Purple Winds

[deandrewick]

I've been thinking about this line for many years and still haven't discerned what it might be referencing. When Shenmue's prophecy states, "A Phoenix will descend from above, delivering *purple winds* with a flag of its wings," what could "purple winds" possibly refer to? Any idea what significance the color purple might contain within the broader prophecy? Could this be a subtle suggestion that Chinese royalty (royalty being symbolized by the color purple) would once again ascend once the prophecy is fulfilled, as foreshadowed in the flashbacks of Shenmue III? Am I reading too much into this?

 

[sayuhhm]

Well this post just sent me down a little rabbit hole

I had a look into Chinese color tradition / mythology and surprisingly...actually found something that can be tied to Shenmue. Not sure if this has been explored elsewhere but this is what I found:

In traditional Chinese culture, black, red, blue, white and yellow are viewed as the 5 core colors which correspond to the five elements of water, fire, wood, metal and earth. They also correlate to astrology and the celestial 'orientation' of these colors/elements. Throughout the Shang, Tang, Zhou and Qin dynasties, China's emperors used the Theory of the Five Elements (Wuxing 五行) to select colors.



As can be seen in the above chart, there are also intermediary colors (五間色 wǔjiànsè) purple is one of these colors, oriented North.

Here's where Shenmue comes in:

Purple (紫; zǐ) refers to the North Star (Polaris), which in ancient China was called the Ziwei Star, the North Star was in traditional Chinese astrology the abode of the Celestial Emperor.

Well, thats something. Shenmue lore nerds should know the importance placed on the North Star but here are some quick points for reference:

Shenhua says that the North Star is said to be the 'harbinger of death', and that something bad comes when it flickers.

Xia-San: "In China, the phoenix is a legendary bird of fortune. It's a guardian for the sky lord...The other guardian is the dragon...In China, people consider the North Star to be the lord of the sky....On a moonless night, should you pray to the stars, your wishes should be realized. The Big Dipper revolves around the immovable North Star. In China, the North Star is highly respected."

The Big Dipper also has a number of references and lore implications.

So basically, the reference to a pheonix bringing a specifically purple wind seems to be based in Chinese tradition/mythology and if intentional, just goes to show the research and attention to detail that went into the deep lore.

Fun stuff!

Also extra tidbit, contrary to the Western symbolism of purple with royalty and wealth, the Chinese association seems to be more traditionally tied to divinity and immortality.

 

[Yada San]

Well it's definitely something deliberate and something that Yu has thought about, because the centre gem of the Phoenix Mirror is coloured purple.

 

[Demon's Triangle]

I wonder if the purple wind is what the leaves on the shenmue tree look like when they're blowing in the ''pitch black night''

If Shenhua can awaken the Shenmue's tree power, that's what is may look like.

 

[Yada San]

I bet Yada-San passes some "purple wind" after a particularly heavy lunch from the HokuHoku stand.

 

[deandrewick]

Well this post just sent me down a little rabbit hole

I had a look into Chinese color tradition / mythology and surprisingly...actually found something that can be tied to Shenmue. Not sure if this has been explored elsewhere but this is what I found:

In traditional Chinese culture, black, red, blue, white and yellow are viewed as the 5 core colors which correspond to the five elements of water, fire, wood, metal and earth. They also correlate to astrology and the celestial 'orientation' of these colors/elements. Throughout the Shang, Tang, Zhou and Qin dynasties, China's emperors used the Theory of the Five Elements (Wuxing 五行) to select colors.

View attachment 14093

As can be seen in the above chart, there are also intermediary colors (五間色 wǔjiànsè) purple is one of these colors, oriented North.

Here's where Shenmue comes in:

Purple (紫; zǐ) refers to the North Star (Polaris), which in ancient China was called the Ziwei Star, the North Star was in traditional Chinese astrology the abode of the Celestial Emperor.

Well, thats something. Shenmue lore nerds should know the importance placed on the North Star but here are some quick points for reference:

Shenhua says that the North Star is said to be the 'harbinger of death', and that something bad comes when it flickers.

Xia-San: "In China, the phoenix is a legendary bird of fortune. It's a guardian for the sky lord...The other guardian is the dragon...In China, people consider the North Star to be the lord of the sky....On a moonless night, should you pray to the stars, your wishes should be realized. The Big Dipper revolves around the immovable North Star. In China, the North Star is highly respected."

The Big Dipper also has a number of references and lore implications.

So basically, the reference to a pheonix bringing a specifically purple wind seems to be based in Chinese tradition/mythology and if intentional, just goes to show the research and attention to detail that went into the deep lore.

Fun stuff!

Also extra tidbit, contrary to the Western symbolism of purple with royalty and wealth, the Chinese association seems to be more traditionally tied to divinity and immortality.

Marvelous response, and a lot to think about. I guess I instinctively perceived the color purple through a western monarchic lens, but the associations unique to eastern cultures may lead to radically different interpretations.