Many Mysteries Of Miao Village Finally Unfold

Such an amazing work. You know whats funny? Just your piece of story digging is way better than the whole Shen3 story's. :p
Keep up the pace.
 
Think we can all agree this was a great find. No ifs or buts about it. No need to keep nitpicking. Excited about what else you guys will dig up, it’s incredible and no doubt will be more to come.

Wonder what else might have been cut, not only from beta dev but from the original writing. Would be amazing to get a grip of the entire story and areas and people as Yu saw it planned out originally.
 
Amazing news and work! Yeah I think it would be quite odd to have a village so near the Wan Chai section, given that's on the HK island part and the settlement style is quite different. Still there ARE villages in and around HK, mainly in the northern territories (active and abandoned, see https://www.tatlerasia.com/culture/travel/traditional-villages-hong-kong and https://zolimacitymag.com/the-ghost-villages-a-guide-to-hong-kongs-abandoned-hakka-settlements/)
Yeah, but even on HK Island you have villages. It would perhaps make more sense from one of the islands or the mainland, so if the journey went between HK and Kowloon…. That would be perfect. Kind of like on his bus ride, like he didn’t cross a channel exactly, but irl he did. It would be a blend between HK and a village and Kowloon which does seem real.

Just in love with this acknowledgement of rural HK as it’s very unknown for most people who haven’t been (or who have just passed through). It’s integral to the city, the foundation of the five original clans. More so today the fact that so much land is greenery, fishery and farm land, with villages about. Love that Yu thought to include it somehow.
 
Yeah, but even on HK Island you have villages. It would perhaps make more sense from one of the islands or the mainland, so if the journey went between HK and Kowloon…. That would be perfect. Kind of like on his bus ride, like he didn’t cross a channel exactly, but irl he did. It would be a blend between HK and a village and Kowloon which does seem real.

Just in love with this acknowledgement of rural HK as it’s very unknown for most people who haven’t been (or who have just passed through). It’s integral to the city, the foundation of the five original clans. More so today the fact that so much land is greenery, fishery and farm land, with villages about. Love that Yu thought to include it somehow.
Indeed, it just shows how much resource has been put into the development of Shenmue 1 & 2 and how many abandoned ideas there were. For me it would be most interesting to know when the Project Berkeley story plan evolved into the Shenmue Saturn and eventually Dreamcast ones, as to me Project Berkeley probably had the closest representation of actual HK given the Kowloon Walled City part of the video etc. Obviously for gameplay reasons the dev team felt some more variety of locations would make the game more interesting, hence how Kowloon had changed to something more like a hilltop fortress, and places like Miao village was conceived
 
Amazing news and work! Yeah I think it would be quite odd to have a village so near the Wan Chai section, given that's on the HK island part and the settlement style is quite different. Still there ARE villages in and around HK, mainly in the northern territories (active and abandoned, see https://www.tatlerasia.com/culture/travel/traditional-villages-hong-kong and https://zolimacitymag.com/the-ghost-villages-a-guide-to-hong-kongs-abandoned-hakka-settlements/)
They were very cool to see! Out of the photos, the one on the first link for Lai Chi Wo stood out. Probably because of the birds eye view and seeing the grassy field path to it haha :)

HK VILLAGE.png
 
[...]

no29_pic_02.jpg


Next in the subtitle files, he starts asking Meizhu about Sunny Capital Pharmacy. NPCs point Ryo into the direction of the pharmacy, as it's in the direction of Miao Village. Former Shenmue developer Morio Ashizuka also said on Twitter: "There was going to be an event where you put the girl at the pharmacy on your bike and run an errand. [...] It was along the lines of the pharmacy owner having a bad leg, so Ryo goes for him by bicycle with the girl guiding the way. Ryo wasn't able to ride around freely though - it was a movie scene of him riding" (credit to Switch for this information)

This was Ryo's method of transportation to Miao Village.
[...]
Just to chip in a bit of info found at the file `MISC\FLAG.BIN` (found completely randomly, while looking curiously at the files of the Game Jam prototype) :
It has the following references:
Code:
TRANSPORT_DRUG
BICYCLE_FIAST
BICYCLE_DRUG

VISIT_RA
INQUIRE_RA
FORWARD_HAKUSIN
MYAOKOH_FIND
GEKAN_GET
TOSYOKEN_MEMO
READ_BURINSYO
READ_BURIN_F
Which seems to be related with the findings. "Transport drug" and "bicycle".

Not sure about the rest; could "BURINSYO" actually be "Wulinshu", and "read burinsyo" actually means "read Wulinshu"? As there is also another mention of "BURINSYO" close to (let's call them) events, which seem to be related with the ones where Ryo wanted to get the book and Xiuying Hong told him to catch leaves:
Code:
RARE_BOOK_DAY
RARE_BOOK
GET_BURINSYO
SYE_SNATCH
SNATCH_TODAY
LEAF_SNATCH
SNATCH_THREE
Here says "GET_BURINSYO", so probably means "Get Wulinshu".

There is some other interesting texts (not related with this thread, but while talking about them):
Code:
ONCEUPONATIME
BEAR_QTE

KUN_LOVE_CHK
KUN_LV1_CHK
KUN_LV2_CHK
KUN_LV3_CHK
KUN_LV4_CHK
"ONCEUPONATIME" sounds funny to me (maybe a fairytale told by Shenhua to Ryo?) and... "BEAR_QTE"!? You have to evade some panda/bear somewhere in the rural areas of Guilin? :tearsofjoy: (unless if "BEAR" ...bears another meaning, sorry for the pun... :sweatsmile:) (And seems "KUN" (Fangmei) has 4-5 staged of love for Ryo...) - All such flag's texts can be found here.
 
Just to chip in a bit of info found at the file `MISC\FLAG.BIN` (found completely randomly, while looking curiously at the files of the Game Jam prototype) :
It has the following references:
Code:
TRANSPORT_DRUG
BICYCLE_FIAST
BICYCLE_DRUG

VISIT_RA
INQUIRE_RA
FORWARD_HAKUSIN
MYAOKOH_FIND
GEKAN_GET
TOSYOKEN_MEMO
READ_BURINSYO
READ_BURIN_F
Which seems to be related with the findings. "Transport drug" and "bicycle".

Not sure about the rest; could "BURINSYO" actually be "Wulinshu", and "read burinsyo" actually means "read Wulinshu"? As there is also another mention of "BURINSYO" close to (let's call them) events, which seem to be related with the ones where Ryo wanted to get the book and Xiuying Hong told him to catch leaves:
Code:
RARE_BOOK_DAY
RARE_BOOK
GET_BURINSYO
SYE_SNATCH
SNATCH_TODAY
LEAF_SNATCH
SNATCH_THREE
Here says "GET_BURINSYO", so probably means "Get Wulinshu".

There is some other interesting texts (not related with this thread, but while talking about them):
Code:
ONCEUPONATIME
BEAR_QTE

KUN_LOVE_CHK
KUN_LV1_CHK
KUN_LV2_CHK
KUN_LV3_CHK
KUN_LV4_CHK
"ONCEUPONATIME" sounds funny to me (maybe a fairytale told by Shenhua to Ryo?) and... "BEAR_QTE"!? You have to evade some panda/bear somewhere in the rural areas of Guilin? :tearsofjoy: (unless if "BEAR" ...bears another meaning, sorry for the pun... :sweatsmile:) (And seems "KUN" (Fangmei) has 4-5 staged of love for Ryo...) - All such flag's texts can be found here.

No way!! Giorgio? It's been so long. Hope you're doing well brother.

This thread not only has some amazing information/discoveries about Miao Villiage, but it is also like one big class reunion thread.

Love it
 
Just to chip in a bit of info found at the file `MISC\FLAG.BIN` (found completely randomly, while looking curiously at the files of the Game Jam prototype) :
It has the following references:
Code:
TRANSPORT_DRUG
BICYCLE_FIAST
BICYCLE_DRUG

VISIT_RA
INQUIRE_RA
FORWARD_HAKUSIN
MYAOKOH_FIND
GEKAN_GET
TOSYOKEN_MEMO
READ_BURINSYO
READ_BURIN_F
Which seems to be related with the findings. "Transport drug" and "bicycle".

Not sure about the rest; could "BURINSYO" actually be "Wulinshu", and "read burinsyo" actually means "read Wulinshu"? As there is also another mention of "BURINSYO" close to (let's call them) events, which seem to be related with the ones where Ryo wanted to get the book and Xiuying Hong told him to catch leaves:
Code:
RARE_BOOK_DAY
RARE_BOOK
GET_BURINSYO
SYE_SNATCH
SNATCH_TODAY
LEAF_SNATCH
SNATCH_THREE
Here says "GET_BURINSYO", so probably means "Get Wulinshu".

There is some other interesting texts (not related with this thread, but while talking about them):
Code:
ONCEUPONATIME
BEAR_QTE

KUN_LOVE_CHK
KUN_LV1_CHK
KUN_LV2_CHK
KUN_LV3_CHK
KUN_LV4_CHK
"ONCEUPONATIME" sounds funny to me (maybe a fairytale told by Shenhua to Ryo?) and... "BEAR_QTE"!? You have to evade some panda/bear somewhere in the rural areas of Guilin? :tearsofjoy: (unless if "BEAR" ...bears another meaning, sorry for the pun... :sweatsmile:) (And seems "KUN" (Fangmei) has 4-5 staged of love for Ryo...) - All such flag's texts can be found here.


Sweet! I didn't even think to look in the flags file yet. Visit_RA and Inquire_RA are likely regarding Rakousei (Japanese for Luo Kongzheng). Forward_hakusin should be about finding the village mayor/chief that has the key to Luo's house, if haku is 伯 (chief official). Myaokoh_find should mean Miao child (Zhengye). Gekan_get is getting the Wulinshu. Gekan meaning book. Not sure why there's another Get_burinsyo later though...

Sye_snatch though... (SYE Xiuying)... Ahhh, get your head out of the gutter. :LOL:

The bear thing is very interesting. Being it's located in disc 4, that's definitely gotta be about a real bear, and not some stuffed one for sure.
 
Last edited:
Gekan_get is getting the Wulinshu. Gekan meaning book. Not sure why there's another Get_burinsyo later though...
If GEKAN means "second volume," then the Wulinshu has an first volume.
In other words, the Man Mo Temple has the first volume, while Miao village has the second volume.
These two books would make a complete set.
 
Last edited:
Also it can be recalled that a Bear Event appeared in Yu's early Shenmue 3 plan for Bailu Village that was revealed at his 2015 talk in China! Maybe it will be implemented in the game one day...

As a side note, several other parallels with Miao village can be noted in the plan, such as "mountain path/road", "bell tower", "temple" etc.

1653189697946.png
(Plan translations were by David Deville, Kiyuu & others).
 
Also it can be recalled that a Bear Event appeared in Yu's early Shenmue 3 plan for Bailu Village that was revealed at his 2015 talk in China! Maybe it will be implemented in the game one day...

As a side note, several other parallels with Miao village can be noted in the plan, such as "mountain path/road", "bell tower", "temple" etc.

View attachment 15818
(Plan translations were by David Deville, Kiyuu & others).

Amazing, I remember reading a Suzuki interview about deer rescue but couldn’t find that again for life of me but see it referenced here again.

Oh man, this thread keeps delivering amazing information and tantalizing clues on what some of the original plans were. I wonder why they completely removed Chiyoumen element until Old Castle…
 
Sweet! I didn't even think to look in the flags file yet. Visit_RA and Inquire_RA are likely regarding Rakousei (Japanese for Luo Kongzheng). Forward_hakusin should be about finding the village mayor/chief that has the key to Luo's house, if haku is 伯 (chief official). Myaokoh_find should mean Miao child (Zhengye). Gekan_get is getting the Wulinshu. Gekan meaning book. Not sure why there's another Get_burinsyo later though...

Sye_snatch though... (SYE Xiuying)... Ahhh, get your head out of the gutter. :LOL:

The bear thing is very interesting. Being it's located in disc 4, that's definitely gotta be about a real bear, and not some stuffed one for sure.
Hakusin should be 白秦 which refers to White Dynasty Qr.
Myaokoh should be 苗光 which refers to Myao Guang Temple
Tosyoken should be 豆将軒 which means Dou Jiang Diner

Gekan could be 下巻 (2nd book of a two-part work), but not sure.

Yeah, bear QTE must have been interesting. Shame they removed it after all.
 
Last edited:
1653199524560.png1653199539060.png1653199551283.png
Regarding the bear QTE.
This conversation about the bear is present in the final version, but perhaps this is foreshadowing the QTE.
----------
931;67722;67732;K2006A437;RYO_;A437;昨日、狼がいるって言ってたな。
932;67769;67779;K2006B495;SIN_;B495;うん。この山には、狼も…熊もいる。
933;67823;67833;K2006A438;RYO_;A438;狼や熊か…莎花は恐くないのか?
934;67871;67881;K2006B496;SIN_;B496;恐くない…危ないことはないから。
935;67922;67932;K2006B497;SIN_;B497;熊は自分から人をおそったりはしない。
936;67978;67988;K2006B498;SIN_;B498;でも、もし子熊を見かけたときには、すぐに離れないと危ない。
937;68056;68066;K2006A439;RYO_;A439;子熊を?
938;68081;68091;K2006B499;SIN_;B499;そうよ。
939;68108;68118;K2006B500;SIN_;B500;母熊は、自分の子供を守るために、自分を犠牲にして闘う。
940;68182;68192;K2006A440;RYO_;A440;子を守るために…
941;68215;68225;K2006B501;SIN_;B501;でも、ほんとうはめったに人をおそったりしない、
942;68281;68291;K2006B502;SIN_;B502;やさしい動物なのよ。
----------
 
Just to add two cut scenes that provide extra background to the key events described by LanDC.

The first is very special as it is the very one that contains the exact dialogue lines seen in the AM2 temple screenshots.

Ryo: あの… / Um...
Yunhai: 何かご用かな?/ What can I do for you?
Ryo: 征耶から聞きました。/ I heard from Zhengye.
Ryo: こちらで羅孔征さんの遺品を&預かっていると… / He said Luo Kongzheng's belongings were being kept here....
Yunhai: 確かに。/ That's correct.
Ryo: 見せてもらえませんか?/ May I see them?
Yunhai: なにゆえに?/ For what purpose?
Ryo: 武林書という本を探してるんです。 / I'm looking for a book called the Wulinshu
Ryo: できれば、お借りしたいと… / I would like to borrow it if possible...
Yunhai: その本をどうするつもりかの?/ What are you going to do with that book?
Yunhai: あの本はいずれ文武廟に&預けるつもりじゃ。 / I'm planning to place that book in the hands of Man Mo Temple eventually.
Ryo: 文武廟なら、今、世話になっている所です。 / Man Mo Temple is the place that is helping me at the moment.
Yunhai: 桃李少老師をご存知と?/ Then you know Master Tao Li Shao?
Ryo: はい。 / Yes.
Yunhai: ならば、お聞かせ願おう。功とは?/ Then let me ask you. What is GON?
Ryo: 日々、おこたることなく&鍛練すること。 / To practice everyday without neglect.
Yunhai: 義とは?/ What is YI?
Ryo: 正しいことのために、&ためらうことなく行動すること。/ Always act without hesitation to do what you perceive is right.
Yunhai: 待っておれ。/ Wait there.

[This would be the point at which Yunhai fetches the Wulinshu]

Ryo: これだ… / This is it...
Yunhai: 羅孔征から預かった品じゃ。/ It was given to me by Luo Kongzheng.
Yunhai: 思えば、羅孔征を襲った連中も&これが目当てだったのかも… / Come to think of it, this is what the gang who attacked Luo Kongzheng may have been after...
Ryo: お預かりしてよろしいですか?/ May I take it with me?
Yunhai: お主を信じようかの。&よろしく頼む。 / I'll put my trust in you. Take care of it.


The second cut scene explains how Ryo learns of the Wulinshu in Miao Village: through Zhang. Furthermore, he says it holds the Chi You Men's "secret" which relates to the mirrors. This also confirms that there are 2 volumes to the Wulinshu, and it seems this pairs with the one Ryo found already (presumably at Man Mo Temple).

Ryo: 朱元達さんを&ご存じなんですね? / You know Mr. Zhu Yuan Da, don't you.
Zhang: これは…朱元達の手紙… / This... is a letter from Zhu Yuan Da...
Ryo: 俺は、芭月涼といいます。/ / My name is Ryo Hazuki.
Zhang: この芭月巌という方は、あなたの…? / Then this Iwao Hazuki is your...?
Ryo: 父です。 / My father.
Ryo: 藍帝という男に殺されました… / He was killed by a man named Lan Di....
Zhang: 蚩尤門の手が、もう日本にまで… / The arms of the Chi You Men have already reached Japan...
私は張…朱元達の側近です。 / I am Zhang... Zhu Yuan Da's assistant.
Ryo: 朱元達さんはどこに? / Where is Zhu Yuan Da?
Zhang: 蚩尤門にねらわれ、身を隠されました… / The Chi You Men are hunting for him, and has gone into hiding...
Ryo: なぜ蚩尤門に? / Why are the Chi You Men after him?
Zhang: 武林書です… / For the Wulinshu...
Ryo: 武林書? / The Wulinshu?
Zhang: 朱は蚩尤門がある拳法に、 強い関心を持っていることに気づきました。/ Zhu realized that the Chi You Men are strongly interested in a particular martial art.
武林書には、蚩尤門の秘密が&隠されているのです。 / The Wulinshu contains the Chi You Men's secret hidden inside.
Ryo: 秘密? / Secret?
Zhang: そう、ある古い鏡にまつわる秘密が… / Yes, a secret surrounding certain old mirrors...
Ryo: しかし、上巻にそんなものは… / But there was nothing about that in the first volume...
Ryo: ということは下巻… / So it must be in the second volume...
Ryo: 下巻は今どこに!? / Where is the second volume?!
Zhang: 朱は、苗村の羅孔征という男にたくされたと / I believe Zhu entrusted it to a man named Luo Kongzheng in Miao Village.
Ryo: …苗村の…羅孔征… / Luo Kongzheng... in Miao Village...
Zhang: 蚩尤門が気づく前に、&武林書を取り戻さなければ… / We must retrieve the Wulinshu before the Chi You Men realize...
Zhang: 私は顔を知られています。&できれば、あなたに… / My face is known. If would be better if you could...
Ryo: …わかりました。 / ...Okay.
Ryo: 苗村に行くには? / How do I get to Miao Village?
Zhang: 苗村はワンチャイの南にある&少数民族の村です。 / Miao Village is an ethnic village located south of Wan Chai.
また、豆将軒で会いましょう。 / Let's meet again at the Dou Jiang Diner.
Ryo: はい… / Yes...
 
Last edited:
Loving all this.

I'm so glad after all these years that the mysteries of Miao Village's placement and purpose have now ultimately been solved, and there should be no reason to undermine it. Credit to @LanDC et al who have been digging through the subtitle data to confirm. It's an achievement probably close to 20 years in the making and really deserves celebration.

But as one door closes, another opens. The task now transforms into finding a build with the content still on the disc, or better yet, still implemented as originally intended. I have complete faith that the community will eventually achieve this, as it has achieved so much else. The tenacity and passion of those involved in the decompiling and archiving of Shenmue material is second to none, and I'm confident that eventually all secrets will be revealed.
 
If GEKAN means "second volume," then the Wulinshu has an first volume.
In other words, the Man Mo Temple has the first volume, while Miao village has the second volume.
These two books would make a complete set.
[...]

This also confirms that there are 2 volumes to the Wulinshu, and it seems this pairs with the one Ryo found already (presumably at Man Mo Temple).

[...]
Ryo: しかし、上巻にそんなものは… / But there was nothing about that in the first volume...
Ryo: ということは下巻… / So it must be in the second volume...
Ryo: 下巻は今どこに!? / Where is the second volume?!
Zhang: 朱は、苗村の羅孔征という男にたくされたと / I believe Zhu entrusted it to a man named Luo Kongzheng in Miao Village.
Ryo: …苗村の…羅孔征… / Luo Kongzheng... in Miao Village...
[...]
If there are two volumes, that explains (of course) the two colored versions of Wulinshu, one green, one red:
 
Back
Top