Great Yan

Biodata

Background / History

Great Yan’s rulers sought to establish a nation belonging to people rather than gods. Generations of preparation culminated in war against the Feranmuts, forcing them to submit and driving them from the land. Its founding through “god-slaying” became a legend known throughout Terra 131 142 166.

These victories came at a considerable cost. Many Celestial Masters died, while surviving veterans were left injured or approaching the ends of their lives. Although Sui and other Feranmuts were also weakened, their eventual return remained a threat, making the training of successors a national priority 131.

Under the current emperor, Great Yan concentrated on recuperation, territorial consolidation, and restoring its strength. The Grand Tutor considered him better suited to this period than the more aggressive Wei Yenwu, whose talents favored leadership during conflict 172 197.

As Terra entered a period of upheaval, the emperor concluded that Lungmen alone was insufficient as an opening to the world. His commission for Chen Qi to promote Yan’s martial culture marked a deliberate effort to prevent the country from falling behind through continued isolation 89.

Geography and Notable Locations

Government and Society

Imperial Administration

• Court factionalism: Officials maintain intertwined interests and private rivalries beneath the country’s prosperity. External dangers limit, but do not eliminate, their infighting 157.
• Access to office: The Grand Tutor acknowledges that family wealth influences access to education and government posts 86.
• Imperial longevity: The long-lived imperial family normally has ample time to educate princes, helping reduce the risk of an incapable successor 162.
• Noble titles: Yan’s titles and imperial kinship carry substantial political weight. Chen Qi receives the honorary title Marquis Liewen, whose “Lie” prefix has exceptional significance even for an honorary marquisate 142 143.

Reform and Succession

The forty-year arrangement is presented as a gentlemen’s agreement, witnessed by officials, Chen Qi’s crew, and Chongyue—not as an already established constitutional system 197.

Military Strength and Martial Arts

Celestial Masters and Imperial Guards

• Celestial Masters: Some elder masters possess Originium Arts capable of changing the weather or causing destruction comparable to living Catastrophes. Their martial arts supplement those abilities 131.
• Succession problem: The dwindling number of veteran Celestial Masters leaves Yan needing time to develop replacements. Originium Arts’ dependence on innate talent complicates that effort 131.
• Black Capes: Theresis describes them as rumored guards of the imperial family whose strength is difficult for ordinary Confessors to match 140.
• Anti-possession protections: Most practitioners with profound internal strength serve the court and possess safeguards against control, making them dangerous targets for Second Brother’s possession 130.

Internal and External Martial Arts

• Internal arts are uncommon: Even among Yan’s numerous hidden talents, fewer than one in ten martial artists may master them; practitioners capable of killing without a trace are rarer still 128.
• Invisible attacks: The Rat King’s and The Emperor’s internal techniques cannot be captured by ordinary filming equipment. Xi recreates their attacks visually for Kung Fu Hustle 128.
• Training requirements: Internal arts require foundations established early in life. Martial cultivation also takes much longer than developing Originium Arts 128 131.
• Age-related limits: Internal strength can increase with age while the body deteriorates, making extreme attacks potentially suicidal against Feranmuts 131.
• Weapons cannot erase a skill gap: Huai Tianpei explains that sufficiently accomplished masters can rival divine weapons with a wooden stick 129.

Techniques Introduced by Chen Qi

• Restricted instruction: Tai Chi and the Lion’s Roar Technique are designated the highest treasures of Yan’s martial arsenal. Only the ultimate first-place winner of the martial academy’s five-year examination is given the opportunity to study them 131.
• Proposed deployment: The emperor later expresses the goal of placing at least one practitioner of each technique in every Mobile City. Tai Chi would delay an enemy while the Lion’s Roar practitioner gathers power 140.
• Security concerns: The Grand Tutor warns that uncontrolled distribution could fuel martial violence, attract foreign spies, and encourage officials to sell access to the manuals 131.
• Public influence: Huai Tianpei’s demonstration of catching a bullet encourages speed-focused training and presents bullet-catching as a future benchmark for Yan’s martial artists 133.

Relations with the Sui

• Underlying threat: Sui’s true body beneath the imperial city remains a danger, aggravated by Second Brother’s activities 166.
• Second Brother’s strategy: He intends to use Sui’s revival as leverage, arguing that Yan cannot afford even a victorious war if the cost is ruinous 139.
• Cooperative siblings: The emperor acknowledges that Nian, Xi, Ling, and Chongyue have obeyed the law and contributed substantially to Yan 142.
• Surveillance policy: After watching Kung Fu Hustle, the emperor orders surveillance of the Sui to end 142.
• Succession guarantee: Chongyue promises to prevent Sui-Xiang from awakening during the fifteen years remaining before the planned transfer of power 197.

Yan values Chen Qi’s artistic and literary talents rather than treating his publicly perceived Feranmut identity as an automatic threat 139.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Securing Chen Qi’s Cooperation

The court’s interest begins with reports that Nian and Xi are staying with Chen Qi. Officials propose bringing him under Yan’s protection, while the Grand Tutor suggests adopting Talulah into the imperial family to bind him to the country. The emperor leaves that adoption proposal undecided 58.

• Zuo Le later delivers the martial-film invitation and promises Yan’s backing when Kazimierz Campaign Knights threaten Chen Qi 104.
• Chen Qi receives the Great Yan Travel Writ, inscribed in a True Lung’s blood and representing the emperor’s personal presence 143.
• Talulah is subsequently granted the title of Lady at a state banquet to emphasize her connection to Yan’s imperial family 170.

Film Commissions and Political Impact

Kung Fu Hustle also creates a misleading impression of Yan’s reserves: Chen Qi observes that Terra now believes the nation has many arts comparable to Buddha’s Palm, while Wei Yenwu protests that it does not 142.

The Fictional Great Yan of 1566

• Setting: The drama depicts a future Yan after the current imperial brothers’ deaths and the resolution of the Sui threat 162 166.
• Ruler: Emperor Jiajing, played by Wei Yenwu, pursues godhood and allows corrupt factions to flourish in pursuit of revenue 158 166.
• Institutional differences: Its Directorate of Ceremonial does not exist in present-day Yan, and its civil officials wield substantially greater power 159 166.
• Uncertain interpretation: Rumors that Chen Qi possesses future sight make officials unwilling to dismiss the depicted decline as harmless fiction 187.

Foreign Relations

• Ursus: A nearby power with a history of territorial friction. Yan’s apparent ability to counter elite fighters makes Ursus’s leadership more cautious; border tensions had quieted for several years under the new Ursus emperor 141 172.
• Kazdel: Wei Yenwu offers conditional support for Sarkaz revival, warning that Yan will oppose ambitions that threaten it. Theresis considers Chen Qi a potential bridge between the two nations 170 172.
• Leithania: Its ambassador seeks assistance with the Witch King’s remnants, placing Chen Qi’s talents at the center of another diplomatic request 139.
• Strategic secrecy: The emperor deliberately preserves Yan’s mysterious reputation as a deterrent. At the state banquet, he uses Wei Yenwu’s association with the formidable Jiajing role to reinforce foreign uncertainty about Yan’s leadership and reserves 172.
• Continuing dangers: Feranmuts, Demons, and Seaborn remain major threats; Ursus, Higashi, and the Church of the Deep also figure in the emperor’s security concerns 157 166.