So people might be wondering, exactly why is Wei Wuxian's demonic cultivation considered demonic in the first place? Why is it considered evil and reviled? To understand that, we need to examine the attitude about the dead, ghosts, and the afterlife in China

The attitude towards the dead in MDZS, like China, is influenced by Taoism, Buddhism, Chinese folk religion, and Confucianism. We know they believe in reincarnation, as Mo Xuanyu said it while reviving WWX, and practice ancestral worship, as seen through their ancestral halls

In China, when people die, they're believed to go to Diyu, or Hell. Not the Christian kind, it's more like the Greek Underworld, where they're judged for their crimes before being sent back into the world for reincarnation, so like a purgatory of sorts

The dead don't just reside in Diyu, but are also honoured through ancestral tablets, as it's believed part of their spirit resides with the family here, and why ancestral worship is also a big part of honouring the dead

The Chinese also believe that the dead who weren't properly buried will come back as ghosts to haunt their relatives. The Hungry Ghost festival also venerates ghosts who come back from Hell to visit their families to make sure they're practicing veneration properly

Burials are a big deal, especially to royalty. People still burn hell money to give that to people in the afterlife, but previous royalty also had offerings and statues, like the Terracotta warriors, to accompany them to the afterlife as well

In China, worshipping the dead is a huge thing, because they are the spirits of our ancestors, but also so we pray that they will find peace in the afterlife, and good karma in the next life after they reincarnate. While they are dead, they exist among us.

So herein lies one problem with demonic cultivation: Wei Wuxian is using dead spirits to do his bidding, plus resurrecting their dead bodies to use as fierce corpses. Desecration of the dead is a huge no no, but this means that these people will not have peace in the afterlife

We see this attitude exhibited in MDZS, when Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian are horrified that the bodies of Jiang Fengmian and Yu Ziyuan were sent to Qishan, instead of being buried in Lotus Pier, because that's where they should be, and where they should be venerated

This is why also the burial mounds are so full of resentment: People who are tossed in without proper burial become angry ghosts who haunt their descendants, and why when getting rid of an angry ghost, Lan Wangji mentions they should be satisfied and then given proper burial

So this is why while WWX's actions were okay in the war, he became feared: because of the desecration of the dead. Confucianism demands we practice filial piety, and the younger respect the elder, and this extends to ancestors as well

Wei Wuxian is basically spitting on the spirits of the dead, the elder, and the filial piety deeply ingrained in their society. It is considered the demonic path because of the disrespect towards those that should be respected, and deprivation of a peaceful afterlife

Mind you, it's not just a peaceful afterlife! As souls are believed to go through cycles of reincarnation, and if the spirits are trapped being ghosts, they're also locked out of the cycle of reincarnation as well!

Wei Wuxian's demonic cultivation deprives people of mourning their ancestors properly, and creating ghosts that potentially has no chance of finding peace or entering the cycle of reincarnation. That's a pretty huge insult.

Even though we know that WWX is a good person, I hope that through my explanation, you can see why his actions seem evil. Ancestral worship is ingrained into our culture and religion, and him spitting on the face of it is why his cultivation path was seen as evil

His disrespect of ancestors is also why Jiang Cheng was so mad at him bringing Lan Wangji into the ancestral hall, because while WWX was seen to be let in previously, LWJ has no connection and no right to be there, and so was disrespecting all of the Jiang ancestors

In a culture where filial piety is in everything we do, Wei Wuxian truly is evil in their eyes, and why his demonic cultivation ultimately led to his ostracization and downfall

that's the thread! Feel free to ask me any questions or clarify something for you!