A:TLA Annotations

handsaretobuild asked:  Something on the Kyoshi warriors and island would be good.

More:

1. Kyoshi founding, scroll

2. Avatar Kyoshi shares a name with the Japanese poet and writer

3. Chin the Great

atla-annotated:

Repost Guest Staring yuumegari:

• Also note the tatami floors in that dojo.
• The makeup on the Kyoshi warriors begins with a white base and red, well-associated with maiko, geiko, and geisha culture in general.
• The fans and the fighting style resemble aikido (using force against the opponent), and there is a good chance that much of the forms that the warriors practice are tessenjutsu kata.
• The sea has elephant koi and an unagi, both of which are native in Japan’s seas (though I’m not too sure about the existence of elephant koi…).
• The village itself has buildings that resemble those in Shirakawa-Go and Gokayama villages. They are done in the “gassho-zukuri” style, or the “prayer-hands construction”…see the triangular roofs. (On a side note, these places are very famous to go to in the winter.)
• Lastly, Kyoshi island seems to be very picky about outsiders, so that leads me to assume that the place was very isolated for a time…if that doesn’t sound characteristic of Japan, well…

>>> This is YUUMEGARI’s info! Not mine :D

Sources: Being a Japanese major, a poster that I saw in Sproul at UCD outside of a professor’s door, Jisho.org, and travel websites. And of course, A:TLA.

Foxy Knowledge Seekers

Fox Spirits are called Huli Jing in Chinese and Kitsune in Japanese. Neither description fits the fox spirits we see in ATLA one-hundred percent, but they do seem to have more in common with the Kitsune than the Huli Jing. Kitsune are believed to possess superior inteligence i.e. this matches the ‘Knowledge Seeker’ part, where as Huli Jing are usually malicious. Both can take the form of human women. We know, Zei, we know.

Huli Jing

In Chinese mythology, it is believed that all things are capable of acquiring human form, magical power, and immortality, provided that they receive sufficient energy, in such forms as human breath or essence from the moon and the sun.

Typically fox spirits were seen as dangerous, but some of the stories in Pu Songling’s Liaozhai Zhiyi are love stories between a fox appearing as a beautiful girl and a young human male.

Kitsune

Kitsune are believed to possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. They are a type of yōkai, or spiritual entity, and the word kitsune is often translated as fox spirit. However, this does not mean that kitsune are ghosts, nor that they are fundamentally different from regular foxes. Because the word spirit is used to reflect a state of knowledge or enlightenment, all long-lived foxes gain supernatural abilities^.

The Library

The document says 萬知堂神祕圖書館.
‘Spirit Wan Zhi Tang’s Hidden Library’ or 'The Hidden Library of the Spirit of the
Hall of Eternal Knowledge’

萬知堂神 Wan zhi Tang shi

萬 means 10000 if you read it literally, but also means 'a huge number, unending, gazillion’.

知 zhi means to know

堂 tang means hall

神 shen means spirit or god

祕 mi means secret, hidden, or mysterious

圖書館 tu shu guan means library

Nice Underwear

Sokka is wearing a combination of the Japanese Etchū Fundoshi 越中褌
and the Chinese Di Bi Kun 犊鼻裈. You’re welcome.

Image source: One

What girls wore.

Cherry Blossoms

At the beginning of season two, when Uncle gets a massage and Zuko broods in a corner, we see cherry blossoms in bloom, some petals gently falling to the ground.

This is an unsubtle hint/cliche that bad things are to come e.g. love under cherry blossoms is doomed. Death under cherry blossoms is considered romantic.

Origin:

In Japan, cherry blossoms also symbolize clouds due to their nature of blooming en masse, besides being an enduring metaphor for the ephemeral nature of life,^[5] an aspect of Japanese cultural tradition that is often associated with Buddhistic influence,^[6] and which is embodied in the concept of mono no aware.^[7] The association of the cherry blossom with mono no aware dates back to 18th-century scholar Motoori Norinaga.^[7] The transience of the blossoms, the extreme beauty and quick death, has often been associated with mortality;^[5] for this reason, cherry blossoms are richly symbolic, and have been utilized often in art, manga, anime, and film, as well as at musical performances for ambient effect. 

Of chairs and why sitting on the floor does not mean the Fire Nation is based on Japan:

For one: Japan is only one among many Asian countries that sits on the floor i.e. it is still common today in Thailand. Just as much as sitting on the floor does not make the Fire Nation Morocco, it does not make it the Japan either.

Secondly: Most of the visual references made in the show refer to a time period (in China) where chairs were not known and/or not commonly used.

Before the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD), the predominant sitting positions in the Han Chinese culture and neighboring cultures such as the Japanese Culture, Korean Culture, Turkic Culture in Central Asia and Tai Kadai Cultures to the southwest were the seiza and lotus position on the floor or sitting mats. The earliest images of chairs in China are from sixth-century Buddhist murals and stele, but the practice of sitting in chairs at that time was rare. It was not until the twelfth century that chairs became widespread in China.

To sum it up: Sitting on the floor is no indicator towards any one of the Asian cultures/time periods/dynasties that the show draws from for reference.

Repost Guest Staring yuumegari:

• Also note the tatami floors in that dojo.
• The makeup on the Kyoshi warriors begins with a white base and red, well-associated with maiko, geiko, and geisha culture in general.
• The fans and the fighting style resemble aikido (using force against the opponent), and there is a good chance that much of the forms that the warriors practice are tessenjutsu kata.
• The sea has elephant koi and an unagi, both of which are native in Japan’s seas (though I’m not too sure about the existence of elephant koi…).
• The village itself has buildings that resemble those in Shirakawa-Go and Gokayama villages. They are done in the “gassho-zukuri” style, or the “prayer-hands construction”…see the triangular roofs. (On a side note, these places are very famous to go to in the winter.)
• Lastly, Kyoshi island seems to be very picky about outsiders, so that leads me to assume that the place was very isolated for a time…if that doesn’t sound characteristic of Japan, well…

Sources: Being a Japanese major, a poster that I saw in Sproul at UCD outside of a professor’s door, Jisho.org, and travel websites. And of course, A:TLA.

Kyoshi Island

Kyoshi island’s culture is clearly based on Japan.Starting with 京 being pronounced kyo (Chinese pronunciation: Jing) to the Kendo inspired clothes the Kyoshi warriors wear, the Japanese war fans and the presentation of the food.

Japanese Studies are not my area of expertise, so while I have seen some of the imagery used in clothing, architecture etc around, I have little to say on it and will leave an in-depth comparison to others.