Shifting Spring Cage: Difference between revisions
imported>Sol Pacificus I haven't moved the page yet because I'm still undecided between whether "Cage of Shifting Springs" or "Shifting Springs Cage" sound better and also whether 'spring' should be pluralized. I might ask for a few more second opinions. I removed the {{Mo}} again b/c maybe it's just safer not to specify... I really don't know if it is "on-screen" or not. |
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==History== | ==History== | ||
The Cage of Shifting Springs was the main set in Yang Guozhong's presentation to the annual [[Flower Banquet]]. This was a contest which he participated in every year via a proxy team. With little exception, his delegates 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'' – [[The Flower Banquet (Part 1)]]</ref> This was no different in 754, when the [[Yang Guozhong's flower delegates|gang]] hired by Guozhong murdered seventeen villagers from [[Duling village|Duling]],<ref name="Dynasty 4">''Assassin's Creed: Dynasty'' – [[The Flower Banquet (Part 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 | The Cage of Shifting Springs was the main set in Yang Guozhong's presentation to the annual [[Flower Banquet]]. This was a contest which he participated in every year via a proxy team. With little exception, his delegates 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'' – [[The Flower Banquet (Part 1)]]</ref> This was no different in 754, when the [[Yang Guozhong's flower delegates|gang]] hired by Guozhong murdered seventeen villagers from [[Duling village|Duling]],<ref name="Dynasty 4">''Assassin's Creed: Dynasty'' – [[The Flower Banquet (Part 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, via the Shifting Springs Cage, was declared the winner of the 754 Flower Festival as usual.<ref name="Dynasty 2">''Assassin's Creed: Dynasty'' – [[The Flower Banquet (Part 2)]]</ref> | ||
==Behind the scenes== | ==Behind the scenes== | ||
Revision as of 09:33, 12 June 2021
The Cage of Shifting Springs (移春檻, lit. 'shifting spring cage') 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 Banquet, a competition for the most beautiful and magnificent flower exhibit.
Design
According to Kaiyuan–Tianbao Anecdotes (開元天寶遺事), the Shifting Springs Cage was a wagon with wooden wheels, a floor made of planks, and a cage installed upon it. In springtime, an assortment of exquisite, blooming, and exotic flora would be planted within the cage. 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 Cage of Shifting Springs was the main set in Yang Guozhong's presentation to the annual Flower Banquet. This was a contest which he participated in every year via a proxy team. With little exception, his delegates 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, via the Shifting Springs Cage, was declared the winner of the 754 Flower Festival as usual.[5]
Behind the scenes
The Shifting Springs Cage is mentioned twice in Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – Volume 1: The Flower Banquet as the name of Yang Guozhong's parade procession for the Flower Banquet, but no other context is given to explain what it is. Information about it is only provided in the special issue for the volume in the form of an excerpt from the 10th century Kaiyuan-Tianbao Anecdotes and nothing else.
Even though it lends its name to the winning exhibit, it does not seem that it ever appears "on-screen" unless the luxuriant, roofed platform Guozhong's team use as their stage is meant to be the "wagon", in which case it would actually be a parade float.
Name
The original name of the wagon in Chinese is 移春檻 (Mandarin: yíchūnjiàn[6] or yíchūnkǎn[7]).
- 移 means 'to shift, to move, to change'.[8][9]
- 春 is the season of spring.[8]
- 檻 is a wooden cage for animals or people. By extension, it also came to refer to prison wagons with such a cage installed, as well as wooden fences and banisters in general.[8][10]
In the French edition of Assassin's Creed: Dynasty, an alternative name is given instead, Fleurs des Mille Printemps. In the English publication, it is simply called Shifting Springs.
Appearances
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – Special 1
- ↑ Wang Renyu. Kaiyuan-Tianbao Anecdotes, Scroll 2, line 46, "Cage of Shifting Springs". Chinese Text Project. Accessed 10 April 2021.
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – The Flower Banquet (Part 1)
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – The Flower Banquet (Part 4)
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Dynasty – The Flower Banquet (Part 2)
- ↑ 移春檻. 漢語中文工具網. Accessed 12 June 2021.
- ↑ 移春檻. 汉典 ZDIC. Accessed 12 June 2021.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 移春檻. MDBG. Accessed 12 June 2021.
- ↑ 移. CantoDict. Accessed 12 June 2021.
- ↑ 槛. Baidu Baike. Accessed 12 June 2021.