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Genshin Impact and Proliferation of Culture II: A Study of Liyue’s Architecture | Serena Gao & Courtney Fu
By Serena Gao and Courtney Fu
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This article is a continuation of Genshin Impact and the Proliferation of Culture I: A Study of Liyue’s Fashion but can be read standalone (found in the Spring 2021 Issue).
Genshin Impact. You may or may not know what it is, but it’s a game that blew up over the past year. Released by MiHoYo in the latter months of 2020, it has garnered an incredibly large fanbase with about 21 million registered users. The game is known for its open world scenery that players explore while being engaged in an intriguing plot.
One of the nations in theworld is Liyue,with its design based off of China.We’ve previouslywritten about the historicalandculturalsignificanceof theclothingthatLiyuecharacterswear,andnowwe’llexplorethehistoryand culture behind the design and architecture of Liyue.
Liyue Harbour
Liyue Harbour is the main city of the Liyue nation and has become a central prosperous port city of trade and business exchanges.
LiyueHarbourfeaturesmajorkeypointsofChinesearchitectureinthenumerousbuildingsinthecityastheideaof Feng Shui is important to the culture. Feng shui focuses on the arrangement of structures and pieces to create a balance with the natural world. The idea of balance and symmetry appears in many designs of ancient Chinese cities, such as the Forbidden City. The idea of symmetry is not only based on pure aesthetics, but according to Lingnan architectural style, the proportions of the design can have an impact on how one feels. As architecture provides a living environment forhumans,itwasbelievedtoaffecthumanhealthif itwaspoorlydesignedwithimproperproportions.Thisconcept of symmetry is prevalent in the design of many Liyue buildings. In many of the structures in Liyue Harbour, there are always an even number of pillars, resulting in an odd number of bays with a door set in the central bay.
There is also a horizontal emphasis in many of these structures. To many of the wealthy, they preferred breadth with alargerooftocreatea moreawe-inspiringeffect.Also,anextensiveemphasisonverticalheightwasratherunsightly. The Golden House, which produces all of the currency in the continent, is a prime example of this horizontal emphasis.
Furthermore, feng shui plays a role in the positioning of a structure. It is typically observed that the back of the structure faces an elevated landscape while the front faces water. This is shown in the game through the Yuehai Pavilion with its back facing the mountain range of the nearby slopes while the main entrance faces the harbour. A courtyard or garden is typically located at the front as well to incorporate a sense of nature to the structure. The garden is the only exception to the symmetry requirements, as having asymmetry gives a more organic feeling to connect to the natural world.
Certain architectural styles were also reserved for the Emperor. In the case of the game, the closest representation would be the Liyue Qixing, otherwise the ruling government of the country. One such style is the usage of yellow roof tiles. This is seen in the Golden House which is associated with the God in Liyue (Rex Lapis) as well as the Jade Chamber, the home of the Qixing (government).
Golden House Image from MiHoYo
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Wangshu Inn
Wangshu Inn is a multi-storied hotel set upon a tall rock formation, which serves as a resting spot for merchants travelling in the area. According to the developers, one of the main inspirations for the design of Wangshu Inn is the Hanging (Xuankong) Temple. Located in the Shanxi province towards the northeast of China, the temple was built into the side of acliff,whichmakesitlooklikeit’shangingintheair, supported only by the thin vertical pillars underneath it. There are two key engineering marvels which allow the HangingTempletosurviveover1500yearsof landslides, earthquakes, and rain erosion.
Thefirstishowtheweightofthetwopavilionsandconnectingroadisactuallysupported.Despiteitsappearance,the timber pillars under the temple — which are 10cm in diameter and have a tendency to sway--are not the primary load bearers.Thetrueloadbearersarethe50cmhorizontaltimberbeamsunderthetemple, inlaidintothecliff-facesoyou can build on top of them. These beams protrude out about 1 metre and are estimated to be at least 2 metres deep into the rock, meaning that the temple’s weight is supported by the strength of the mountain rather than the beams themselves.
The use of these horizontal support beams was not novel at the time, being used in imperial palaces, bridges, and residential buildings, but extending this concept to the side of a mountain would have turned heads, and required considerablymore effort to carve out holes in the cliff to hold the beams.
The second engineering marvel is in how they preserved the Hanging Temple so that it stands to this day. In the 1990s, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage tried to replace some of these support beams to ensure their longevity,buthadgreatdifficultypullingthebeamsoutin thefirstplace.Uponcloserinspection,theyfoundsmaller wooden wedges accompanying the beams in the holes, which served the same function as modern day expansion bolts: the further into the hole the timber was driven, the more tightly it would hold to ensure the support beams never fell out on their own. Additionally, to safeguard against termites and other insects, the timber was presoakedwithtungoil,adryingoilusedinwoodfinishesto protect it from corrosion.
It’s safe to assume that Wangshu Inn would be designed and built using similar technology as its real world counterpart, protecting the merchant haven from floods, earthquakes, and other natural disasters for years to come.
Wangshu Inn Image from MiHoYo Hanging Temple Image from ChinaDaily
Dunyu Ruins
Dunyu Ruins is one of three ancient ruins in Liyue, with remnants of gilded stone structures built inside a valley. According to the in-game book Records of Jueyun, Dunyu was a fortress city which formed when a star made of jadefellfromtheskies,butafterafewthousandyears, the residents of Dunyu left suddenly and mysteriously. ThenameDunyumeans“thelandtowhichbeauteousjade flees”
Dunyu Ruins
Image from Mihoyo
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Dunyu is reminiscent of the fortress city ruins of Shimao, located in the northern part of China. Up until 2011, nearby villagers thought it was a part of the Great Wall and deemed it unimportant, until theyfoundjadeintherubblewhichwasneither characteristic of the great wall nor native to the area. The existence of Shimao has the potential to revolutionise how individuals view the beginnings of human history. Timber found at the ruins date back to 4300 years ago, or neolithic era China. Yet, Shimao had 6 miles of protective walls and a 230-foot high pyramid which was four times wider than the Great Pyramid of Giza. The existence of non-native jadeimpliestheyhadatraderouteconnecting northern China to the south, and some of the jade was carved into knives (primordial jade cutter, anyone?) with small holes punched into Diagram of Shimao East Gate ImagefromThefirstNeolithicurbancenter on China's north Loess Plateau: The rise and fall of Shimao them.This feat is modern standards. difficult to achieve even by The city incorporated many defensive systems to protect the inhabitants, including barbicans (a tower situated beside a gate for greater visibility) and bastions (a part of the wall which protrudes out to allow guards to attack from a better vantage point), both of which were previously thought to originate from the Han Dynasty and became staples of Chinese defensive architecture.
Thecityof Shimaoflourishedforhalf amillenniumandthen,liketheresidentsof Dunyu,abandonedthecityfor reasons unknown to this day.
Conclusion
DespiteGenshinImpact’sgorgeoussceneryandworlddesign,long-timeplayersof thegamedon’tfindthemselves wanderingthroughthestartingnationsasoftenastheyusedto.Newplayersareoftenimmersedintheplotandthe early game exploration, which distracts them from appreciating the surroundings.
This article sheds some light into the parallels between Liyue and the real world, showcasing how art imitates life, and gives us a newfound appreciation for the cultural values and customs which have perpetuated over thousands of years of history. Image from Mihoyo
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