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Re: Now I really think there's a Sino-rific connec
Posted By: Jackal Fister <olmec1980@yahoo.com>	Date: 4/8/06 2:09 p.m.
In Response To: Now I really think there's a Sino-rific connection (Walshicus) : A while back I posted how I felt the naming scheme for the Covenant : Prophets and the Emperors of the various Chinese Empires was oddly : similar, and perhaps a useful starting point for further investigation. : Until today I let the matter lie. A few hours ago, whilst researching for my : dissertation [only 14,000 words left!] I came across a rather fascinating : piece of text from the Emperor "Daoguang" [literally: "Path : of Brilliance"] to a disgraced official, Commissioner Lin "Blue : Sky" Hsu-tse, which in English reads as: “You have lied to us, : disguising in your dispatches the true colour of affairs. Instead of : helping us, you have only caused confusion to arise. Now, one thousand : unending problems are sprouting. [...] As we think about your grievous : failings, we become furious, and then melancholy.” : Which reminded me very much of the transmission from Truth to Regret that : Cortana intercepts in the level of the same name: “Your haste has : jeopardised the fulfilment of our Covenant, threatened our grand design. : That you shall be spared a public display of our contempt is thanks only : to Mercy and his wise council.” : But that's not all that struck me. Take a look at these two portraits: : The image of the Prophet is from Tina Leyks' "Know Your Place", and : so obviously the posing isn't intentional on Bungie's part. But there's : more to look at there. Not only is their dress similar, but take note that : Chinese Emperors sat on what was known as the Dragon Throne. It seems to : me that the thrones of the Prophets are rather dragon-like too. They fly, : they breath 'fire', and can become "invisible" as they teleport : - all traditional attributes of Chinese dragons. : One further thing of note is the 'foreign policy' framework both the Covenant : and the pre-Xianfeng Qing Empire utilise. Until the Opium War between the : Qing and British Empires in the mid-19th Century forced Daoguang's court : to change its ways, Chinese relations had always been based on the belief : that "China" or rather the Zhongguo / Middle Kingdom was the : centre of the world, its Emperor was the sole Sovereign, and all other : nations were 'outer tribes' who had to present themselves as tributary : states of the Zhongguo. We are reminded in the later High Charity mission : background-speak the way in which the Covenant conducted its foreign : affairs in the past - races either joined the Covenant willingly or were : destroyed. : Whilst I agree I could be mistaken and everything I've pointed out could just : be coincidence... until being refuted, I rather believe that Bungie took a : lot of their inspiration for the Prophets from the Ming and Qing Emperors. I don't get how the two quotes are similar at all, other than they are both by rulers who are mad.

Message Index

Now I really think there's a Sino-rific connection	Walshicus	4/8/06 11:21 a.m.
Re: Now I really think there's a Sino-rific connec	Jackal Fister	4/8/06 2:09 p.m.
Re: Now I really think there's a Sino-rific connec	Walshicus	4/8/06 2:35 p.m.
Re: Now I really think there's a Sino-rific connec	Frofalcon	4/9/06 4:01 p.m.
I give this theory a thumbs-up. *NM*	LostRock11	4/8/06 2:18 p.m.
Re: Now I really think there's a Sino-rific connec	UrsusArctos	5/1/06 7:43 p.m.