The Mirrors and Celestial Connections: In-Depth Analysis [Part One]

Switch

Switch

Shenmue analysis at www.phantomriverstone.com
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Jul 28, 2018
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Japan
Fantastic as always, Switch. Funnily enough, I was looking into the lore of Shenmue earlier on and came across a version of the Chiyou myth that I’d never encountered before.

In said version, Chiyou is resurrected in the Kunlun mountains using two special jade mirrors, which, when lined up with the stars in the correct way, have the power to raise the dead. After he comes back to life, Chiyou is beheaded by a skilled warrior who is a descendent of the Yellow Emperor.

This descendent uses a magical sword named Zanlu, which was forged from a fallen star and is connected to the Big Dipper (which just so happens to have seven stars). In another version, he uses a sword called Qi Xing Long Yuan (Qi Xing meaning seven stars), a sword that Chiyou himself created and used prior to his initial death.

The skilled warrior was aided in his quest by the Goddess Nuwa, who has strong connections to the Phoenix as well as the Yellow Emperor (Shenhua, maybe?).

I’m starting to think that the whole Shenmue story is built around one specific variation of the Chiyou myth. Hopefully we’ll get to find out someday! 😅
 
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WuyingRen said:
Fantastic as always, Switch. Funnily enough, I was looking into the lore of Shenmue earlier on and came across a version of the Chiyou myth that I’d never encountered before.

In said version, Chiyou is resurrected in the Kunlun mountains using two special jade mirrors, which, when lined up with the stars in the correct way, have the power to raise the dead. After he comes back to life, Chiyou is beheaded by a skilled warrior who is a descendent of the Yellow Emperor.

This descendent uses a magical sword named Zanlu, which was forged from a fallen star and is connected to the Big Dipper (which just so happens to have seven stars). In another version, he uses a sword called Qi Xing Long Yuan (Qi Xing meaning seven stars), a sword that Chiyou himself created and used prior to his initial death.

The skilled warrior was aided in his quest by the Goddess Nuwa, who has strong connections to the Phoenix as well as the Yellow Emperor (Shenhua, maybe?).

I’m starting to think that the whole Shenmue story is built around one specific variation of the Chiyou myth. Hopefully we’ll get to find out someday! 😅
Click to expand...
That's astounding! I have to confess that prior to this post I hadn't previously dug much into actual Chinese myths and legends and hadn't realized that the Shenmue story itself, not just certain elements, may potentially draw directly from existing mythology. It would be cool to read more - would you be interested in writing a guest post? :D
 
Switch said:
That's astounding! I have to confess that prior to this post I hadn't previously dug much into actual Chinese myths and legends and hadn't realized that the Shenmue story itself, not just certain elements, may potentially draw directly from existing mythology. It would be cool to read more - would you be interested in writing a guest post? :D
Click to expand...
To be honest, that’s about the extent of my knowledge on the matter. As I say, I only started digging into it today while looking for some sort of significance in the date July 31, 1987 (the bad ending date for both Shenmue 2 and Shenmue 3). I found that by asking Chat GPT a bunch of questions about Chiyou and his connections with mirrors and swords, I was able to find out about some of the lesser-known versions of the legend of Chiyou.
 
WuyingRen said:
Fantastic as always, Switch. Funnily enough, I was looking into the lore of Shenmue earlier on and came across a version of the Chiyou myth that I’d never encountered before.

In said version, Chiyou is resurrected in the Kunlun mountains using two special jade mirrors, which, when lined up with the stars in the correct way, have the power to raise the dead. After he comes back to life, Chiyou is beheaded by a skilled warrior who is a descendent of the Yellow Emperor.

This descendent uses a magical sword named Zanlu, which was forged from a fallen star and is connected to the Big Dipper (which just so happens to have seven stars). In another version, he uses a sword called Qi Xing Long Yuan (Qi Xing meaning seven stars), a sword that Chiyou himself created and used prior to his initial death.

The skilled warrior was aided in his quest by the Goddess Nuwa, who has strong connections to the Phoenix as well as the Yellow Emperor (Shenhua, maybe?).

I’m starting to think that the whole Shenmue story is built around one specific variation of the Chiyou myth. Hopefully we’ll get to find out someday! 😅
Click to expand...
Someone asked during the lore video, why does Lan Di still continue forward, wasn't his revenge of his father's death enough?
I started to wonder if there was a Chinese myth that Chiyou could raise the dead.
So I've been pondering if Lan Di thinks he can bring his father back to life.
Now I'm reading this! Maybe he thinks he can!
 
polyglot said:
Someone asked during the lore video, why does Lan Di still continue forward, wasn't his revenge of his father's death enough?
I started to wonder if there was a Chinese myth that Chiyou could raise the dead.
So I've been pondering if Lan Di thinks he can bring his father back to life.
Now I'm reading this! Maybe he thinks he can!
Click to expand...
Could be but I don't think so. The way I see it is like this: he was a broken kid once, probably good at heart but broken.
He initiated a path along certain elements and that part vanished leaving the powerseeking avengeful cold Fighter we know. What I mean, in my opinion there's no good intentions or explanations behind his acts.
Could he be under control of some kind of attached entity? Maybe but just to some extent. If that weren't the case that being could jump to others body vessels (maybe did from Iwao, who really killed someone being in altered state, to little Lan Di) and "it doesn't" (again if thats the case). It stays with him because Lan Di is already that way.
I think that evil force clings to people souls with a dark energy and in a search of destruction, and that's why Ryo is warned about that much by those who seem to know things escaping the rest of characters.
Would you like to see Akuma Ryo?
 
polyglot said:
Someone asked during the lore video, why does Lan Di still continue forward, wasn't his revenge of his father's death enough?
I started to wonder if there was a Chinese myth that Chiyou could raise the dead.
So I've been pondering if Lan Di thinks he can bring his father back to life.
Now I'm reading this! Maybe he thinks he can!
Click to expand...
After reading about the Jade of the Dipper (the twin mirrors), I got to wondering whether they were could be the reason why Iwao visited China in the first place. Maybe Akane gets ill and Iwao goes off in search of a cure? He meets Sunming - who was also dealing with the loss of a loved one - and the pair learn of the existence of the mirrors from Zhu, who wants them for more nefarious reasons.

It’s all pointless speculation, really, but it’s fun to theorize, I guess. Anyway, back on topic from here (sorry, Switch).
 
So the mirrors bring back the dead.

Lan di wanted to use the mirrors to bring back his dad. Iwao stops him from doing so, because morals, and Lan di equates that to iwao indirectly killing his father.

Maybe the whole point of shenmue release dates is to allow enough time for the fans to figure the whole thing out for themselves, clever 😂
 
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