JingRen

Jingren is the slash ship between Jing Yuan and Blade from the Honkai: Star Rail fandom.

Canon
Jing Yuan and Blade share an intertwined history of which has not yet been revealed. Following their acquaintance, they were soon coined as a bickering duo with deep connections. Despite the unclear timelines, it is heavily implied that both men have practiced under the same Sword Master of Luofu, and were once ironically in perfect harmony while operating the High-Cloud Quintet as a legendary team of five. In present time, Jing Yuan has become the wise and brave Arbiter-General of Luofu, Xianzhou, who aims to ensure peace and win wars, while Blade has become a Stellaron Hunter whose job is to work against the Interastral Peace Corportation. Although this change has pitted them against each other in terms of goals and moral values, it appears that them being on disagreeable sides once more, metaphorically for the sake of old times, has neither affected their habit of getting involved with one another nor their arguably strange, unexplained narrative of working together against all odds.

The Two Disciples
Jing Yuan, a product of respected background and long-life heritage, grew up aware of the wishes his parents had for him. He was trained by no other than Jingliu as he matured, but he was also trusted by his parents to carry on the legacy and inherit the mantle of a scholar or an official at the Realm-Keeping Commission. Instead, after graduating the academy, he joined the Cloud Knights as means of escaping a life doomed with boredom and family expectations. He proved to be worthy of the esteemed title, as his feats were commended as a well-taught, stalwart knight, and praised were his masterly strategies. Soon word of his flawless, bloodless victory would reach the busy ears of Xianzhou Generals, who take it upon themselves to appoint Jing Yuan to a position of importance within the alliance.

Blade, on the other hand, has never settled. He was a child without family and honour and his name, unlike Jing Yuan's, held not even an ounce of prestige for the Xianzhou Natives. However, in order to perfect his craft and his education, the outworlder has always been on the move. Barely a teen, he has lived alone among strangers and other long-life species that were never of his kind. He has travelled across ships as a short-life merchant vessel since Zhuming, Xianzhou, and his final stop was the Luofu. There, the young man was able to expand his knowledge. The excellence of new Luofu mechanics were a fascination to him, so it was only natural for his childlike intrigue to feed into his obsessions and passions. He would soon find himself dedicating all of his hours to forging hundreds of marvels, like he was running out of the time that everyone, but him, seemed to have. Although the timelines are unspecified, it is speculated that he and Jing Yuan were roughly around the same age when Jingliu had decided to train them.

Based on the manner in which Blade wields his sword, the weapon he made for Jingliu, it is also assumed that he was her student. He basic attacks the target in a motion that he shares with Jing Yuan but when they both strike, Blade attacks the left and then the right from below, while Jing Yuan attacks the left and then the right from above. Both of their attacks, when finished, form a cross. Interestingly enough, they also mirror each other when they casually attack outside of battle. Jingliu's leaked basic attack comes with two strikes just like the two men, but she first attacks from the right before she does the left and when finished, it does not form a cross. Meaning that Blade and Jing Yuan may have aged together as well as practiced privately to adapt her combat sequences.

High-Cloud Quintet
Hearing the tale of Jing Yuan's successful expedition, the flawless victory against Jellyfish Puppeteers and the victory that brought him more status, Master and previous Sword Champion Jingliu offers him an invitation to join the High-Cloud Quintet. This invitation reunites them both and presumably Blade, who was already there, peaceful and still ever busy with his creations. Jing Yuan was the last member to join the team, but his addition was the backbone of their heroic run.

Blade's character story: (part IV) introduces us to the relational ties he had developed since arriving at Luofu. His friendship starts with the literary format of Jingliu being mentioned first, and ends with no other than Jing Yuan himself, who is described as the boy who kept bickering with him. He who was mostly ever in arguments with the craftsman, had one day stopped their disputes completely at the sight of what was made for him by Blade, that being the Devastator Glaive. Upon seeing the masterpiece, Jing Yuan breaks character and grabs the weapon, only to then promise Blade that he would never part with it. Given that they were at each other's throats most of the time, this event might have been incredibly odd to witness by onlookers as much as it was for themselves.

Team Dynamics
High-Cloud Quintet, also known as the legendary team of five, was formed to help Xianzhou survive against the abundance and its gifted terrors. Based on Blade's fourth character part and other sources, their roles are speculated to be as follows:


 * Jingliu (Sword Master and Champion of Luofu) - Leader of path, aggressor frontline
 * Jing Yuan (Arbiter General) - Strategist, frontline
 * Blade (Craftsman) - Team Exclusive Blacksmith, frontline support
 * Baiheng (Foxian) - Bow user, backline support
 * Dan Feng (Previous High Elder) - Spear user and Healer, mostly backline support

(work in progress, please do not edit).

Fanon
Jingren is currently one of the most popular slash ships in the fandom. In chronological order, after Dan Heng/Blade and Dan Heng/Caelus.

Despite the lack of direct lore and frequent leaks, including main storyline involvement, the pairing has accumulated an impressive amount of 390+ works on AO3. While the number is still in active growth, the aforementioned ships have had the opportunity to reach their current milestones, in terms of written content, with the aid of in-game interactions, early lore, and non-canonical speculations. This is what makes the ship between Jing Yuan and Blade so captivating, as their unrevealed past, suspicious mirroring symbolism and ties to each other have never failed to turn the heads of both fans and non-fans alike. The fandom has been incredibly curious about the two since their character reveal in 2022, and have continued to be as equally invested following the release. Furthermore, the pairing is by far the most popular when it comes to garnering engagement for content creators.

Fandom

 * FAN FICTION