User:Sol Pacificus/Q&A with Assassin's Creed: Dynasty's author Xu Xianzhe

On 1 September 2022, the final chapter of Assassin's Creed: Dynasty was published, upon which the Chinese Assassin's Creed Wiki team privately contacted its author, Xu Xianzhe, on Weibo regarding lingering questions about the story's canonical details. For the reference of the English Assassin's Creed Wiki's editors, I have provided a translation below of the Q&A originally shared by 一个赛艇门 (Citingate) on the Chinese Assassin's Creed Wiki.

Citingate: What is Pei Min's identity exactly? Is he affiliated with the Hidden Ones established by Li E, was he a member of the Chinese Assassins previously, or does he merely act as the head of the village, the guardian of the Northern Treasury Under Heaven?

Xu Xianzhe: Pei Min's identity is that he is Li E/the Chinese Assassins' ally, the head of the Mojia Village, and the guardian of the Northern Treasury Under Heaven.

Citingate: As for Uncle Chen and the six survivors who took action with Li E, did they join Li E's Hidden Ones in the end?

Xu Xianzhe: The backbone of the Hidden Ones is built off of the six warriors of Changshan and Uncle Chen at the centre taking in heroes from sea to sea and continuing to expand and strengthen. At the end of the story, when Hong'er officially joins the Hidden Ones, included at Li E's side are the six warriors of Changshan, and eventually in the future, Kong Kong and Jing Jing will also succeed them. Uncle Chen is not among them because he is elderly, not to mention his hip is not that great, so he's not suitable for the Leap of Faith.

Citingate: Have you thought about what connection there is between Dynasty and The Imperial Jade Seal series?

Xu Xianzhe: The main connections are Wu Zetian's Golden Turtles and the Tui Bei Tu (mentioned in Abe no Nakamaro's letters).

Citingate: If you have info on this—Li E is the inheritor of both the Hidden Ones established in the Western Regions and the past dynasties' local Chinese Assassins from The Imperial Jade Seal series. What kind of relation does this all have with the concept of the "Chinese Assassins"?

Xu Xianzhe: Pei Min had explained to Li E how the Chinese Assassins came to be. China's earliest Assassins appeared in the pre-Qin period. Among them, Jing He [sic] perished upon his failure to assassinate Qin Shi Huang. From this moment on, Qin Shi Huang began to fear the Assassin Order's existence. Thereupon, after he had unified the six warring states, he then confiscated all weapons under Heaven and annihilated the Assassin Order across the nation. On 15 September 210 BCE, at Sand Hill Palace on his 5th eastern tour, surviving Assassin Wei Yu used a spear to assassinate Qin Shi Huang, ending his tyrannical reign. Yet the Assassins had already buried their names, hiding themselves thoroughly in the shadows to evade the Order's pursuit.

Coming to the Tang dynasty, China entered a long era of peace. The Assassins still preserved their anonymity, to the extent that they would not even reveal themselves to each other. They carried out their own assignments as though they were each a solo army, preparing at any time to sacrifice their lives for justice. Li E's background is that he joined the Western Regions Hidden Ones via the Battle of Talas, having never gotten to know the previous Chinese Assassins, and yet he inherited the mantle of the Chinese Assassins through the Northern Treasury Under Heaven guarded by Pei Min. It is just like how the Tang dynasty, via the Silk Road, ceaselessly absorbed and assimilated the Western Regions' culture, developing the open and inclusive atmosphere of the High Tang. The cultural background of Li E's founding of the Tang dynasty Hidden Ones reflects the Tang dynasty's special characteristic.

I wish to extend my warm gratitude to the Chinese Assassin's Creed Wiki team and to Xu Xianzhe for supplying us with this information that helps clarify the canonical lore of Assassin's Creed: Dynasty.