When it comes to epic donghua music, you don’t get much more amazing than the insert song played on the martial arts series The Demon Hunter (Cang Yuan Tu), Episode 17 as protagonist Meng Chuan heads off to kill Bai Sanye and save Yun Qingping from her wedding night horrors.
That rock song is all kinds of kickass with its pounding drums, soaring music and those wild, wild vocals.
So, if you have been scouring the Internet trying to find out who performs it and where you can hear it (a bit of a pain, if you don’t speak/read Chinese), here is everything you need to know about The Demon Hunter, Episode 17 insert song.
‘野草（Weeds)’ by Chun (椿乐队)
The insert song for the 17th episode of the superb 3D-animated donghua series The Demon Hunter (aka Cang Yuan Tu) is a Chinese rock song called ‘野草（Weeds)’ by Chun (椿乐队).
The powerful, and dare I say, addictive rock track comes from the band’s debut studio album 椿 (aka Tree of Heaven). An album that features 10 tracks — all, by the way, that are equally as glorious as ‘野草（Weeds)’.
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It is a rock track that is not only absolutely perfect for those skin-tingling scenes as Meng Chuan heads off to kick Bai Sanye’s ass, but is one in which the donghua’s animation is superbly choreographed to the music as it plays.
Here’s that amazing scene…
Who is Chun (椿乐队)?
The band was founded in 2019 in the “City of Springs”, Jinan, the capital city of Shandong Province, China.
They signed with the record label Mao a couple of years later, and released their first original album in 2023 — the aforementioned 椿 (aka Tree of Heaven).
In this recent interview with the Chinese news site Sohu lead singer, Deng Qian, commented about the way the band’s songs are often based on old stories told in rural villages – something you can definitely hear in ‘野草（Weeds)’:
Since childhood, I’ve often heard the older generation tell unfortunate stories, so in the process of creating music, such a folk tale naturally gets incorporated.
It can also be considered as a source of inspiration for my compositions — folklore, as a basis to tell stories that are not often “illuminated by light”.
The author of the article then commented,
The initial intent behind Chun’s songwriting is to awaken in everyone a nuanced observation of all things in the world, to draw more attention, resonance, and empathy towards the “forgotten stars in the desolate marshes.”
Just from listening to Chun’s ‘Weeds‘, and not even speaking a word of Chinese, you can tell that’s true in that phenomenal track — as those soaring vocals and pounding drums seem to come from somewhere long ago and deep down in the collective psyche.
(By the way — If you don’t speak Chinese, you can run the interview through X’s ‘Grok AI system’ for an excellent translation into English – or any other language, for that matter).
Where to listen to ‘野草（Weeds)’ by Chun?
You can listen to the The Demon Hunter, Episode 17 insert song — ‘野草（Weeds)’ by Chun (椿乐队) in the video below, and the track and the rest of the band’s superb debut album — via the Spotify player below that.
There is also an utterly stunning (Tree of Heaven) live concert Chun gave in Jinan, China back in June this year that will blow you away down there too.
And, of course, watch the first season of the superb donghua The Demon Hunter (aka Cang Yuan Tu) on YOUKU. It is a helluva good animated action series, and one with a soon-to-be-released Season 2 on its way.