Connections between the ending of Shenmue 2 and the beginning of Shenmue 3

[Sergeynest]

I started watching this amazing video created by BlueMe of Ryo and Shenhua's dialogue at the end of Shenmue 2 and just realized that there is a great amount of information about Shenmue 3 in it, so I decided to create this threat for us to talk about it and compare and analyze the information that we get in the end of Shenmue 2 with that wich we got in Shenmue 3.

 

[Sergeynest]

I was watching a little bit of this amazing video because I recall there was a part in it where Shenhua describes Bailu Village, interestingly enough, I ended up realizing that there is much more information about the Village than just its description.
Per example, one thing that I did not associate and didn't recall was the fact that on their way to Bailu village Shenhua and Ryo picked up medicinal herbs for Yuan, Shenhua's adoptive father that was sick with the fact that we also pick up herbs in Shenmue 3 for the people in the village to create medicine.
Shenhua even mentions an old lady from the village to that of wich I believe she is refering to elder Yeh.
I'm going to watch this video more in depth and place time stamps of the parts that give away information about Bailu village or any other thing that I think is connected with Shenmue 3. Hope you guys also find usefull information for us to share and discuss in this thread.

 

[Thomasina]

Go for it.

 

[Nigel]

It's a tired Sunday night, so I watched it and complied some of what I thought to be the key insights (I grouped them by theme, but didn't keep time stamps). I spoilered it for the sake of the post not being too long.

Spoiler: List of Comments

-Bailu is one of the oldest villages in Guilin, existing since the Tang dynasty (hundreds of years old).
-The age of Bailu is evidenced by old buildings and castle walls located in town.
-It was built by nobles expelled from the city by the emperor; they lived there in hiding.
-The village has rare stones, treasured by emperors/city nobles, leading to thievery (an old lady in the village told Shenhua this).

-There's a village poem about the landscape of Guilin, mentioning the forests/waters/mountains.
-The white deer is the guardian of the village; there's a myth of it appearing during a fire, leading the villagers to water.
-There are stone talismans which protect the town; people pray to them when people are sick (as the old woman said she did for Shenhua).
-These talismans are located on the signs between streets (gate guardians) and are carved into homes (there's no glass in any buildings in town).

-There are about fifty people in the village.
-People get their water from the well.
-The kids like to catch fish and race between the banks.
-There’s a pharmacy in town: people either buy medicine there or take in herbs to have it made.
-Shenhua goes to the docks to buy things you can’t get in town (such as modern medicines and iron for tools).
-After hard work (such as clearing landslides), the adults drink/celebrate, singing songs after work.
-Most people work by cultivating fields and herding water buffaloes/goats. Someone with a lot of cows can offer work.
-There are horses in town; Shenhua can ride them, albeit poorly.
-Shenhua tends to the veggies and feeding goats.
-The village rarely has visitors, so the children will be excited to meet Ryo.

-Yuan takes cranesbill (a form of geranium) for his chest pains.
-Yuan says he hears voices from the stones.

At Shenhua's home, she makes the following comments about items:
-A flute made from a Shenmue branch made her stop crying as a child.
-The book on constellations says that stars affect people’s fates, and that the north star flickers when something bad happens.
-There's a painting of Guilin, depicting mountains to be avoided because people never return from them.
-There's an embroidered tapestry of Luoyang, which flourished during the tang dynasty.

I may look at some of those designs in town (the talismans, no glass around). Also, Luoyang is about 660 mi away from Guilin; I wonder if it will come up in a later game. The mention of horses interests me: maybe this is where we'd have had the Ren horse riding portions? Interesting that cranesbill isn't featured in S3 as an herb. Is that poem found anywhere in Bailu?

 

[Sergeynest]

Between 1:30 to 1:55 Shenhua describes how many people live in Bailu Village and its geography.


Shenhua describes that about 50 people live in Bailu Village that is surrounded by mountains and its inhabitants live off the gifts from the mountains.
Below is a list of the Inhabitants of Bailu Village in Shenmue 3 wich consists of a total of 61 people.
Although there are slightly more inhabitants in Shenmue 3's Bailu Village, I consider this information pretty much accurate.

Bailu Village

Bailu Village (Hànzì: 白鹿村, Pinyin: Báilùcūn, On'yomi: Hakkason), also known as Miao Village (苗村 Miáocūn) in cut content of Shenmue II (Miao refers to the tribe), is a village in Guilin, China. Unlike some other locations seen in the series, Bailu is fictional. It is the setting for the first...

shenmue.fandom.com

The geographical description is pretty much also accurate since the village is indeed surrounded by mountains.

 

[Sergeynest]

According to Shenhua's Grandfather Bailu is one of the oldest villages in Guilin and that it was built during the Tang Dynasty by nobles to live in hiding because they had been expelled from the city by the emperor at that time.


One interesting fact about the Tang Dynasty is that its dynasty was interrupted for 15 years when Empress Wu Zetian seized the throne, proclaiming the Wu Zhou dynasty and becoming the only legitimate Chinese empress regnant.
Empress Wu (Wu Zetian), the sole officially recognized empress regnant of China in more than two millennia.

Could this have been the reason why nobles were expelled from the city by the Emperor !?

Another interesting fact is that at the interval of Tang dynasty, the first and the only empress in Chinese history – Empress Wu, moved the capital of her Zhou Dynasty to Luoyang and named it as Shen Du (Capital of the God). She constructed the tallest palace in Chinese history, which is now in the site of Sui Tang Luoyang city.
Luoyang is also the city that is depicted in the tapestry at Shenhua's house. She has never been to the city but for some reason it gives her a nostalgic feeling; she can even see the city when she closes her eyes.


Can there be a connection between Shenhua and this Empress !? Could she have been one of her ancestors !?

 

[Furinkazan]

The tapestry of Luoyang and the 'scary mountains' are both gone. They were the first thing i looked for.

Guess Luoyang has been cut from the story.

 

[Sergeynest]

 

[Sergeynest]

During their walk to Bailu Village Shenhua explains to Ryo that the villagers get their water from the well in the village, they fish in the river and that the children like to play there.
We can also confirm that this information is correct, because there is a well in the village and at Shenhua's house,
the men also fish in the riverside and we can also find Lin and Meiling relaxing by the riverside.

 

[Sergeynest]

On their way to Bailu Village Ryo & Shenhua also talked about Martial Arts; with Ryo having mixed feelings about his training being fun or not !?

I guess we also had those same type of feelings when we were practicing Martial Arts in Shenmue 3 !?
I know I did for sure; specially while training under Master Sun.
If that was Yu Suzuki's intention or not we do not know, but either way I guess he got it right

But just like Ryo I do guess we were all having fun while we trained.

 

[JCJ]

The tapestry of Luoyang and the 'scary mountains' are both gone. They were the first thing i looked for.

Guess Luoyang has been cut from the story.

The tapestry was gone, but I recall Shenhua mentioning Luoyang in one of the night time conversations in Shenmue III (having dreams about it or something like that). So I wouldn't rule out its inclusion completely yet, maybe the tapestry was removed for other reasons.

Perhaps they removed it because that story section is still very far, and while it worked as a tease in Shenmue II (where you only spend an evening in Shenhua's house) it would have been too much to watch it every morning in III for half the game?

Great thread, by the way!. I played III just after a replay if II, and was also charmed at how some Bailu elements were already planned 20 years before. A shame some of the other additions to Bailu, like arcades or gambling or regular clothing (compared to Langhuishan's kids) kind of devalued that idealized description we got at the end of II.