Flower and Calyx Pavilion

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The Pavilion of the Flower and Calyx's Mutual Radiance (花萼相煇之樓, Mandarin: huā'è xiāng huī lóu), or simply Flower and Calyx Pavilion (花萼樓), was a multi-storey building at Xingqing Palace in Chang'an. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang regularly hosted his banquets and parties here.

Behind the scenes

The Flower and Calyx Pavilion serves as the scene for many of the events in The Flower Banquet, the first volume of the Chinese-language manhua Assassin's Creed: Dynasty.

Name

The full name of the building, Pavilion of the Flower and Calyx's Mutual Radiance, is a metaphor for something beautiful and inspiring that emerges from a mutually affectionate relationship, like brotherhood. Li Longji (李隆基), as Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, chose this name for the building in tribute to his elder brother Li Xian (李憲), who had refused to be the heir to the throne and adamantly deferred it to Longji in recognition of his greater merits and political influence.

Calyx is the collective term for the sepals of a flower which protects the petals as they bloom. Although the calyx is technically also part of the flower, flower in the case of this name refers to the colourful petals, per the colloquial sense of the word.Just as the sepals support the petals as they bloom, so does an older sibling help to foster their younger sibling's growth. In turn the petals reflect the blossoming of the flower, and its development are what truly creates the splendour and vibrancy that flowers are known for.

For this reason, the name of the building can also be translated as Petals and Sepals Pavilion instead. In the French publication, however, the building is only known as Pavillon des Fleurs ('Pavilion of the Flowers'). In Tokyopop's English publication of the manhua, the building's name is mostly untranslated and rendered as Hua'e Tower. In the frame where the entrance sign to the building is shown, the full name is mistranslated as Tower of Flourishing Splendour.

In Chinese, 樓 (Mandarin: lóu, Cantonese: lau^4-2) is a classification of buildings which are at least two-stories tall, but there is not an exact English counterpart for this term. Depending on the shape, form, and function of the building, the closest translation for it may be a pavilion, a tower, a high-rise, etc.

The given name of Dynasty's main protagonist, Li E, is also the very word 'calyx', and the building's name may therefore echo his relationship with the secondary protagonist Yan Jiming, whose character is symbolic of the flower.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Dynasty