Editing Youxia

{{Era|Culture}}
{{WP-REAL}}
A '''''youxia''''' (遊俠), also known as a '''''xiake''''' (俠客), was an individual in [[China|Chinese]] society who used their {{wiki|Chinese martial arts|martial skills}} to help the lives of the common people and combat injustice.<ref name="ACJ manual">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Manual: Memories</ref> Originating in the {{wiki|Warring States period}}, they were not only seen as heroes and defenders of their local communities<ref name="The Longest Day">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – [[The Longest Day]]</ref> but often ranged far from their homes in their quests to avenge perceived wrongs inflicted against either marginalized groups or the network of friends, kin, and associates to whom they were loyal to.<ref name="Liu 1967">Liu, James J. Y. (1967). "The Historical Knight-Errant". In ''The Chinese Knight-Errant''. London, England: University of Chicago Press, pp. 1–54.</ref><ref name="Masubuchi 1952">Masubuchi Tatsuo. "The Yu Hsia 遊俠 and the Social Order in the Han Period". ''The Annals of the Hitotsubashi Academy'' 3, no. 1 (1952): 84–101.</ref> The ideal ''youxia'' therefore exemplified courage and altruism and upheld the principle of universal love (兼愛; ''jiān ài'') in which compassion was extended to all [[human]]ity.<ref name="ACJ manual" /> 

These values informed their signature willingness to put their own lives in mortal danger while personally intervening to help resolve the ordeals of strangers.<ref name="ACJ manual" /> Such problems could range from the mundane, like resolving a billing dispute at a [[tea]]house;<ref name="Delicious Suspicion">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Delicious Suspicion</ref> to the therapeutic, like helping a [[Han Kang|dying soldier]] compose his {{Wiki|Death poem|final poem}} to his [[Li Shi|wife]] and delivering it;<ref name="Dying Vow">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Dying Vow</ref> to humanitarian crises like [[Slavery|human trafficking]]<ref name="The Joys of Youth">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – [[The Joys of Youth]]: Travel with Chu Huan</ref> and civil war.<ref name="ACD">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]''</ref> ''Youxia'' such as [[Yu Ying]] and [[Chu Huan]] were themselves victims of child slavery prior to their rescue by [[Wei Yu]],<ref name="The Joys of Youth" /> and ''youxia'' undertook numerous missions to save innocent people abducted by [[bandit]]s or arbitrarily imprisoned by the state.<ref name="Liberate">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Liberate</ref>

Simultaneously, their ethos of taking justice into their own hands translated into a norm of defying the law whenever it fit their cause.<ref name="Liu 1967" /><ref name="Masubuchi 1952" /> While ''youxia'' at times found themselves on the side of the government, lending their aid to criminal investigations<ref name="Murder Mystery">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Murder Mystery</ref> or partaking in wars against foreign invasions<ref name="The General on the Great Wall">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – [[The General on the Great Wall]]</ref> and rebels,<ref name="ACD" /> they were also known to involve themselves in the robbery of [[merchant]]s they deemed corrupt,<ref name="Stolen Wealth">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Stolen Wealth</ref> in the infiltration of restricted government offices and theft of state secrets,<ref name="Secure Secret">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Secure Secret</ref> in the liberation of political prisoners,<ref name="Nobility of the Xiongnu">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Nobility of the Xiongnu</ref> in the sabotage of military [[fort]]s,<ref name="Forts">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Forts</ref> in the looting of tombs,<ref name="Salvage">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Salvage</ref> and even in the [[assassination]] of state officials and military generals.<ref name="Assassin's Mark">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Assassin's Mark</ref><ref name="Nemesis">''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]'' – Nemesis</ref> They were the preeminent form of the [[vigilante]] throughout Chinese history, and to figures of political authority, ''youxia'' could be seen as little more than violent, criminal youths and free-lancing adventurers without productive vocations in times of peace.<ref name="Masubuchi 1952" /><ref name="Ho 1963">Ho Ping-Ti. "Records of the Grand Historian: Some Problems of Translation: A Review Article". ''Pacific Affairs'' 36, no. 2 (1963): pp. 171–182.</ref><ref name="Lewis 2007">Lewis, Mark Edward. (2007). "Imperial Cities". In ''The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 75–101.</ref> In times of turmoil, they became a ready pool of revolutionaries that would spell the end of dynasties.<ref name="Lewis 2007" />

Despite their violent and lawless underground activities, the ''youxia'' have been popularly eulogized as champions of the downtrodden and heroes of justice. Their deeds were romanticized in classical Chinese literature throughout the ages, and their figures not only passed into fiction as legendary archetypes but also served as real inspirations for Chinese society.<ref name="Liu 1967" /><ref name="Masubuchi 1952" /> When the [[Hidden Ones]] moved into the [[Western Regions|northwest frontier]] of the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]], locals were apt to understand them as a group of ''youxia''. The famous poet [[Li Bai]], who spent his childhood in that region, dreamed of being a ''youxia'' in his youth.<ref>''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Flower Banquet (Part 1)]]</ref> Later in life, he spontaneously composed the poem "The Moving ''Xiake''" (俠客行) one night in [[Chang'an]] after being awestruck by the sight of the Hidden One [[Li E]] [[freerunning|sprinting]] across the rooftops.<ref name="Dynasty 7">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Flower Banquet (Part 7)]]</ref> Likewise, the young scholar [[Yan Jiming]], son of [[Grand protector|Grand Protector]] [[Yan Gaoqing]] of [[Changshan]], also expressed a dream of being a ''youxia''. After befriending Li E, he was inspired by both his example and his father's resolute principles to raise just arms against [[An Lushan]], a [[jiedushi|warlord]] who rebelled against the Tang in 755 and terrorized all the lands and people he marched through.{{Fact|15 August 2023}}

==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' {{1st}}
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Codename Jade]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Chinese Assassins]]