Hong Tianbao

Biodata

Background and History

Hong came from Guangzhou and worked as a guard for the Ye family before becoming the Former Dynasty’s Martial Laureate. He married Ye Wanqing, and their daughter, Ye Qingyao, uses her mother’s surname. He initially rejects Qin Zhong’s claim that he married into the Ye family, though he later publicly calls himself its live-in son-in-law 16 90.

Under the name Hong Zhen, he entered the Eight Gates Association intending to steal its martial arts. Its former chairman discovered him but taught him anyway, then offered him the chairmanship and his granddaughter’s hand. Already in love with someone else, Hong confessed his original intent in a letter and fled. Chen Ruhai holds the chairmanship pending Hong’s acceptance 80. Hong also studied at Hengshan Sword Sect under the name Junbao; its sect master, Mo Wen, remains his senior brother despite their strained past 222.

Hong runs Shocking Heron Martial Hall with a three-year training plan: afterward, he intends to take ten students to Tianjin to challenge ten local halls and establish his school there. He waives tuition but requires students to share the costs of food, medicine, and weapons, and warns them that the challenges may be fatal 16 17.

Appearance

Hong’s genial appearance contrasts with the pressure he can exert as a martial artist 16.

• Short and remarkably round, with a prominent belly, fair skin, plump cheeks, and smiling eyes that narrow to slits 16.
• Often wears loose training clothes or a robe; Li Xiang likens his face to a smiling Maitreya Buddha 16 318.

Personality

Hong jokes with his disciples and can turn a reprimand into a training assignment: after catching Qin gossiping about him, he adds sandbags to Qin’s rickshaw work 16. He is blunt about the danger of martial arts and his ambitions for the hall, but insists that students are not servants and pays Li Xiang for kitchen work 17 19.

His concern extends beyond his school. During the Blackwater ghost calamity, Hong gathers dozens of ships to evacuate residents rather than pursue a possible opportunity beneath Blackwater Pool. He also gives Huang Shendu a dignified account of his father’s death, concealing its grim circumstances 89.

Abilities and Skills

Grandmaster Martial Arts

Hong displays a Martial Cultivator Grandmaster’s aura and Elixir Force when he challenges Yagyu Qiushui 74.

• His pressure tests Li Xiang’s resolve before accepting him as a student 16.
• He hides Penetrating Force in a thrown teacup, overcoming Huang Silang’s Silk-Winding Force 24.
• He catches Fourth Realm Grandmaster Zhao Ganglie’s saber between two fingers while protecting Huang Silang 168.

Martial Instruction

Hong teaches martial arts as effective fighting techniques rather than performance 17.

• Demonstrates Hung Fist, Form-Intent Fist, Eight Trigrams Fist, Wing Chun, and Intercepting Fist 17.
• Teaches the moving balance within horse-stance training and demonstrates Taizu Long Fist, which he calls by its original name, Dragon Fist 18.
• Teaches Li Xiang Crossing Fist and Splitting Fist, explaining both their fighting mechanics and their place in Form-Intent’s Five Elements 166 169.
• Explains the Dragon Transformation path: the Martial Ancestor left eighteen stages, while practitioners must survive eighteen further tribulations themselves 82.

Medicine and Cooking

• Prepares the costly Dragon-Tiger Bone-Tempering Soup and supervises Li Xiang’s first bath in it 29.
• Teaches Li Xiang that preparing food and medicine correctly is part of martial training 19 44.

Relationships

• Ye Wanqing — Wife and proprietor of Wanqing Tailor Shop. Her family’s standing is entangled with Hong’s public reputation 16 90.
• Ye Qingyao — Daughter and skilled martial artist. She helps train his disciples and challenges him directly about matters concerning her mother 16 18 194.
• Li Xiang — Disciple. Hong admits him after testing his resolve, supplies medicine and advanced instruction, and defends his right to make his own career decisions 16 29 82 223.
• Qin Zhong — Eldest disciple. Hong folds Qin’s rickshaw work into his training; Qin’s apparent death later leaves him grief-stricken 16 197 318.
• Lü Huanzhen — Eight Gates hall master who recognizes Hong’s seniority and his claim to the association chairmanship 79 80.
• Lu Changsheng — Rival Grandmaster and fellow practitioner of the Dragon Transformation path; Hong regrets that they have become enemies 82.

Story Role and Major Arcs

• Eight Gates challenge: Hong arranges a three-match contest that ends in Shocking Heron Martial Hall’s victory. The aftermath reveals his standing within the Eight Gates Association; he admits the challenge also helped him identify loyalties and enemies 24 79 80.
• Blackwater calamity: He organizes an evacuation and directs ships, supplies, and food distribution at Linjiang Port 89.
• Tianjin and Jade Capital: He prepares Li Xiang, Ye Qingyao, and Qin Zhong for the International Martial Arts Tournament after learning of the coming opening of the Grand Illusion Immortal Realm 169.
• After Linjiang’s fall: Injured but alive in Demon City, Hong welcomes Li Xiang back from the Netherworld. He demands a full account when Li Xiang reports that Qin Zhong has become Yin Tianzi 318 319.

Notable Quotes

“This punch strikes the servility in your hearts! This kick shatters the shackles before your eyes!” 18

“We're all people of Riverside. If I don't help, who will?” 90