Welcome to Assassin's Creed Wiki! Log in and join the community.

Shifting Spring Cage: Difference between revisions

From the Assassin's Creed Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
← Older editNewer edit →
VisualWikitext
imported>Kaikai947
mNo edit summary
imported>Sol Pacificus
No edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
{{Era|Transportation}}
{{Era|Culture|Transportation}}
{{Imageneed}}
{{Imageneed}}
'''Yichunkan''' (移春檻) was a lavish flower carriage owned by [[Yang Guozhong]],<ref name="Special 1">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty Special 1]]</ref> who was chancellor to [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]] of [[Tang dynasty|Tang]]. It was the centerpiece to his entry to the 754 [[Flower Festival]], a competition for the most beautiful and magnificent flower parade.
'''Yichunkan''' (移春檻) was a lavish flower wagon owned by [[Yang Guozhong]], who was chancellor to [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]] of [[Tang dynasty|Tang]]. It was the centrepiece to his entry to the 754 [[Flower Festival]], a competition for the most beautiful and magnificent flower exhibit.
 
==Design==
According to ''Kaiyuan–Tianbao Anecdotes'' ([https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%96%8B%E5%85%83%E5%A4%A9%E5%AF%B6%E9%81%BA%E4%BA%8B 《開元天寶遺事》]), the Yichunkan was a wagon with a wooden floor, wooden wheels, and a cage installed upon it. In springtime, this cage would be loaded with an assortment of blooming, vibrant, and exquisite flora. Through a mechanism linking the wheels with the cage, the cage would automatically rotate as the wagon was being towed. It was regarded as a wondrous exhibit to behold wherever it went.<ref name="Special 1">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty Special 1|Special 1]]</ref><ref name="Kaiyuan Tianbao">[https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8E%8B%E4%BB%81%E8%A3%95 Wang Renyu]. ''Kaiyuan-Tianbao Anecdotes'', Scroll 2, line 46, "Yichunkan". ''Chinese Text Project'', accessed 10 April 2021, https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=915988.</ref>


==History==
==History==
The team in charge of the Yichunkan was in reality run by a low-class [[Yichunkan team boss|gang leader]] and his henchmen who had been hired by Guozhong to win the contest via unscrupulous means.<ref name="Dynasty 2">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]</ref>
The Yichunkan wagon was the main set in Yang Guozhong's presentation to the annual [[Flower Festival]]. This was a contest which he participated in every year via a hired proxy team. With little exception, his teams would be petty criminals who resorted to extortion and even flagrant robbery to acquire the plants used to embellish their wagons.<ref name="Dynasty 1">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty 1|Chapter 1]]</ref> This was no different in 754 when the [[Yichunkan wagon team|gang]] hired by Guozhong murdered seventeen villagers from [[Duling village|Duling]],<ref name="Dynasty 4">''Assassin's Creed: Dynasty'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]</ref> a farming community specialized in high-quality [[peony|peonies]].<ref name="Special 1" /> Owing to his underhanded tactics and his tremendous wealth, Yang Guozhong and his Yichunkan wagon were declared the winners of the 754 Flower Festival as usual.<ref name="Dynasty 2">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]</ref>  
 
This was not a first for the chancellor, who had won the previous year by hiring a different gang.<ref name="Dynasty 3">''Assassin's Creed: Dynasty'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty Chapter 3|Chapter 3]]</ref> According to the poet [[Li Bai]], his annual streak of victories owed not only to his immense wealth but also to the reluctance of even those who had the means to contest him to do so.<ref name="Dynasty 1">''Assassin's Creed: Dynasty'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]</ref> At the time, the most famous and exquisite [[peony|peonies]] were cultivated by [[Duling village]], a community of farms which specialized in the flower trade.<ref name="Dynasty Special 1">''Assassin's Creed: Dynasty'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty Special 1|Special 1]]</ref> Unwilling to spend money on the expensive peonies, the Yichunkan team resorted to seizing them by force,<ref name="Dynasty 1" /> murdering seventeen of the villagers in the process.<ref name="Dynasty 4">''Assassin's Creed: Dynasty'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty Chapter 4|Chapter 4]]</ref> Their boss dreamed of a triumphant entry into high society—to be as a {{wiki|Asian carp#In Chinese culture|"carp leaping over the dragon gate"}}—at any cost.<ref name="Dynasty 2" />
 
===The day of the Flower Festival===
Unbeknownst to them on the morning of the festival, that cost would prove to include their lives. The massacre at Duling village incited the wrath of the [[Hidden Ones|Hidden One]] [[Li E]], who ambushed the last wagon of peonies seized from Duling that was on the way through the streets of [[Chang'an]] to meet up with the rest of the team. Two of the three men transporting it were felled immediately while the last was interrogated for the whereabouts of his leader. Despite answering honestly that his boss had already entered the palace grounds, Li E refused to spare his life, pointing out that he and his colleagues had not spared those of Duling.<ref name="Dynasty 1" />
 
The absence of this wagon at the meeting spot did not go unnoticed by the boss, but he brushed aside his men's concerns that trouble had befallen it, reasoning that those transporting it were only running late. Their worries further evaporated when the the imperial city gates opened, signaling the commencement of the festival. At the completion of the opening performance, [[butterfly|butterflies]] soared to the balcony of [[Hua'e Tower]] just as the host [[Yang Guifei]] appeared before the city. She redirected a butterfly towards team leader of the Yichunkan as a signal to her announcer, who thereupon declared Right Chancellor Yang Guozhong victor.<ref name="Dynasty 2" />
 
The elated team was invited into Hua'e Tower to be honored and rewarded with the grand prize,<ref name="Dynasty 2" /> but this ultimately failed to come to fruition.<ref name="Dynasty 4"/><ref name="Dynasty 3" /> Rather, the boss and five of his men were kept waiting in a courtyard by [[Yang Guozhong's servant|one of Guozhong's servants]] while [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang|Emperor Xuanzong]] partied above with his court, having received his favorite ''[[jiedushi]]'' [[An Lushan]] instead. Guozhong, himself fuming over the powers and accolades An Lushan had just been frivolously granted by the Emperor, did not bother to meet with the Yichunkan team to discuss their own rewards.<ref name="Dynasty 3" />
 
===Celebrations cut short===
Into the evening they waited until, at [[Chenxiang Pavilion]], they encountered the lone Assassin Li E waiting for them. The stranger's threats and then allusion to the seventeen lives lost at Duling tipped them off. At their boss's command, all five thugs drew their [[short blade|daggers]] and charged at Li E. When they were all swiftly slain, the boss fled in a panic but was intercepted and executed with a [[Hidden Blade]] before he could get even a few paces away.<ref name="Dynasty 4" />
 
Before the night was out, their corpses were discovered by Guozhong's servant who had returned to check on them. The servant fearfully reported this to Guozhong, who remained outwardly unperturbed, referring to the gang as nothing more than base ruffians of the city whose violent temperaments would naturally incur some individual's vengeance. Nonetheless, he ordered his servant to call upon the [[Yulin]] royal guards to secretly hunt for the killer, with express instructions not to raise the alarm or alert even the Emperor, lest they ruin the festivities.<ref name="Dynasty 5">''Assassin's Creed: Dynasty'' – [[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty 5|Chapter 5]]</ref>


==Appearances==
==Appearances==
Line 25: Line 14:
==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Gangs]]
[[Category:Art]]
[[Category:Templar-affiliated groups]]

Revision as of 01:38, 11 April 2021

Error creating thumbnail: Unable to save thumbnail to destination Where are the paintings?

This article is in need of more images and/or better quality pictures from official media in order to achieve a higher status. You can help the Assassin's Creed Wiki by uploading better images on this page.

Yichunkan (移春檻) was a lavish flower wagon owned by Yang Guozhong, who was chancellor to Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. It was the centrepiece to his entry to the 754 Flower Festival, a competition for the most beautiful and magnificent flower exhibit.

Design

According to Kaiyuan–Tianbao Anecdotes (《開元天寶遺事》), the Yichunkan was a wagon with a wooden floor, wooden wheels, and a cage installed upon it. In springtime, this cage would be loaded with an assortment of blooming, vibrant, and exquisite flora. Through a mechanism linking the wheels with the cage, the cage would automatically rotate as the wagon was being towed. It was regarded as a wondrous exhibit to behold wherever it went.[1][2]

History

The Yichunkan wagon was the main set in Yang Guozhong's presentation to the annual Flower Festival. This was a contest which he participated in every year via a hired proxy team. With little exception, his teams would be petty criminals who resorted to extortion and even flagrant robbery to acquire the plants used to embellish their wagons.[3] This was no different in 754 when the gang hired by Guozhong murdered seventeen villagers from Duling,[4] a farming community specialized in high-quality peonies.[1] Owing to his underhanded tactics and his tremendous wealth, Yang Guozhong and his Yichunkan wagon were declared the winners of the 754 Flower Festival as usual.[5]

Appearances

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – Special 1
  2. ↑ Wang Renyu. Kaiyuan-Tianbao Anecdotes, Scroll 2, line 46, "Yichunkan". Chinese Text Project, accessed 10 April 2021, https://ctext.org/wiki.pl?if=gb&chapter=915988.
  3. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – Chapter 1
  4. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – Chapter 4
  5. ↑ Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – Chapter 2
Retrieved from ‘https://assassinscreedwiki.accesstheanimus.com/index.php?title=Shifting_Spring_Cage&oldid=475754’