give me the Mora.People sometimes have an inexplicable stubbornness.Though I think Ningguang will not change her opinions because of me, I'm confident that Ningguang will not think negatively of my craft because of this.My betting dice has been tossed down.
With Ningguang generally being a distrusting person, who keeps her suitors at arm's length to take advantage of them - there is someone she trusts implicitly after all, someone who just happened to be absent during the Archon Quest.
Moonchase: Moonlight Merriment
The next time we see Ningguang again is much later, during the Moonchase celebration in Liyue. And lo and behold, Beidou is back, too! Seems like she's stopping over at Liyue a lot more than she did before Osial.
We get our first glimpse of the dynamics between Beidou, a member of Ningguang's inner circle, and Ningguang herself here, when Keqing asks if there are any objections to her taking control of figuring out this big rock.
The conversation that follows gives us a first look into what Ningguang is like when she is among people she can trust, and also how she now behaves post-Osial. Enough time has passed, as well, that the shadow of Osial no longer hangs as heavy as it used to over Liyue.
She has let down her guard considerably more by the time of Moonchase, electing to engage in playful banter instead of remaining cordial and formal. Her somber mood from before seems to be gone and she's appearing in public once again. Clearly she has come to terms (on some degree) with her loss, although we're not privvy to what happened. But based on timeline and inference, we can assume she certainly did not manage to do this on her own.
Ningguang's playful side is most clearly defined in the original CN lines of this banter scene (my comments are in indents):
北斗Beidou: 刻晴办事向来雷厉风行，交给你我就放心了。 Handing this to you, I can be at ease.
Of note here is how Beidou describes Keqing’s work ethic with this idiom: 雷厉风行 léi lì fēng xíng, lit. “strict/strong as thunder, moves fast like the wind” — they are swift to enforce policies and are decisive.
凝光Ningguang: 这话说的，是不放心我的手腕？That said, does that mean you don’t trust in my skills/abilities?
北斗Beidou：哈？刻晴不管风吹雨打都在外面跑，跟你大不一样吧。再说，你又不在乎这事，计较什么呀！Keqing runs around whether it’s windy or raining, she’s very different from you. Also, you don’t mind these things, what are you fussing about?
Personally I think “not giving a wooden Mora about this whole thing” is a little too harsh a translation for 不在乎 bùzàihū, it's more akin to "don't mind" or "don't quite care". Similarly, 计较 jìjiào is typically used to say someone is "kicking up a fuss".
凝光Ningguang：开个玩笑而已，你倒是打蛇随棍上，数落起我来了，把人家旅行者都给晾在一边。I was merely joking. You often seize the opportunity to criticise my flaws while leaving others like the Traveler hanging.
Ningguang describes "seize the opportunity" with a Chinese idiom, of which there is no EN equivalent. This idiom is 打蛇随棍 dǎ shé suí gùn or lit. “hit the snake with a stick”, which is a modern version of the full phrase 木棍打蛇，蛇随棍上 Mù gùn dǎ shé, shé suí gùn shàng. i.e. “hit the snake with a wooden stick, and the snake will follow/creep around the stick.”This idiom was born from ancient times where a snake was very dangerous, but you could hit with a stick (bamboo at that time), and it would see the stick as a danger and follow it.It’s used to indicate a person who is able to act at a good moment (stick) to attack another person’s (the snake) weaknesses, making the situation very difficult for the other person. TLDR; Ningguang is telling Beidou: "You attacked my weakness and made it difficult for me here."
Let's go back to analysis for a bit - this whole section reflects how close they are on several levels:
Beidou has no issues "criticising" Ningguang, Tianquan of the Liyue Qixing, in public. This is of course in part due to her nature as a law-breaking pirate, but HYV took great pains to show us the level of power and authority that Ningguang held in Liyue during her introduction in the Archon Quest.
Ningguang indirectly tells her, in Ningguang-terms, that Beidou has hurt her feelings. Beidou keeps quiet after this and doesn't push the issue, indicating she understands.
We know from Ningguang's way of speaking, and from Beidou's voice lines, that she is a very indirect person. So it does speak volumes that Beidou can grasp her hidden meanings quite quickly - a nod to Beidou's ability to easily understand people.
Fast-forward a bit, to where Ningguang asks the "great sea-faring Captain Beidou" to explain how this rock came about:
北斗Beidou：这女人。。。哼，也好。Zhè nǚrén... Hēng, yě hǎo。This woman… hmph, very well.
也好 yě hǎo is used to indicate that although this person’s request was not what you had in mind, you’re OK with it.
Fast-forward again, to after Ningguang describes her ideal food as precise, pure, and sophisticated, Beidou immediately retorts:
北斗Beidou：到海上待几个星期，保证治了你这身富贵病。Dào hǎishàng dài jǐ gè xīngqí, bǎozhèng zhìle nǐ zhè shēn fùguìbìng。Stay at sea for a few weeks, and you’ll be cured of your wealth disease.
I call 富贵病 fùguìbìng "wealth disease" for easy reference, but it's actually termed "diseases of affluence", and is commonly used to refer to illnesses that result from increasing wealth in society, such as poor digestion, obesity and bad posture.
This is the first look we have at anyone giving a damn about Ningguang as a person - before this, our eyes were on her as Tianquan, as the backbone of the Qixing, as a powerful businesswoman, but never quite as simply "Ningguang" until Beidou comes along.
Finally, we get to spy on them a while longer after this cutscene ends, where Ningguang addresses Beidou's little "wealth disease" jab - a relatively different line in CN than what was shown in EN:
凝光Ningguang: 你方才那番话有欠妥当。就算是我，每天也会在玉京台来回散步，道理月港内走走看看的。What you said just now was inappropriate. I take walks along Yujing Terrace everyday and walk around Liyue Harbour.
北斗Beidou: 哈，只是不想发胖而已吧。Haha, you just don't want to get fat.
Ningguang takes more offense at Beidou accusing her of not having good taste than "attacking her weakness" - the latter is something she's used to in Liyue's marketplace, while the former is more of a jab at what she likes.
Lastly, the ending of Moonchase Merriment - where Ningguang narrates a line of the cutscene speech (bolded):
风雨犹祝，山海同欢，是承天地之佑。斗转星移，沧海桑田，烟火人间依旧。功名在我，百岁千秋，毋忘秉烛夜游。今古诸事，激荡中流，宏图待看新秀。
Zeroing on what she says as she looks out to the Alcor: 功名在我，百岁千秋，毋忘秉烛夜游。
"My glory will be remembered for thousands of years, but (what's important) is to cherish the time (I have)."Italicised line can actually be translated as simply "carpe diem" in English - to enjoy life while one can.
This is a stark contrast from Ningguang's original views that she will not be bound by anything finite. Seizing the day, living in the now - this is something new, something that is finite, that she cannot quantify in terms of Mora.
She has lost what was infinite - the Jade Chamber - and in turn, gained a legacy. She will be remembered for her actions for centuries to come, and her name will make it into the annals of Liyue's history.
That is infinite.
So, what now? It seems everything she loves can be lost at the whim of gods. If so, then there is only one way for her to stand strong - she must savour every moment of her life, lacking for nothing.
What's truly important, then, is not what comes after, but what comes now - to live every moment, to live in the now.
Ningguang says this while looking out at the Alcor in the ending cutscene (screw this 30-image-per-post-limit!!) - a small nod to the person who taught her to understand this.
Seeing Ningguang as a human instead of an enigma
So what does all of this mean? Moonchase tells us a few things about Ningguang's growth:
Ningguang has a sensitive and delicate side, which Beidou seems to know about.
Ningguang appears less guarded by the time of this event, likely because she now trusts the traveler, Beidou, Keqing and the others.
Beidou has access to the Jade Chamber any time she wants - she mentions she can go up any time for a game of chess during this event.
Ningguang appears to be quite enamoured by Beidou, what with her "great sea-faring captain" flattery and attempting to be direct (which is not in her nature).
Time has healed the wounds of losing the Jade Chamber somewhat, though she still does not appear much in public (not as often as implied in her introduction at least), instead sending guards to summon Keqing and only showing up in her capacity as a judge for the cooking competition.
There has been a shift in Ningguang's beliefs, now that the Jade Chamber, which she believed infinite, has been lost. Now she realises that she has left a legacy, that she will be remembered for ages to come, but what's truly important is to live.
This event is the start of what appears to be relationship developments in Ningguang's character growth. She is beginning to display attachment to Beidou, likely because of what happened in the Archon Quest, and is also displaying more trust in the traveler and by extension, the traveler's friends.
In other words, she is descending from the heavens - becoming less of an icon and an enigma, and becoming more human.
Part II will come soon because I hit the 30 image-per-post limit... 😭😭
Preview:We'll cover the following events in Part II, along with how they show Ningguang's exponential growth leading up to the last event she appears in:
Interlude Chapter: The Crane Returns On The Wind
Lantern Rite: Fleeting Colors in Flight
Orchid evening gown
Hangout: The Jade Chamber's Returning Guest
Event: Of-Drink-A-Dreaming
Links:
Beiguang masterlistLyurGG: Moonchase ss | AQ Chapter II ssBluemeat: AQ Chapter I ss
