Heibai’s Village - Northern Watertribe
The building style is remarkably similar, just compare the rounded roofs and square foundations of the houses; but not only that it is also very unlike that from the Southern Watertribe.
The NWT’s ice buildings seem to share a common architectural root with Heibai Village’s building style. And even though the villagers are wearing green, it makes me wonder if those two groups share a past connection.
The Lion-turtle - Yu The Great - Magic Squares - Feng Shui
The pattern on the shell of the lion-turtle is not just any shape, but a magic square.
Magic squares are kinda cool: "…a magic square is an arrangement of numbers (usually integers) in a square grid, where the numbers in each row, and in each column, and the numbers that run diagonally in both directions, all add up to the same number.“ Link
The specific one this is referencing is the Lo Shu Square (see middle picture) which is used in Feng Shui (風水) i.e. the believe and practice of placing objects in relation to the flow of chi/qi (氣) ‘natural energy’.
That the lion-turtle shares a connection to the flow of chi is not surprising, considering that it teaches Aang how to energy bend.
Standing at the river’s edge, the Emperor Yu-Huang watched the mighty Huang-He (Yellow River) rush before him.
Emperor Yu enjoyed the river. Looking out to the opposite side of the river, Emperor Yu slowly allowed his gaze to drop until he was looking at the river’s edge right below his feet. It was at that moment that he saw the divine turtle.
Emperor Yu had seen the divine turtle before, but as a pattern in the stars, never this close. Every night, right before he went to bed, Emperor Yu would look out his bedroom window and see the turtle in the night sky. The emperor knew the Lo River story and believed that the turtle was a symbol of good luck. Just before he went to sleep the emperor would look at the turtle to ensure continued good luck. Now it was right before the emperor, swimming slowly at the river’s edge.The emperor was familiar with the shape of the creature, but the detail of the shell that Emperor Yu now saw was new to him.
A turtle’s hard back is half of the tough house that protects its body from enemies. The roof of this house looks like puzzle pieces glued together to form two circles around a rectangle. Emperor Yu looked long at these shapes on the turtle’s back and noticed a pattern of dots etched on them.
Starting next to the turtle’s right leg was a square formed by four linked dots. Traveling around the shell as the hands of a clock travel, the emperor came next to nine dots in a row. At the five o'clock position of a clock face there were two dots. At the bottom or six o'clock position was a row of seven linked dots. Next came a rectangle etched by six dots, and then a solitary dot at the nine o'clock spot. A long rectangle of eight dots followed, and at the top was a short line of three dots. In the center of all these dots was the intersection of two lines sharing five dots.
What did this all mean, the emperor wondered. Was the divine turtle giving a signal?
As the river became dark, Emperor Yu lost sight of the turtle and started for home. Walking slowly, the emperor thought about the different numbers and their positions one to another.
Emperor Yu added up the numbers many different ways. What did the magic sum have to do with him? Was it years of good luck? Or was it years to live? The questions came easily, but the answers were nowhere to be found. Emperor Yu was troubled.
He had come to the river’s edge to seek tranquillity, and instead had found doubt. The divine turtle had visited, but instead of bringing good luck he had left uncertainty. What was the emperor to do?
Lion-Turtle - Ancient Turtle
Is the Lion-Turtle a lion hybrid animal, or just very ancient?
Let’s recap: It is very ancient, can communicate with humans, has a lion mane and his wise.
The turtle (龜) is one of the auspicious animal in China. (Other auspicious animals are phoenix (fenghuang 鳳凰), unicorn (qilin 麒麟) and dragon(long 龍).)
Can communicate with humans:
It is said in the Zhong xuan ji 中玄記 (a collection of supernatural stories from the Jin Dynasty 晉 (265-420) that thousand-year old turtles gain the ability to communicate with humans.
In the later Shu yi ji 述異記 “Tales of strange matters” (a collection of ancient novellas and stories of strange events from Southern Qi period 南齊 (479-502), the following Liang period 梁 (502-557).) Says that a:
Has a lion-mane i.e. hair:
In the age of one thousand years a turtle grows hair, as the Shuyiji 述異記 says.
Is wise:
A five thousand years old turtle is called shengui 神龜 “divine turtle”, an animal older than ten thousand years is called linggui 靈龜 “spiritual turtle”.
Now, I am very aware that the show uses hybrid-animals, but I think that, when you compare the lion-turtle’s traits with what traits ‘ancient turtles’ in Chinese stories have, you can clearly see where the inspiration for the lion-turtle came from.
The books I am talking about can be found here: One
Omashu - Yunkai
Am I the only one who thought Yunkai kinda looks like Omashu?
the world of avatarfull size map (3600x1844)
This is really cool :D
Feels like, though, as if there’s a missing continent, or the planet needs to be smaller. Would explain their ability to jump 5 feet straight up if it were. LOL low gravity XD
Phoenix Queen King Ozai
Ozai declaring himself ‘Phoenix King’ is supposed to show how far around the bent Ozai has gone. And my it is far.
But if you view it in-universe (the show is set in a sino-centric universe) it becomes even weirder.
Let me explain:
The phoenix is the embodiment of female power i.e. the Empress; not male i.e. the Emperor. That would be the dragon.
The phoenix represents yin, the dragon yang.
So Phoenix King is kinda an oxymoron.
What he did is either declaring that he now is Emperor and Empress in one person. Ozai is taking on the yin part of the yin and yang, on top of the yang of 'king’. He is now, by declaring himself phoenix and dragon, 'complete’. Or, and I am not going down that creepy road, one could argue that by making Azula Fire Lord, he is making her the dragon/husband.
Anyway …
Now I understand that they wanted to run with the 'reborn from ashes’ aspect, but it makes Ozai, in cultural and show context, sound even more insane than he is.
On a side note: There is a real phoenix crown, traditionally worn by the Empress (compare picture), and there are even similarities between Ozai’s helmet/crown and the real thing e.g. the wings on the sides.
The phoenix, in Chinese mythology and tradition, has symbolized the Empress and the yin force since the Yuan Dynasty.
In ancient and modern Chinese culture, they can often be found in the decorations for weddings or royalty, along with dragons. This is because the Chinese considered the dragon and phoenix symbolic of blissful relations between husband and wife, another common yin and yang (Yin is female and yang is male.) metaphor.
If you want to know the myth behind the dragon and the phoenix go here:
Wanted Poster Easter Eggs
Hunting the Avatar would be a lot easier if Zuko could read
Zhao is hunting for Aang without offical permission
Zuko is not confirmed not to be a ghost
He’s mocked as ‘Admiral Bling’ aka Cheng Cheng 琤琤 - 'the tinkling of gems’.
Toph’s not called 'the Runaway’ in it.
Zuko’s and Uncle’s Wanted Poster
Zuko is still considered the crown prince, even if they mock him and okay the use of deathly force…
Actor Aang - Aang’s Feminine Side
The Ember Island Players chose a woman to play the role of Aang.
There are two reasons for it, for one the network was pressuring for Aang to be voiced by a woman, instead of an actual teenage boy. This is pretty common practice e.g. Tara Strong (who voices Actor Azula) has voiced more than one ‘boy’ in her VA career. But even though they were pressured by the network and later had to digitally alter Zach Tyler Eisen's voice, they never caved to the pressure, opting for authenticity instead.
The second reason would be that the play, especially how Aang is portrait, is an homage to Peter Pan. Peter Pan, too, is most often played by a woman. And to be fair, Aang does share quite a few traits with Peter Pan, especially in season one e.g. the ability to fly, his not wanting to grow up and his daredevil personality (riding the Unagi).
Image Source: One
Did Sokka Just Walk in on one of Kuei’s Concubines?
We never get any mention of there being an Earth Queen i.e. of Kuei having a wife and/or kids in either the show or the comics. (That would make him running off with Bosco at the end of season two even more douchy than it is.) We also never get any mention of him having a sister, and that lady is definitely not dressed like a servant. So who is she …
