Note 1: This is NOT a list of character skills, just a list of xianxia terms in Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (GDC) aka Mo Dao Zu Shi (MDZS) that are likely to come up in tags, so I might as well give a brief explanation of them.
Note 2: This is by no means a full list of what goes on in canon, just a primer I slapped together from reading the GDC book-- the novels published by Seven Seas have glossaries at the back-- and other xianxia novels and comics, and a bit of extra research to fill in some gaps. There are people who have done even deeper dives into the genre, like whoever runs the Immortal Mountain site. If I made a mistake somewhere or the official translations contradict anything I've already written, I'll make the necessary edits.
Note 3: I'm a Southeast Asian of Chinese descent living in a Southeast Asian country with close historical and cultural ties to China. Some of the Chinese culture prevalent in this region has changed over time and distance, but the roots are still the same, so I try to write what knowledge I do have in ways I understand them to make them more accessible.
A name given to a Chinese man when he comes of age-- women can receive a courtesy name as well, usually when they get married. A courtesy name is considered formal, and those who are not part of the person's close relations must use it unless they want to be rude or don't care for social niceties. Some other countries in Asia also used to practice the tradition, especially those with close cultural and historical relations to China. In the modern era, few people keep up with this tradition.
GDC's cultivators don't follow the typical naming customs because teenagers already have their names, and at one point one was already decided for a child before they were even born, though they're not called by it for a while. The author has stated that cultivators come of age at 15-- as opposed to the historically-accurate age of 20-- so they receive their names at that time.
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courtesy name
GDC's cultivators don't follow the typical naming customs because teenagers already have their names, and at one point one was already decided for a child before they were even born, though they're not called by it for a while. The author has stated that cultivators come of age at 15-- as opposed to the historically-accurate age of 20-- so they receive their names at that time.