Real Lunar New Year Traditions of the Liyue Lantern Rite: Genshin Impact Lore Analysis

[Music] as the dawn of another year comes above the Horizon the Skies of Lea are illuminated once again for the legendary Lea Lantern right the nation of contracts holiday dedicated to welcoming the new year as we all know this holiday draws heavy inspiration from the Lunar New Year a real life holiday originating in China but also celebrated across other East Asian countries but beyond filling the skies with beautiful lanterns the Lantern right also exhibits many other cultural practices observed during Lunar New Year some of which are unique to specific Regional cultures in China so in this video I'm here to explain the true Chinese Origins behind the lantern right's many Traditions which includes shedding light on how the game uses both its characters and story writing to represent the values of this amazing culture in the best way possible from analyzing the real life history of lantern ceremonies cultural roots of the celebration's performances spiritual beliefs surrounding the adep ey and even traditional foods and familial practices of the holiday a ton of cultural references will be made in the video especially since I'll be covering practices from both the current and previous Lantern rights so feel free to use the time stamps in the description if you would like to skip to a specific part with all that being said I wish you all a Happy Lantern right shinan qua and Sun Le f [Music] Le's culture is known all across tat for their high-spirited Performing Arts many of which are featured especially in the lantern right festivities so now let's take the time to analyze the real Chinese origins of the two major Performing Arts featured in the LI Lantern right these are Gaming's canton's rho dance and Yun jun's Mandarin Opera first let's start with Gaming's performance as his Spotlight truly made him feel like the main character of this year's Lantern right his fiery R show dance that Lit Up Lea Harbor actually doesn't come from this part of Lea you see most of Lea including its capital city was inspired by parts of China that speak Mandarin however both gaming and Theo Dance come from chenu ve the region of Lea based on the Chinese regions that speak Cantonese this detail and Le's World design may be a callback to how his wo dance was inspired by the real Cantonese lion dance also known as the Chinese Southern lion dance you see many variations of this dance are performed all around China but the one we see in the lantern right is extremely accurate in representing its Cantonese version as Gaming's constellation awakened lion is a direct translation of its Cantonese counterpart but you may be wondering how are the origins of this dance similar like most Lunar New Year Traditions loud activities such as the lion dance are performed to scare off evil spirits like the neon likewise in Le ging's dance is based on the Swani a creature whose image is placed all over Lea to also ward off evil spirits when it comes to the training of the dancers themselves wo dancers such as gaming also practice Kung Fu on a regular basis just finished my Kung Fu practice now I'm about to go for dimsum you want to join this is because certain styles of the real cantones lion dance also incorporate Chinese marshal arts such as Kung Fu some examples include fan and xiaoa because the martial arts moves help make the dancer more agile therefore producing a much more energetic and Lively dance especially when they jump between narrow stilts a stunt also replicated and Gaming's fighting style speaking of this fighting style you could also see that he likes to grab his Claymore with the mouth of his lion this is a reference to how lion dances often feature the lion grabbing certain items such as food with its mouth often as a way to feed the lion between dances or as a sign of good luck when it spits something back at the audience but perhaps the icing on the cake that makes Gaming's wo dance so special has to be its symbolism you see the lions are more than just costumes their characters and their unique personalities are often distinguished by their color Gaming's lion is black and black Cantonese lions are said to be the youngest and most energetic and often embody the spirit of a headstrong teenager this connects to the extreme Vigor behind Gaming's dance as well as his personality as a stubborn yet the determined young man that matches the original character of the black dragon a personality trait that perfectly fits gaming as he tries to prove himself to both his father and the rest of Lia now let's move on to Yun Jin Lea star opera singer and also Gaming's personal Idol yunin is a huge inspiration to me everyone agrees that she's a fantastic singer from the expert to the Casual listener incredible if the mighty mythical Beast ever get half as successful as a unan offer troop don't pinch me cuz I don't want to wake up I swear he gives off K-pop stand Vibes or would it be cop since they're Chinese anyways her performance stole the spotlight of the 2.4 interlude quest released right before the 2022 Lantern right this is because her style was based on the P King Opera also known as shichu while Gaming's performance is originally Cantonese Yun Jin is sung in traditional Mandarin so what parts of her performance truly Make Her Style authentic to the real Chinese art first has to be storytelling most plays and musicals are done to dramatize tales of the past and this is present in Lea style of Opera just like how peaking Opera tells stories about legendary Tales from Chinese folklore most of Le Opera includes epics that recount stories of The Immortal Adept saving Le however in recent times peing style Opera has tried to modernize its storytelling in order to make its stories more meaningful to the Common Man many modern peaking operas focus on the struggles of normal people rather than Tales of mythical beasts and Grand battles this motive behind the modernization of the genre is also found in Yun Jin's inspiration to become an opera singer many of Le's Legends are centered around stories of gods and the adep ey so most operas focus on the supernatural too but in this age of humanity I would rather like to tell stories about Ordinary People you could say that her dream does come true during her performance of shena's tale as Shena is not an adeptus but rather a human just like the rest of Lea as for her actual performances Yun Jan's play style and plays borrow from many parts of peing Opera this includes her design as a character besides stretching her vocals the same way a traditional Opera [Music] does her props and outfit are authentic to what real shiu performers wear her headdress although it looks like a Dongo was based on the fangan crown warn to depict High officials in plays while the fun Flags produced on her back during the elemental skills also serve the same purpose on stage in addition to these Yun jun's combat primarily focuses on the pull arm or spear this may be taken from the fight scenes often depicted in Beijing style Opera especially with the action of spear kicking and [Music] spinning Chinese culture is known across the world for its legendary and diverse Cuisine however certain dishes are especially prepared for the Lunar New Year as it turns out those celebratory dishes are actually present in Lea's Gastronomy so let's tour both the street vendors and restaurants of Lea to find them all if we go under the lantern right section of Lea's menu the majority of these special dishes exhibit characteristics unique to food eaten during Lunar New Year plates like these special noodles with mountain Delicacies represent the Chinese practice of eating long uncut noodles for the Lunar New Year as it goes in line with the theme of long life meanwhile round Delicacies like the lantern right fried radish balls match the Chinese value of eating round objects to represent Unity other foods are eaten for good luck due to their phonetic similarities to other things that bring good luck Lantern right specials like tiger fish represent the practice of eating fish in some Chinese regions for Lunar New Year as the Chinese word for fish you sounds like you which means extra a worded associated with good luck in Mandarin this is the same reason why Mandarin oranges are also eaten during this time of year speaking of fish another Lantern right dish based on a Lunar New Year delicacy is bountiful year a raw fish Sashimi dish based on usang eaten by Chinese Malaysians and singaporeans during the sth day of Lunar New Year called rry turnip cakes are also found on the tables of Shinu kiosk and lei Pavilion this is a dish traditionally eaten in both Lunar New Year feasts and part of dim suum it is usually served with tea in a Cantonese practice known as yumcha a southern Chinese meal also observed by Cantonese characters such as gaming when you go for the tea but safe for the dimsum we call that Yuma what you want to do is get some sweet dimsum and some Savory dimsum got to make it a balanced meal and order a mix of ready-made dimsum and made to order demm suum so that you can snack on demm suum while you're waiting on your other dim suum it's also important to know that these Foods are shared in traditional Lunar New Year feasts Chinese families often gather with both relatives and friends for a meal on the eve of Lunar New Year this practice is also seen among the population of Lea especially on the eve of the firework and Lantern ceremonies whether is the staff operating wangu in Madame Ping's adoptive children or the Adept meeting up with the friends that they consider to be family this Feast is often accompanied by a communal Hot Pot soup a shared dish eaten to to signify the reunification of family during the New Year [Music] season Chinese folk religions played a huge part in shaping Lea's Customs especially the ones practiced during the leoa lantern right some of these include incense and food offerings to both ancestors and even Gods so let's take a look at the cultural and historical origins of the New Year offerings shared by both Chinese and and leuan culture first let's talk about incense offerings the people of Le could be found offering incense to both gods and ancestors during the lantern right festivities during the 3.4 Lantern right Quest our friends even argue over who gets the honor of lighting the years's first incense in Chinese culture incense is lit during the new year as part of a wide range of practices belonging to fangu by burning these sticks negative energy is Cast Away from the area allowing prayers to be made to both gods and ancestors which is why we see incense placed at temples belonging to adep like prasis or in the dining rooms of friendly Gatherings to ensure that all of them receive blessings for the new year as for food these items are also offered to gods and ancestors during the New Year in a Chinese practice known as Ching Ming graves are cleaned and filled with food and other items that the deceased friend or family member loved when they were still alive this practice is also performed by the people of le as during the 2.4 Lantern right food and drink was placed on the grave of Asa presumably by his old friend Jong Lee as for offerings to the gods this tradition done to bring blessings to the family is also performed by leway and pilgrims just like how food is placed at the altars of gods during Chinese New Year food was also placed on cloud retainers table in order to summon the adeptus presence when it comes to toist and Buddhist they also believe that Gods go back to heaven to report the condition of their family to the higher gods in order to make sure those Gods give a good report on their family sweet foods are often offered to the deities like the kitchen God in order to sort of bribe them into saying good things about their family likewise in Lea the kitchen God is replaced by the stove God Gooba and just like the kitchen God guoba could also be easily bribed by sweet food which is how he befriended shling when she unintentionally left cornbread at his altar all those years ago while we're on the topic of religious beliefs let's take this opportunity to talk about this next part of Lunar New Year the Lord of Lea has always focused on Two Worlds the Mortal realm of humans and The Immortal Realm of the adep the legendary beings based on the ones found in Chinese folklore however most of Lea's major story quests focus on moments where these Two Worlds Collide this includes the Ann ual Lantern right so let's take a look at how the lantern right Traditions surrounding the epti were inspired by real Lunar New Year beliefs concerning Chinese beasts and Spirits the first one has to be the roles both of them play you see a major belief in Chinese New Year is that evil spirits come to attack people during this season so the majority of this holiday's practices are done to W them off from making loud noises with firecrackers and fireworks to giving each other money and even the prevalence of the color red just like in China leoa also has an uptick in evil spirits during the lantern right season so it's up to a depti like xia the last yaka to protect people during this event which is why his character's first official run was during the Lunar New Year season of 2021 and why he seems to work overtime as a guardian yaka during the increase of malicious Spirits during each Lantern right speaking of yakas and the adep each Lantern right also has an adeptus serving as the year's mascot such as this year being the yaka mogus the previous year seagazer and even the very first event being skyracer the theme of having an eple mascot for every Lantern right could be a callback to how each Lunar New Year is associated with a zodiac animal like last year being year of the rabbit or this year being Year of the Dragon [Music] Lantern right's vibrant atmosphere is a crucial part in making this holiday feels so enchanting each year a myriad of colorful fireworks and decorations illuminate every corner of Lea from the skies to the streets below however it's important to know both the historical and cultural origins of these decorations as well as the significance each of them hold in the real Chinese New Year you see most of the material decorations of Lunar New Year are placed to ward off evil spirits and Grant good luck which is why characters during this time of year always seem to use the word auspicious so let's see what evil dispelling Chinese practices could also be found in the streets of Lea first let's talk about fireworks during the 2.4 Lantern right Quest ning Wang tells us that gunpowder and fireworks are originally Lee Wayan inventions similar to how Tang Dynasty China was the first nation to also use gunpowder and fireworks in real life explosive items like fireworks and firecrackers hanging on the streets of Lea Harbor and Yong Warf are set off to emit loud sounds that could scare off evil spirits similar to how our jao lanterns in the west were originally carved to dispel evil the explosions and noise produced by fireworks and crackers performed the same task in eastern beliefs however what makes the 4.4 Lantern right unique is its theme surrounding kites another decoration that is extremely important to the Lunar New Year not only were kites used to symbolically represent Gaming's character but their importance in Lea is also based on their importance in China during the Ching Ming grave cleaning Festival that I mentioned earlier kites are often treated as a Pastime during this day contrary to Western perception these are more than just toys and actually carry a symbolic importance in this culture in both Lea and China kites are flown and released to symbolize good luck and freedom for the new year often times different kites also represent different values in Chinese culture which is replicated in the meaning behind different kites in Lea such as the Jade chamber and various animals right below the Kites celebrant and Lea will also come across a plethora of umbrellas that represent wealth and Chinese nodding that also WS off evil spirits but beyond the rows of gift boxes stalls firecrackers screens and lanterns that fill Lea's many corridors one thing is shared between all of them they are all red and yellow these two colors are seen as the most important symbols of this culture on the surface putting up decorations with these colors or wearing it is used to bring good luck and dispel evil spirits like all the other decorations in Le but the origins of these colors are more important than you think red and yellow come from the Chinese five elements Theory with red denoting fire and the accents of yellow representing Earth this is especially fitting for Lea as the yellow Chinese decorations that represent Earth also connect to Lea's status as the nation of Geo the core of the lanter night festival has to be its legendary lanterns as the Skies of Lea Harbor are yet again filled with these beautiful floating gems it's important to know where this tradition exactly comes from in Chinese culture first let's discuss their similar histories during the archon war that ravaged both Lea and tat it was said that the sky lanterns were used to Signal positions to soldiers and ultimately help them find a way back home meanwhile in Chinese history Lantern were also used by the Eastern Han Dynasty to help them send signals to soldiers during the many battles that took place in the Three Kingdoms period but as for the actual practice of making them float into the sky both the Chinese and the leuan lanterns share familiar Roots you see the lantern festivals held on the 15th day and final night of Lunar New Year can symbolize different themes by letting these lanterns go into the sky this practice represents letting go of your past self of the previous year and welcoming your new self for the new year year every year it is believed that the person you are right now always changes so letting your previous versions go and welcoming newer ones is a practice that is symbolized annually by these parting lanterns this very idea of constantly letting go of past selves in order to become your new self could be represented through Shena though Shena lacks a personal story Quest her occurring appearance and every Lantern right does match the symbolic importance of letting oneself go during the Chinese Lantern Festival this is because most most of her character development surrounds the idea of change during the 2.4 Lantern right she lets go of her past self as an outcast as she is welcome back into human society as a normal person after years of living among the adep but during the 3.4 and 4.4 Lantern rights she lets go her previous status as an average city dweller and welcomes a new balanced state where she is both a respected member of human society but still part of her new adeptus family in addition to letting go another value that the sky lanters represent is family reunion during the Lunar New Year Round shapes such as the ones found in lanterns are often used to depict wholeness and unity specifically between family members this is especially symbolized when the Myriad of lanterns from the ground unite as one in the sky this theme of family reunion could be seen in almost every Lantern right event since this value is so important let's use the last part of this video to talk about this theme [Music] throughout Lea's many quests related to the lantern right you may have noticed that the theme of family has always been a recurring subject in each story but why is this so during the real Lunar New Year the importance of family has always been a constant theme after all Chinese culture has often been remembered as a collectivist culture meaning that Harmony between family members has always been emphasized as a major part of life especially through ancient religions and philosophies like Confucianism and tosm throughout this video you may have noticed that Luna New Year celebrations are divided into different days and though family is an important part of each day a very specific practice on the second day of Lunar New Year takes its Spotlight in almost every Lantern right Quest the second day of New Year always focuses on renewing family ties with one example being daughters who return home to visit their immediate relatives this theme of family reunions is present not only in this year's right but also in the previous years let's start with the prime example of this theme which is through gaming during the quest the gleed returns to the Pavilion we learned that Gaming's relationship with his father worsened after their separate wishes for his future clashed driving him to run away from home however thanks to a plan hatched by xianyun Gaming is able to reconcile with his dad after years of separation and bitter thoughts finally giving him a chance to both prove his independence to his father but most importantly welcome him as his family once again this theme of the adep ey such as xianyun helping gaming reestablish ties with his family could be inspired by the Chinese belief of the Gods who the adep were based on granting Good Fortune to the families during this season allowing time for separated family members to unite once again but speaking of Shaun her and her apprentices also coincide with the Lunar New Year theme of family reunion as a crane and motherly figure Shan Yun has always enjoyed taking an apprentice under her Wing at Mount outang after each one grew big enough to fly away from her nest the loneliness she experienced drove her to move closer to the city where her two most recent disciples lived allowing her to live closer with the two people she could truly refer to as her daughters just like how families reunite with distant relatives in the new year but as I mentioned earlier shena's recurring presence in each Year's Lantern WR allows the games writers to use her developing character to convey the values of this holiday while characters like gaming reunite with pre-existing family shha is blessed with a new family during the lantern right season because she was deprived from spending time with her real parents this season granted her with memories made with a new family a loyal one that refuses to abandon her in spite of the absence of any biological relation her blessings include a mother figure through shun and a big sister through ganu other adep ey are also seen reuniting with family figures as well such as Madame ping watching the fireworks with her adoptive daughters Yan and Yao yo or xia and Hut spending time with their father figure Jong Lee but speaking of Xian Yun her character Quest that was released right before this year's Lantern right also conveys the Lunar New Year theme of family reunion as we entered a dream during our nap on Mount outson we see the desire of her newest Apprentice shuyu to reunite with her grandmother once again meanwhile the Traveler's dream outlined their deepest yearning ever since the beginning of their Journey throughout tat the wish to reunite with their twins the only family that the traveler seems to even have though this family reunion is confined within the artificial realm of a dream it's still very heartwarming to see that Shan Yun is willing to help us experience this Lunar New Year tradition when reality won't allow us to though Bittersweet the idea of letting the traveler partake in the lantern right family reunion that they've been deprived of for so long is enough to make her one of the best mother figures in all of Lea perfectly embodying the lunter New Year values of family family and giving both the traveler and the children of Lea the perfect Lantern right

Channel: Explorer’s Compass

Views: 243

Keywords:

Id: NaoWpeCisw0

Length: 24min 40sec (1480 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 17 2024