Why do some characters have more than one name?
Reflecting the real-life former practice, characters have their 'given name', and a ‘courtesy name’. Typically, a given name is one character (Wei Ying) and a courtesy name is two (Wei Wuxian).
Once someone is an adult, it’s considered rude to call someone by their given name if you are not a member of their family, an elder, or a close friend. 

The important cultivators also have titles. Some are chosen by the person to reflect the values they wish to embody, while others were given to them by others.

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Cultivators: practitioners of martial and mystical arts. A somewhat inept but accessible Western comparison is the Jedi in Star Wars (which borrows very heavily from this genre and wuxia). Their goal is to “cultivate” their qi (a very brief and nuance-less definition: their life force) to increase their longevity to the point of functional immortality (Daoist Immortals ), however this is a very rare feat.

They’re stronger and heal much faster than other people. Skilled cultivators are able to fly short distances, and longer distances using their personal, bound sword, and use their qi to move objects or people without physically touching them.

They use meditation, sword work, and some use music to improve on their cultivation, with the goal of increasing the strength of their Golden Core. Generally, each clan or sect has a focus on a particular kind of cultivation path.

In The Untamed, they’re also responsible for keeping monsters and spirits under control to protect ‘the normal people’. These expeditions to suppress spirits and kill monsters are called Night Hunts, regardless of whether they actually take place during the night or not. 

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It’s good to know that the series (like most xianxia) has a very Daoist religious philosophy, and this extends to reincarnation. It’s believed that if someone’s body or soul is dismembered, they cannot reincarnate.

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Golden Core: (This is will be very important later in the series) What makes cultivators cultivators, and enables them to use their abilities. Physically within their bodies, it’s created by an aspiring cultivator concentrating their qi, and they continue to refine it throughout their life through mediation and practicing other skills like sword-work.
While hypothetically anyone can create one, it’s an innate talent as much as a skill; some people, like Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji, naturally have a stronger Golden Core, and thus are more skilled in their combat and other abilities, even compared to someone like Jiang Cheng who works very hard but doesn't have the same level of skill. If it’s somehow destroyed or taken, it’s gone forever.

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Cultivation clans: Unlike most xainxia where cultivators are grouped by school-like sects, the cultivation world in The Untamed is broken up into blood-related clans. The larger clans may also have unrelated guest disciples. The clans have their own general philosophy and focus in their cultivation practices. Each clan has unique cultivation skills (the Gusu Lan have a special focus on using musical instruments, for example) and fighting styles.

 

Loyalty to your clan is of utmost importance. Deviation from what is considered to be the cultivation orthodoxy is a big, big no-no.

 

“Rogue Cultivators” however are just people who don’t belong to a clan (“independent” might be a better translation) 

 

There are many cultivation clans in The Untamed, but most of them are small. However, there are five "great clans": Wen, Jiang, Lan, Jin, and Nie. 

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Click here for information about the clans and their members

 

Why they cough up blood:

 

short answer: It just means someone has been injured internally (it's a reference to traditional Chinese medicine and related beliefs). It's not a visual clue that someone is mortally wounded or deathly ill, like in Western media. 

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long answer: cultivators fight with each other both externally, was well as internally. Many of their offensive moves try to target their opponent as to cause "internal" injuries. 

In addition, using their cultivation skills draws from their Golden Core. So technically, they’re using their ‘life force’ as fuel. Pushing themselves too hard or too far results in internal harm to themselves, which causes them to cough blood. 
While not good, it’s not a death sentence, and they can regain their lost qi through someone transferring their own to them in an emergency (which Lan Wangji does with Wei Wuxian several times), or through mediation later.
However, repeatedly pushing the limits can lead to a qi deviation which is very not good.

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Qi deviation: a very bad and potentially fatal event when a cultivator's golden core becomes unstable, and they become psychotic. Can be caused by improper cultivation techniques or by practicing forbidden arts.
Fun fact: 走火入魔 can be translated as "catch fire and be possessed by devils" which may be why Netflix sometimes translates it as "possessed by the devil".

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First class spiritual tools: especially powerful magical, sometimes semi-sentient weapons used or created by especially skilled cultivators. Some of them- like the Jiangs’ Zidian- belong to the clan and are passed down through generations. It is important to know that cultivators' swords are very personal to each individual, and are a big part of their social culture. A cultivator doesn’t go anywhere without their sword. 

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If you’d like more information, check out the glossary of terms here (though they all don’t apply to The Untamed)

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