1720s Chinese Assassin purge
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I wanted to ask you something. Which is... what's your name? This article title is conjecture. Although the article subject is canon, no official name for it has been given. |
| This article is about the 1720s event. You may be looking for the 1402 event or another purge. |
- Assassin: "Mentor Han... what troubles your mind and makes you frown so?"
- Xiao Han: "Well... it's nothing at all. I merely dreamed that the Ming Empire had fallen and reduced us to aimless drifters."
- Assassin: "Mentor Han... that was no dream."
- —Xiao Han reliving the purge while under the crescent amulet's influence, 1725.[src]-[m]
In the 1720s, the Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins suffered a purge enacted by the Qing Empire which nearly exterminated the entire Order.
The purge[edit | edit source]
Before the purge, the Chinese Assassins had enjoyed a period of relative prosperity during the Ming dynasty, mainly due to the actions of Shao Jun, who had rebuilt the Brotherhood as its Mentor following a similar purge in the early 16th century.[1] However, with the Ming dynasty's collapse and the Manchu people conquering China and establishing the Qing dynasty in 1644, the Assassins quickly found themselves persecuted again, as most of their members were of Han Chinese heritage.[2]
Eventually, a devastating attack against the Chinese Brotherhood's headquarters left thousands of Assassins dead and the few survivors were reduced to aimless drifters. The Assassins were not the only ones targeted during the purge, as the Qing Empire's forces also killed many Han Chinese civilians, including Liu Qing's family.[3]
Aftermath[edit | edit source]
By 1725, the only known surviving Chinese Assassins were Xue Yan, Liu Qing, and the Mentor Xiao Han, who blamed himself for being unable to prevent the purge.[3] Seeking to restore their Brotherhood to its former glory and end the persecution of the Han Chinese people by overthrowing the Manchus, the three Assassins began a search for Pieces of Eden throughout Southeast Asia.[2]
In 1725, Xiao Han was forced to relive the purge's events during a confrontation in Cebu with the British Assassin Edward Kenway, who opposed the Chinese Brotherhood's mission due to his belief that using the Pieces of Eden for personal gain would lead to more chaos and destruction. Having acquired one such artifact, a crescent amulet, Edward reluctantly used it against Xiao Han, showing him visions of the Chinese Brotherhood's base in flames, in order to make him stand down.[3]
Following the purge, Xiao Han was haunted by the deaths of his students and began having nightmares about the event, muttering the slain Assassins' names in his sleep. The businesswoman Lee Huiyin, whom Xiao Han allied himself with to succeed in his mission, once observed the Mentor during one of his nightmares and later brought up the episode to him. Lee then correctly deduced that Xiao Han's main reason for wanting to overthrow the Qing dynasty was not any sense of righteousness, but his desire to avenge his fallen comrades, which went against his Brotherhood's Creed.[4]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed: Forgotten Temple (flashback only)
References[edit | edit source]
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