China

China is a country that mainly appears in season 5 of **Distant Sky**. As well as mentioned of the historic times in **Burning Hell** when Isao Jeong, a royal, was kidnapped.

## Background

Note: because the world is changing at a rapid pace, the below information is only for consideration and may not the most accurate or up-to-date information

The world's second-most populous country with a population exceeding 1.4 billion. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and borders fourteen countries by land, tied with Russia as having the most of any country in the world. It has a rich history spanning thousands of years and in recent decades, China has undergone remarkable economic growth, becoming a global economic powerhouse. The Chinese Communist Party currently governs the nation under a one-party system.

### Geography

China is a country in the East located south of Moscow, bordering Mongolia to North, Southeastern countries to the west and south. In practice, China's administrative division is split into four levels of government: the provincial, the prefectural level, the county level, and the township level.

### Locations

* Kunming - the location from where the nuclear missiles are fired by the revolutionary army.

### History

For most of the Chinese history, much of China was ruled by dynasties, hereditary monarchical regimes, starting with Yu the Great circa 2070 BC and ending with the Xinhai Revolution. Of the many dynasties, the longest-ruling dynasty was the Zhou dynasty, ruling for a total of 789 years. As for the dynasties with the largest territories, it would either be the Yuan or Qing dynasties. The overall history of China could be split into different eras shown below.

Note: most of the historical periods don't have much influence to the Super String Universe, so they are only briefly described. Perhaps the only two eras/periods that have more signifcance are the Edo Period and the end of the Showa Period (World War 2\Events with a diamond-shape (♦️) at the end indicate that they are events related to the Webtoons.

* Prehistoric China
* Ancient China - Pre-imperial history of China was characterized by unstable political power, mainly concentrated in hand of religious leaders. There is no centralized government and was a time of war for territory and power.
* Imperial China - this period covers a huge span of time from 221 BC till 1911 AD where China was ruled by eight powerful dynasties following one another: Qin, Han, Sui, Tan, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing. The unification of China began with the emperor Qin Shi Huang Di in 221 BC, who is also famous for the Terracotta Army.
	+ Jin Dynasty
		- The Jurchens in Blade of Phantom Master, appeared as a group trying to take over Silla fortress, but were defeated by Munsu. Historically they were an ethnic group that originated in northeastern China and parts of North Korea. During the Jin Dynasty, the Jurchens established a powerful empire that encompassed parts of present-day China and North Korea. During the Goryeo Dynasty (918–1392) and the early Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897), there were several conflicts between the Jurchen people and Korea. According to Inwan, part of the inspiration to use the Jurchen comes from Natsuki Sumeragi’s “Richou Angyouki”, which is a manga about a Royal Inspector from the Joseon Era. It articulates the history of that time and the sentiments of the people of that era. One of the stories within it, “The Northern Gale”, has a Jurchen. Apparently in Korean history, there are records of Royal Inspectors fighting the Jurchen, but not much material can be found. Even Inwan, when writing Blade of the Phantom Master, had to inquire a historicist who had written books related to the Royal Inspectors in order to get more information about the Jurchen and their interactions with the Royal Inspectors. For that reason, Inwan states how he was quite surprised that a Japanese writer was able to write that kind of historical material into their manga. Furthermore, the catchphrase “The Royal Inspector is here” comes from the manga as well.
	+ Qing Dynasty (♦️)
		- Isao Jeong (Chinese:Yi Sao Zheng) was an actual person in real life. In history, she is a Chinese pirate leader who was active during 1801 to 1810. She was known for defeating a portion of the Qing Dynasty's navy and creating the pirate code. (♦️)
* Modern China - In 1911, China had the Xinhai Revolution, which caused the downfall of the Empire and formation of the People’s Republic. In 1949, upon the victory of the Communist Party of China over Guomindang (Kuomintang), it was proclaimed the People’s Republic of China (PRC), headed by Mao Zedong.

### Folklore and Mythology

* Classic of Mountains and Seas - also known as Shan Hai Jing (山海经) in Chinese. It is a encyclopedic collection that describes faraway lands and fantastical tribes, including various mythical creatures and heroes that were later incorporated into Chinese legends and folktale. Some of the names mentioned in this classic make their way into the Super String Universe:
	+ Yonghe/雍和 (Blade of the Phantom Master) - An awful harbinger of natural disaster. It has a yellow body, an ape face, and red eyes. Often also regarded as an ancient god of panic and fear.
	+ Yegouzi/野狗子 (Blade of the Phantom Master) - A brain-eating monster that has a long tongue. During the Great Demon War, Wonsul helps kill most of these brain-eating monsters. They are based on monsters (野狗子) from the Chinese classic "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio", which is a collection of Classical Chinese stories by the Qing dynasty writer Pu Songling, implicitly criticize societal problems. Furthermore, there is a new game being made based on the Yegouzi called Slitterhead.
	+ Chiyou/蚩尤 (Housekeeper)
	+ Taese/太歲 (Neolithic Girl) - better known as Tai Sui in Chinese mythology. It is an old name of the planet Jupiter. In Daosim, Jupiter is worshipped as the God of the Year in the Chinese zodiac and Fengshui. It's earthy manifestation is called Feng (封, lit. "mound; hump"), as portrayed in Neolithic Girl, appears like a monster that resembles a two-eyed (in Neolithic Girl, thousands of eyes) lump of meat and magically grows back as fast as it is eaten. In modern-day, it is popularized by Chinese media reporting supposed discoveries of Feng throughout China. Furthermore, it is said that the Taese is known for moving underground in accordance to Jupiter's orbit and it is said that if found during a construction, it's believed that those who unearth him or build a house on top of him will suffer terrifying divine punishment. However, other texts mention that eating him may grant eternal youth. According to the "Broad Records of Strange Stories" (廣異記), a collection of stories of supernatural occurrences compiled by the Tang period writer Dai Fu (戴孚), some people in Ancient Ning Province (寧州) had dug out Taese who was a big red lump with thousand of eyes. A monk recognizes it and advises them to quickly bury it, but it is too later, after a year, many of them of die.

## Organizations

* Chinese Government - there is not much mentioned about the Chinese government, but during Distant Sky, it seems the current government had been overthrown by a revolutionary group backed by White. The President escaped to Taiwan.
	+ Tiangong Space Station - a Chinese space station that Haneul lands on to refuel and recalculate the coordinates of Mercury. Interestingly enough, the name is based on an actual Chinese space station by the same name. However, the structure and shape of the station in quite different than that of the Webtoon. The actual space station Tiangong (天宮; lit. 'Palace in the Sky') is still being constructed by China and operated by the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA) in low Earth orbit between 340 and 450 km (210 and 280 mi) above the surface. It is China's first long-term space station and the core of the "Third Step" of the China Manned Space Program.
* Revolutionary Army - during Distant Sky, a revolutionary group overtook the government when the disasters began to happen. They are actually part of White and try to stop any attempts to carry out Project Sky, whether Plan A, Plan B or Plan 0.
* Triad - the Triad are an Chinese mafia that appear during Terror Man Season 2 and are partnering with White to pursue Seokyoung and Seungha to obtain the details of Project Imagine. Kira is part of the team, but later betrays them and even kills one of their Executives to prove loyalty to Bratva.
* Qing Dynasty - mentioned in the Webtoon Burning Hell, it is the last and largest imperial dynasty in Chinese history formed in 1636 that ruled over the whole of China until it was overthrown in 1912 by the Xinhai Revolution. In Burning Hell, Isao Jeong is the princess of the Qing Dynasty that is abducted by Captain McMahon in order ignite a war between the Chinese and the British Empire.
* White Branch (China)
* Da Cheng Qian Inc - a Chinese company in Island Part 2 that bought out the location where Choe Seran use to live and is planning to make it into some sort of resort.

## Plot Overview

### Blade of the Phantom Master

In the episodes of the invasion of the Jurchen, the Jurchen were historically a nomadic tribe in northern China and parts of North Korea. Furthermore, many of the evil beasts part of Kwaetacheon's army during the demon war are named after creatures in Chinese mythology.

### Burning Hell

The princess of the Qing Dynasty, Isao Jeong, was taken captive by Captain McMahon.

### Westwood Vibrato

In Track 8-1, as Rooney requests Cornelia to fix the instrument, Cornelia reads the news of how a Chinese expedition team found the body of Lambert which was kept in snow for 40 years.

### Terror Man

Though there is no mention of China, in Terror Man Season 2, the Triads, a Chinese mafia, play quite an important role as they attempt to capture Seokyoung Min and Seungah Yoon in order to obtain the Project Imagine genome. The Triad is closely related with White and Kira in fact is sent by White from the US to assist the triads by infiltrating into Bratva.

### Island

In Part 2, there is a mention of a Chinese company, Da Cheng Qian Inc, that bought out the apartments where Choe Seran use to live in order to make that place some sort of resort.

### My Nights Shine Brighter Than Your Days

When Siwoo meets Chansoo for the first time on the yacht, Chansoo tells her the story of the owner of the yacht. Apparently, the owner was a rich man whose parents were executives in a large Chinese company. At some point, he was in the Jinmyung Group and embezzled tens of billions of won and fled. He would call ladies and hostesses to his yacht, having orgy parties, spending 100 million won at a time. Eventually a reporter caught wind of it and this news went all the way back to China. Presumably the Jinmyung Group found him, killed him and threw his body into the ocean.

### Distant Sky

After NASA’s Hubble Telescope spots a giant GRB (Gamma-Ray Burst) caused by a supernova bursts, Korea's government decides to join China in reaching out to the world-renowned biotechnologist, Dr. Kang. Project Sky was thus started to create a new humanity through gene manipulation.

The disaster begins in China. Sinkholes began to appear and half the population died in half a day. A week later, there was a revolt in the Chinese government. With help of White, they revolutionary group were able to take over and get control of the nuclear weapons. They launched them all around the world, all 250 of them. The original President of China escapes to Taiwan.

Right after the disaster, China begins to run trials on civilian space shuttles. It has "HOPE" written on the side of it. The first civilization to space is a CEO of some company. As the shuttle launches, all the sudden it begins to shake. They contact control tower saying there is a problem with the ship's hull and ask why they didn't check today's climate. All the sudden everything turns black. The CEO begins panicking and complaining that they assumed him this was safe. Shortly after, they see Jupiter and the shuttle begins falling back to the ground and crashes.

The revolutionaries under the direction of White, intend to stop Project Sky and begin tracking Haneul and Heyool realizing they are successful projects. When Haneul and Heyool reunite in Daegu, they fire a nuke in an attempt to kill them, however, they were rescued by Jungwoo and Changuk.

When Haneul arrives with Jungwoo in the spaceship from Jeju Island to Taiwan, they meet the President of China and other Chinese citizens who presumably escaped during the revolution.

## Gallery

Triad Infobox.pngIsao JeongIsao Jeong
Full Gallery Page
## References

1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/China
2. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Administrative\_divisions\_of\_China
3. ↑ Distant Sky, Season 4, Ep.21
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynasties\_in\_Chinese\_history
5. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History\_of\_China
6. ↑ https://www.advantour.com/china/history.htm
7. ↑ https://www.advantour.com/china/history.htm
8. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zheng\_Yi\_Sao
9. ↑ https://www.advantour.com/china/history.htm
10. ↑ https://owlcation.com/humanities/88-Chinese-Legendary-Creatures
11. ↑ https://owlcation.com/humanities/88-Chinese-Legendary-Creatures
12. ↑ https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%87%8E%E7%8B%97%E5%AD%90
13. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strange\_Tales\_from\_a\_Chinese\_Studio
14. ↑ https://www.gamesradar.com/slitterhead-guide/
15. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feng\_(mythology)
16. ↑ https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/Taisui#cite\_note-Profile-1
17. ↑ http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Novels/guangyiji.html
18. ↑ https://books.google.com.tw/books?id=0pf0Gt7EvHsC&pg=PA219&lpg=PA219&dq=%E5%8D%83%E7%9C%BC%E5%A4%AA%E5%B2%81%E3%80%80%E8%82%89%E3%80%80%E5%9C%B0%E4%B8%8B&source=bl&ots=Zo14C5HuI0&sig=ACfU3U0LLCUBreCn3zxWZR0eTdj7X\_M1hQ&hl=zh-TW&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjws-i8s5j6AhVyxosBHWozAPcQ6AF6BAgNEAM#v=onepage&q=%E5%8D%83%E7%9C%BC%E5%A4%AA%E5%B2%81%E3%80%80%E8%82%89%E3%80%80%E5%9C%B0%E4%B8%8B&f=false
19. ↑ Distant Sky, Season 5, Ep. 34
20. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong\_space\_station
21. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qing\_dynasty
22. ↑ Island, Part 2, Ep.20
23. ↑ Island, Part 2, Ep.20
24. ↑ My Nights Shine Brighter Than Your Days, Season 3, Ep.1
25. ↑ Distant Sky, Season 4, Ep. 12
26. ↑ Distant Sky, Season 5, Ep. 33
27. ↑ Distant Sky, Season 5, Ep. 33
28. ↑ Distant Sky, Season 4, Ep. 17