Chin Village

:This article is about the village. For other similar uses, see Chin (disambiguation).
Chin Village is a medium-sized town located on the cliffs of the Earth Kingdom's southwestern coast. It plays host to the Avatar Day festival, a popular event that, prior to a radical change of perspective in 100 AG, was once held in retribution for Avatar Kyoshi's alleged murder of Chin the Great.
== History ==
=== Encountering Avatar Kyoshi ===
Chin Village was named after Chin, one of the village's leaders who launched a military conquest and fell to his death following a confrontation with Avatar Kyoshi that resulted in the formation of Kyoshi Island. Although Chin's death was a result of his stubbornness, his advocates believed that he was murdered by Kyoshi. This belief persisted for over 370 years and eventually led to the vilification of the Avatar in the village.
=== Encountering Avatar Aang ===
In the spring of 100 AG, Avatar Aang, Sokka, and Katara witnessed the start of the Avatar Day festival, initially believing that the effigies of Kyoshi, Roku, and Aang were made to honor the Avatar. However, when one of the villagers torched the effigies, Katara intervened by extinguishing the fire. Aang revealed his identity to the villagers and agreed to stand trial according to the customs of the village in order to clear his name. Because Mayor Tong refused to accept Water Tribe currency for bail, Aang was imprisoned at the Chin Village prison until the day of the trial.
While Aang bonded with his fellow inmates, Sokka and Katara investigated the crime scene of the alleged murder, where the villagers had erected a statue of Chin and a shrine to commemorate their fallen leader. After hearing Mayor Tong's description of Chin's statue and his account of Kyoshi emerging from the temple to strike the warlord down, Katara realized that Kyoshi would never have set foot on the island if the temple and statue were carved out of the same stone and the statue was built following Chin's death.
The structuring of Aang's trial the following day rendered the evidence Katara and Sokka collected ineffective, prompting them to dress Aang in Avatar Kyoshi's regalia in a final attempt to trigger some realization from Aang. Kyoshi manifested through Aang's body shortly thereafter and revealed that she indirectly caused Chin's death, as he fell into the ocean following the collapse of an unstable overhang at the end of a cliff.
Aang was found guilty in light of Kyoshi's admission, but his sentencing was delayed due to the arrival of the Rough Rhinos. Kahchi destroyed the statue of Chin before Aang subdued and blew him into the ocean. The rest of the group proceeded to destroy the town but were eventually expelled by Team Avatar. Because of this, the villagers repurposed the festival to commemorate the day that the Avatar saved the town from destruction.
=== Anarchy in the Earth Kingdom ===
Following Earth Queen Hou-Ting's death and the fragmentation of the Earth Kingdom in 171 AG, Chin Village was integrated into Kuvira's empire sometime during her three-year rule of the nation, remaining under her control until her arrest following the Earth Empire's failed attempt to annex the United Republic of Nations.
== Laws ==
Prior to Team Avatar's visit, the judicial system of the village was rather unconventional. Defendants were not given a trial and were placed in front of a gathering of villagers where their punishment would be decided. The accused were not permitted to employ defense lawyers, use evidence, or call upon witnesses to defend themselves. Instead, the village's mayor served the role of judge, jury, and executioner. Both the mayor and the defendant recount their version of the events before the mayor issues his verdict. If the defendant was found guilty, punishments were decided by the defendant spinning the Wheel of Punishment, which included community service to several methods of execution. Members of the crowd often called out their preferred type of punishment.
== Avatar Day festival ==
The Avatar Day festival was a celebration unique to Chin Village that originally served to vilify the Avatar, due to Avatar Kyoshi's supposed murder of Chin. The Avatar Day festival was celebrated annually on the day of Chin's death and involved a parade with large paper floats and several vendors. The highlight of the celebration occurred when giant paper effigies of Avatars Kyoshi, Roku, and Aang were paraded to the center of the village where they were subsequently set on fire.
After 370 years of this tradition, Avatar Day was repurposed to honor the Avatar and commemorate the day that Aang saved the village from the Rough Rhinos. Raw dough in Aang's likeness was served in his honor as a reminder of the day Aang was not boiled in oil, as would have been his fate had the Rough Rhinos not attacked.
== Notable figures ==
* Chin
* Mayor Tong
* Scary prisoner
* Sensitive ruffian
== References ==
== See also ==
* Avatar Day festival
* Qinchao Village
de:Chin (Dorf)
es:Pueblo de Chin
fr:Village Chin
nl:Chin Stad
pl:Wioska Chin
ru:Деревня Чин
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Category:Earth Kingdom
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Category:Settlements