Chinese history and culture in SIII

Araviel

Araviel

Knowledge is power
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@yuc02 and I co-wrote a piece for @Switch s Phantom River Stone blog, on some of the Chinese writing you can see in the Magic trailer. It was really fun to write and it also hit me repeatedly over the head with the familiar "ffs, the details in this game are insane". It's making me yearn for Shenmue III. I need to know what else is there, how else have they fleshed out everything with details and layers you'll keep missing until your fourth playthrough? Being beyond interested in Chinese culture and history I just know we're gonna be in for more treats indeed and there'll be plenty to learn for those who wants to delve. I love and appreciate how Yu Suzuki does this, does his background checks, reads up, talks, travels, and then with great care use it all to create a solid in-depth world.
 
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Switch said:
A really fascinating piece. (I'm looking forward to examining the placard as Ryo to see if he has any comment to make!)
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Oh! Didn't even think of that! I guess he won't be able to lock onto the door frame, but on the placard ... that'd be sweet. If not maybe there'll be a wall scroll somewhere with the same idiom. Wonder if the master will say something along the lines of the poem, like Xiuying did and like Ryo learned from the Wude.
 
That was beyond awesome, guys!

I'm going to ask my Chinese friends if they know about these figures or their teachings, to get a bit more meaning behind it all (if they know about it, of course ;))

Many thanks!
 
yuc02 said:
It's very interesting how various religions (Shinto, Buddhism, Daoism and even Christianity) seem to pervade the Shenmue series. Perhaps Yu Suzuki is trying to use the game as his teaching to the rest of us, to live humbly and accepting of others.
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Enjoying this too! And there'll be even more to play on in the Chinese setting. China has always been incredibly diverse, the longest dynasties incorporating rather than assimilating other thinking (with a few notable exceptions). I cannot wait to see where the series will take us, as we move north and west in Yunnan there'll be more of the Tibetan influence. Maybe we'll even see some of the influence of the Silk Road represented. Also yearning for a reference to The Journey to the West, that would make me very happy indeed. Apart from being a kick ass tale well worth reading/watching it has had a major influence on/been a reflection of cultural representation and practices.
 
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Good job!
But I also want to add some knowledge about the couplet.
That is the positional relationship between the first half (上联 Shanglian) and the second half (下联 Xialian) of the couplet, because the couplets that appear in the "Ryo & Master" scene of the trailer seems to be a bit strange.
According to Chinese tradition, when facing the door, the first half of the couplet is on the right side of the door, and the second half is on the left side of the door.
This is because the traditional Chinese character reading and writing direction is from right to left.
For example, the 横批 Hengpi "心即我佛" in this scene is written and read from right to left.
 
@Sonic623 you are right! That is an odd inconsistency. Maybe they had a reason for it... Guess we'll find out soon :)
 
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