The Timeline of Shenmue's Lore and Backstory

[iknifaugood]

Just trying to piece together everything we know about the backstory of Shenmue; let me know if I've left anything out.

~2600 BCE - Chi You is defeated in battle by the Yellow Emperor (not directly referenced in game but it's where the legend of Chi You originates)

"Ancient times" - The prophecy that Shenhua recites is created, safe to say that this occurs after the time of Chi You. Also the Shenmue tree outside Shenhua's house is planted "thousands" of years ago.

XXXX - the flashback to the origin of Shenhua's name occurs. If we assume this is her and her age is accurate, it's around 1970, but other things about the scene make it seem much older than that so it's a complete unknown to me.

XXXX - Shenhua references an ancient emperor having mirrors created from Phantom River Stone that subsequent rulers fought over.

1910 - The Emperor orders the Dragon and Phoenix mirror be created from Phantom River Stone by Yuan's ancestors.

1911 - The Qing Dynasty ends.

19XX - Yuan's ancestors begin building the relief at the quarry and the mechanism that requires the use of the Phoenix Mirror and the Sword of Seven Stars

19XX - The Dragon Mirror and Phoenix Mirror are locked away at the Cliff Temple.

19XX - A "map" showing a Dragon, Phoenix, treasure, Niaowu, and The Cliff Temple is hidden in the bell tower in Bailu Village.

1920 - Yuanda Zhu is born.

19XX - Sunming Zhao is born.

1940 - Iwao Hazuki is born.

19XX - Sunming Zhao and Yuanda Zhu become best friends.

19XX - The Chi You Men organization is formed (they could be older but nothing in the story references their actions before the mid 20th century) and they somehow learn about the mirrors.

19XX - Sunming Zhao is entrusted with the mirrors at the Cliff Temple to prevent the Chi You Men from getting their hands on them.

19XX - Yuanda Zhu meets Master Chen and tells him that when the mirrors are paired, Chi You will resurrect itself on earth.

19XX - Yuanda Zhu learns of the constellation pattern hidden in the mirrors and that the two form a key.

1955 - Longsun Zhao is born.

196X - Iwao travels to China and meets Kai in Kowloon as well as Sunming Zhao in an unknown location.

196X - Iwao and Sunming Zhao train in Bailu Village under Grandmaster Feng. They take a picture together that Iwao keeps.

196X - Sunming Zhao is killed in Mengcun and Longsun Zhao is adopted by the Chi You Men (young enough to be considered "raised" by them).

196X - Iwao returns to Japan with the Dragon Mirror and the Phoenix mirror.

1960 - Xiuying and Ziming are born (it never specifies Ziming's age so I'm going to consider them around the same age).

1968 - Ryo Hazuki is born.

1970 - Shenhua is born.

19XX - Shenhua is adopted by Yuan

1973 - Xiuying and Ziming's parents are killed, Ziming leaves Xiuying to join the Chi You Men.

19XX - Yuanda Zhu writes the Wulinshu.

197X - Master Chen meets Xiuying.

19XX - Longsun Zhao becomes known as Lan Di and learns that Iwao Hazuki has one of the mirrors.

198X - Yuanda Zhu writes a letter to Iwao warning him of those who pursue the mirror and to seek the aid of Master Chen.

1986 - Lan Di murders Iwao, takes the Dragon Mirror and thus the saga begins...

1987 - Yuan finishes the relief in the quarry and leaves a note for Shenhua predicting that someone who fulfills the prophecy would show up with the Phoenix Mirror days before it happens.

 

[Miles Prower]

Nice job piecing this together! Just a small point- Kai mentions that Iwao visited Kowloon ‘about twenty years ago’, so if the ‘present’ day is 1987, that would place it at around 1967.

 

[iknifaugood]

Nice job piecing this together! Just a small point- Kai mentions that Iwao visited Kowloon ‘about twenty years ago’, so if the ‘present’ day is 1987, that would place it at around 1967.

Thanks! I adjusted the dates so that Iwao's journey to China takes place in the 60s, since I'm not sure we can assume he did it all in a single year (since he has to be back in Japan by at least February 1968 to make Ryo).

 

[hmjohnny]

When you see it written out like this it really reminds you of what an incredible story Shenmue has the potential to be

 

[Lan Di-sama]

I really wish we understood what happened between Iwao and Zhao in Bailu. Did they learn about the mirrors there? If so, apparently no one in the village at all knows about it - except maybe Yuan, who didn't confess much.

If they learned about the mirrors and potentially the Chi You Men there, then it's possible that Zhao went to the cliff temple to retrieve them WITH Iwao, and somehow it was Iwao who ended up with both mirrors

Sorry for beating a dead horse but it is incredibly frustrating that Yu Suzuki flat out said in very recent interview that Shenmue III reveals what happened with Iwao in Bailu - he basically told a bald faced lie. The ONLY new information we got is that Lan Di was raised by the Chi You Men after his father died "under mysterious circumstances"...

and given all the inconsistencies, it's really hard to look at any information on that timeline and assume it still means anything (nice work, though!)

 

[Machsi]

The ONLY new information we got is that Lan Di was raised by the Chi You Men after his father died "under mysterious circumstances"...

This had potential to get interesting and segue into a deeper introduction into the history and hierarchy of the Chi You Men. I always thought maybe a younger Tentai raised and trained Lan Di as a child to fuel his hate of the Hazuki name and weaponize his KungFu abilities To exploit for the CYM’s power. Perhaps Tentai is now an older man who is looking for a replacement from one of his four executives so this would explain the rivalry a bit between Niao Sun and Lan Di; maybe introduce Ziming and Tortoise leader. So much potential with that plot angle

 

[Lan Di-sama]

This had potential to get interesting and segue into a deeper introduction into the history and hierarchy of the Chi You Men. I always thought maybe a younger Tentai raised and trained Lan Di as a child to fuel his hate of the Hazuki name and weaponize his KungFu abilities To exploit for the CYM’s power. Perhaps Tentai is now an older man who is looking for a replacement from one of his four executives so this would explain the rivalry a bit between Niao Sun and Lan Di; maybe introduce Ziming and Tortoise leader. So much potential with that plot angle

Agreed...finding out nothing about the Chi You Men after 3 full games is a heavy blow. Are they seriously just "bad guys" who are after "treasure"? Just figured there was something more interesting at work here...

 

[iknifaugood]

I really wish we understood what happened between Iwao and Zhao in Bailu. Did they learn about the mirrors there?

Who knows about the mirrors and how they learned about it is increasingly concerning after witnessing Bailu Village. If the people who made the damn things can’t tell you anything about them, how did so many people find out what they do?

and given all the inconsistencies, it's really hard to look at any information on that timeline and assume it still means anything (nice work, though!)

Depends. S3 doesn’t contribute much of substance to that timeline but it also doesn’t break anything (yet).