Avatar: The Last Airbender - Real World Mythology Explained!

Avatar The Last Airbender aka The Legend of Aang is a series with a lot of influences it adapts a variety of mythologies philosophies theologies and cultures mixes them all together and yet somehow it just works most people will recognize a heavy influence from Asian culture on the series I would say the biggest percentage of this comes from China specifically but there are also influences from Japan Korea India and pretty much the rest of Asia as well then there are some influences from outside of Asia for example on the Water Tribe which resembles any wood cultures in some ways or the Sun warriors who resemble Mesoamerican cultures in some ways due to the series varied influences it is a difficult task to decipher which real-world sources the creators Brian Kinetico and Michael Dante DiMartino drew inspiration from in this video I'm going to attempt to figure that out anyway and expose the real world mythology philosophy theology and a bit of history that inspired Avatar The Last Airbender or which it is similar to the show creators admitted some of their influences but much of this video is my interpretation I might address a few things from The Legend of Korra but only as they relate to the world of the original avatar series I will not cover The Legend of Korra in depth in this video but I may cover it in a separate video also there will be spoilers in this video so without further ado let's get started by there is no better place to start with avatar of The Last Airbender than the bending it's the first thing we learn about the world of the series in the intro of every episode there are four nations each with their own elemental bending abilities water earth fire and air although after the air nomads were wiped out by the Fire Nation Aang emerges from a century-long hibernation as the last airbender and the avatar the only bender capable of bending all four elements the four elements of the Four Nations are adapted from the four classical elements an ancient philosophy or system meant to provide an understanding of matter or sometimes the energy found in nature the elements of the system or the number of elements may vary from culture to culture for example in Chinese whooshing there are five elements fire earth metal water and wood although they are thought of as phases or processes rather than elements in other ancient cultures including indian greek japanese and tibetan this system includes four primary elements very much like those in the Avatar world water earth fire and air however there is usually also a fifth element translated as ether space or sometimes void the Avatar series was probably most influenced by the ancient Indian concept of Maha buta which was adopted by practitioners of both Hinduism and Buddhism in some sources Maha buta also contains a six element consciousness in systems like Maha buta a lack of balance between the elements can be very bad like it is in the Avatar world after the Fire Nation attacks this is why it is so essential that Aang bring back balance to the four elements and the four nations through the Avatar series we witness more than four types of bending for example there is also metal bending or lightning bending among others but all of these are subcategories of the four primary bending arts that is until the end of the series when we witness a true fifth bending art energy bending energy bending isn't exactly ether bending or space bending like the classical element systems I suspect energy bending is more influenced by the ancient Chinese concept of Chi Chi is a life force or vital energy thought to circulate through the human body and the universe in fact Chi is referenced several times in the Avatar series so it also exists in the Avatar world stomach is the source of energy in your body it is called the sea of Chi the lion turtle tells Aang that before the era of the Avatar they bent the energy within themselves this is very close to the definition of Chi when the flow of Chi within the body is blocked it can have negative consequences or perhaps in the Avatar world block a firebenders ability to firebend I took away your firebending you can't use the movements of the four primary bending arts are based on four different Chinese martial arts styles for example the movements of waterbending are based on Tai Chi the waterbenders we more or less match them to the style of Tai Chi Tai Chi is an internal martial art meaning it focuses on techniques that affect the body internally including techniques for Chi cultivation and manipulation these techniques are thought to cultivate Chi within the body by bouncing yin and Yan the two opposing XI energies in the universe and allowing Chi to flow freely through the body's meridians or channels this is not to boost the immune system and promote health much like the healing techniques of water benders like Katara in fact in this scene Katara uses her waterbending to unblock this characters Chi like the aim of Tai Chi techniques injured his Chi is blocked Taichi movements that promote the flow of Chi within the body were adapted to portray the bending or flow of water in the avatar series the movements of airbending are based on another internal martial art of the Wudang school called baguazhang literally translated Agua refers to the eight trigrams of Taoist cosmology which represent eight interrelating principles of reality however this art was most likely chosen to represent airbending due to its emphasis on constant circular movements and turning palm techniques similar to a whirlwind or possibly an electric fan earthbending movements are based on an external or outwardly focused kung fu style called hung gar hung gar is a southern Shaolin style closely associated with the Chinese folk hero Wong fei-hung funding to conquer the style includes techniques based on animal movements five animals to be exact but one of its more distinguishing characteristics is a very low strong stance this stance firmly roots the practitioner of hung gar to the ground from which they draw their power much like an earthbender does the movements of firebending are based on northern Shaolin styles unlike the southern styles northern styles aren't as firmly rooted to the ground northern Shaolin is more dynamic and includes a variety of punching kicking and jumping techniques what makes these styles a good representation of firebending is their emphasis on long range attacks and aggression the preferred fighting style of a firebender although the last two martial arts styles are external and do not emphasize internal chi cultivation all of the bending arts may have some basis in chi gong or Qi manipulation in Chinese folklore and Chinese fantasy novels called Wu Xie chi gong also includes long range Chi blasts like the fire blasts of fire benders the long range attacks of other benders or even the Hadouken and Street Fighter there are many gods or figures in mythology associated with the classical elements and elemental spells referenced in folklore for example in Chinese Taoist magic however the concept of Four Nations each with their own elemental bending ability is unique to the avatar series bending can be interpreted as a literal representation of interrelating elements in systems like boo Shing or other philosophies that emphasize balance and harmony with nature like the ancient Chinese theology and philosophy of Taoism the main principle of Taoism is to live in accordance with the Dao or the way summed up simply the Dao is a path to harmonious living with nature a philosophy that fire lord ozai and the fire nations seem to reject ironically the character in the Avatar series that most represents the Dao is a member of the Fire Nation I'm referring of course to uncle Iroh Iroh didn't always live in accordance with the Dao but after the death of his son he began to see a new path one that rejected the ambition and arrogance of his former life Iroh started to go with the flow of nature achieving an effortlessness of action or wu wei as its referred to in chinese other members of the fire nation began to see Iroh as lazy and blood nests in fact he was achieving a stillness of mind that allowed for the full appreciation of experience including the experience of food bathing and of course tea these are all principles of Taoism at times Iroh didn't adhere to the Dao but usually this was only out of love for and a desire to help his nephew Prince Zuko Taoism is one of China's three major theologies and philosophies along with Confucianism and Buddhism and all three of these had an influence on the Avatar series like Taoism Confucianism is likely most represented by the fire nation or at least the corrupt version of it is at the beginning of the series Zuko seemingly represents the opposite of his Uncle IRAs philosophy but in fact he was blindly adhering to a foundational principle of Confucianism that is filial piety a reverence for one's parents and ancestors Zucco's only focus was to restore his honor in the eyes of his father regardless of the cost positive aspects of Confucianism like the development of morality and responsibilities to one's community may be represented by other nations like the Water Tribe in the way they respect and honor their elders and their community fine then I'm banished to the influence of Buddhism on the Avatar series is probably most noticeable in the depiction of the air nomads the air nomads are a monastic order who shaved their heads wear yellow and orange clothes and live in a temple atop a mountain much like the Buddhist monks of mountaintop monasteries in China or Tibet specifically and resists killing Fire Lord Ozai because the air nomads taught him that all life is sacred monks always taught me that all life is secret even the life of the tiniest spider fly caught in its own web this is a basic principle of Buddhism but there are also a few hints that the air nomads are influenced by Tibetan Buddhism specifically the first of these is the avatar himself and is the reincarnation of the previous avatar roku who in turn belongs to a long line of reincarnated avatars this is very similar to the tool ku of Tibetan Buddhism tool ku are spiritual leaders thought to be reincarnated from a line of past leaders the most famous of these are the dali lama's ku ku often possess a memory of their past lives when they are young like Aang when he is in the Avatar state and the spirit world the process of determining the avatar by the air nomads is also very similar to one test used to determine the Dalai Lama the Avatar must choose the avatar relics among thousands of toys while the Dalai Lama must identify the belongings of the previous Dalai Lama avatars are born in all four nations through the Avatar cycle not only the air nation but there are a few more hints that allude to the influence of Tibetan Buddhism on the air nomads one being angered e'en monk yet so yet Zoe's name is taken from the surname of most dali lama's and if you've seen The Legend of Korra you may know that Aang's youngest son has the current Dalai Lama's given name tens in the concept of the avatar and in fact the word itself comes from India where Buddhism originates however the term has its origins in Hinduism in Hinduism and avatar is an earthly incarnation of a Hindu deity much like the avatar of the series is an earthly incarnation of the spirit raava although we don't find that out until The Legend of Korra it is a guru the ancient Indian term for a master of a field of knowledge that teaches Aang to unlock all seven of his chakras and achieve mastery of the Avatar state the concept of the seven chakras or energy centers of the body originates from Hinduism but also applies to Buddhism as part of esoteric traditions known as Tantra in traditional practices like Kundalini Yoga unlocking the chakras is thought to allow divine energy called Kundalini to flow through the body from the base of the spine and this process allows the practitioner to achieve a heightened state of consciousness for spiritual awakening as it does for Aang however while he is instructed by guru Pathik and halts this process due to his attachment to the physical world and Katara this alludes to another Buddhist principle that emphasizes non attachment as a path to enlightenment [Music] aside from real world philosophy and theology the Avatar series also adapts real world mythical creatures to some extent the mythical creatures and spirits of the Avatar world are unique to the series but they have some clear influences a good place to start with these is one of the most ancient creatures of the Avatar world the lion Turtles blind turtles are likely influenced firstly by the Hindu concept of the world turtle although this myth is found in a number of cultures the massive world turtle supports the world on its back with the help of four elephants that serve as pillars another influence on the line turtles from Hinduism may be korma the giant tortoise avatar of the deity Vishnu in one Chinese myth the goddess nua cuts off the legs of a giant turtle and uses them to prop up the sky however the line turtles are more likely influenced by the Chinese concept of the four symbols or four guardians these four mythological creatures are thought to guard the four directions of the world they aren't all turtles but one is the black tortoise that guards the north this concept is similar to the line turtles in the way they guarded and supported the four nations on their backs during the age of raava the line turtles appearance and the fact that they are part lion is likely also influenced by traditional Chinese and general Asian lion statues sometimes called lion dogs these shoes are thought to symbolically protect palaces or temples in the same way the lion Turtles once protected humans from the spirits speaking of spirits in book one of the first avatar series we are introduced to hay by a spirit that protects a forest in the earth Kingdom hay by usually takes the form of a giant panda a symbol of peace and harmony in China but due to the destruction of its forest by the Fire Nation hei Bai took on a more monstrous form this form doesn't resemble any specific mythological creature however hay buys name and color scheme are likely a reference to hei Bai Wu Chun which literally means black and white impermanence hey bye boo Chung our two deities from Chinese folklore who serve as psycho pumps or escorts to the underworld two more spirits with a similar color scheme are found in a spirit oasis in the Northern Water Tribes capital city tui and LA are the moon spirit and ocean spirit respectively but take the form of white and black koifish each marked with a dot of the others color this is a pretty clear reference to the symbolic depiction of yin and Yan the two opposing energies of the universe found in ancient Chinese philosophy and medicine Co the face dealer even refers to the two spirits as yin and Yan so the show makes it pretty clear that's what they are when the moon spirit is threatened Princess Yu a becomes the embodiment of tui as the moon spirit UA is similar to the Chinese moon goddess chunga or princess kaguya a figure from Japanese folklore who must eventually return to her ancestral home on the moon a third influence on uace transformation may be the Buddhist Bodhisattva of mercy guan yin one depiction of guan yin is referred to as water moon guan yin this image sees her seated on a rock pondering the moon's reflection in a body of water before her perhaps like the pool in the spirit oasis there are more than a few insect-like demons in Asian folklore but none of them steal faces like ko the face dealer while his name is similar to kaol a Japanese word for face I suspect ko is also influenced by no the traditional Japanese masked theatre chose default face resembles an unreal mask or vengeful spirit mask from no theatre another influence from popular fiction may be the title character from the 1991 film Jai Ram which is an alien who also sports a noh mask and there's probably a bit of Cal nashi or no face from spirited away in there as well I know the guardian of the library Wan Shi Tong has a Chinese name which literally means he who knows 10,000 things but I think this spirits al form is more influenced by Greek mythology and specifically the owl of Athena which is a symbol of knowledge I wish there was some basis for the air bison in real-world mythology because they are my favorite creatures in the Avatar series but there isn't the series creators admitted that air bison like Appa are inspired by the cat bus from Hayao Miyazaki's my neighbor totoro doe another flying creature in the Avatar series is a pretty common fixture in the mythology of many cultures that is dragons the Avatar world's dragons resemble Chinese or general Asian dragons however their fire-breathing more resembles European dragons Asian dragons are typically associated with water rain or storms and aren't known for breathing fire although there are some exceptions to this rule as I alluded to earlier the tribe that guards the Dragons the Sun warriors resembles ancient Mesoamerican cultures in their dress and the architecture of their temples Mesoamerican mythology does include dragon light creatures refer to as feathered serpents like the Mayan DD kukulcan or the Aztec deity Quetzalcoatl sex also had a fire serpent called Shu quat this serpent is regarded as the spirit form of the Aztec fire God and was sometimes depicted as a weapon wielded by the Aztecs sun-god Huitzilopochtli kind of like the Sun warriors Dragons who taught Aang and Zuko the connection between firebending and the Sun well our civilization is called the Sun warriors so yeah aside from mythology theology and philosophy the Avatar series also touches on a bit of history for example one of China's most notorious secret societies the White Lotus is an honor to welcome such a high-ranking member of the Order of the White Lotus the historical White Lotus was a political and religious movement based in Buddhism and the Iranian theology of Monica Azam the White Lotus Society inspired a revolution that would eventually overthrow the youn dynasty and establish the ming like the avatars White Lotus who helped to overthrow Fire Lord Ozai Hashim this will be over quickly general Zhao is likely named after Xiao a Chinese state during China's warring States period jail was known for its aggressive generals like Xiao hua who also may have served as a partial inspiration for the over-aggressive avatar character although the only influence the creator's admitted for Zhao was the villain in the movie the patriot who not coincidentally was played by Jason Isaacs the same actor who voiced Jiao the city of Ba Sing se has a pretty blatant nod to China which is the great wall that surrounds the city a less obvious nod to Chinese history is the name of its secret police the Dai Li this name is taken from a real-life spy master head of Chinese military intelligence and chief of the Chinese secret police during the first half of the 20th century I suspect Dai Li not only inspired the name of Ba Sing se secret police but also its head in the first series long Fang it is the strict policy of Ba Sing se that the war not be mentioned within the walls well that's all I'm going to cover in this video I didn't cover everything in the Avatar series because this video would get very long and tedious if I did if you notice a reference to real world mythology philosophy or history in the first avatar series that I missed please let me know what it is in the comments below or let me know what I got wrong Bryan Kinetico and Michael Dante DiMartino could have made yet another fantasy series inspired by European mythology but instead they decided to delve more into Asia and I'm so glad they did even M night Shyamalan s film adaptation cannot tarnish the original series in my mind we can only hope that the upcoming Netflix adaptation finally does the original series justice if you enjoyed this video check out my video on Princess Mononoke and spirited away give the video a like subscribe and hit the notification bell to be notified of new videos that delve into the mythology behind your favorite shows movies and sometimes video games thanks for watching and until next time

Channel: StoryDive

Views: 658,927

Rating: 4.9572639 out of 5

Keywords: Avatar, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Avatar the last airbender, The Legend of Korra, Avatar mythology, Avatar creating the legend, Avatar real, Avatar explained, korra explained, Avatar review, Avatar breakdown, Avatar full episode, The Legend of Korra Explained, Aang, Buddhism, Asian Mythology, Chinese Mythology, Lion Turtles, Netflix Avatar, Hello Future Me Avatar

Id: ZrKGg6a7riM

Length: 20min 10sec (1210 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 10 2020