Difference between revisions of "Yi Ti"

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The original capital city of Yi Ti was [[Yin]], at the mouth of a great river on the shores of the Jade Sea.  It is a massive and advanced city, whose imperial palace alone is the size of all of [[King's Landing]].  The capital was moved to several other cities, then moved back to Yin, then moved again over the millenia, as different dynasties rose and fell.  Under the Azure Emperors, the capital is once again in Yin.   
 
The original capital city of Yi Ti was [[Yin]], at the mouth of a great river on the shores of the Jade Sea.  It is a massive and advanced city, whose imperial palace alone is the size of all of [[King's Landing]].  The capital was moved to several other cities, then moved back to Yin, then moved again over the millenia, as different dynasties rose and fell.  Under the Azure Emperors, the capital is once again in Yin.   
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Yandel gave two brief listings of emperors which may or may not indicate the order of the eleven dynasties.  First, explaining how the capital has moved:  the Grey Emperors, Indigo Emperors, and Pearl White Emperors ruled from Yin, but the Scarlet Emperors rose a new capital from the jungles, called Si Qo (which fell into ruin after that dynasty ended); the Purple Emperors ruled from [[Tiqui] in the western hills (bordering the formidable [[Hyrkoon]] cities of the mountains), while the Maroon Emperors had their capital in [[Jinqi]] to the east, to guard against raiders from the Shadow Lands.  This is the order that Yandel gave this information, but whether it ''necessarily'' means that (for example) the Scarlet Emperors predate the Purple Emperors, is unclear.
  
 
Some of the great wealth acquired by [[Corlys Velaryon]] during his [[The Nine Voyages|nine voyages]] was from Yi Ti.{{ref|TWOIAF| Jaehaerys I}}
 
Some of the great wealth acquired by [[Corlys Velaryon]] during his [[The Nine Voyages|nine voyages]] was from Yi Ti.{{ref|TWOIAF| Jaehaerys I}}

Revision as of 04:49, 12 January 2019

A YiTish man, by Douglas Wheatley for The World of Ice & Fire

Yi Ti is a nation and region in Essos located east of Qarth and the Bone Mountains and bordered by the Jade Sea to the south. Nearby islands in the Jade Sea are Leng and the Isle of Whips. North of Yi Ti are the Great Sand Sea, the Shrinking Sea, and the Bleeding Sea; a great river runs south from the Bleeding Sea through Yi Ti to the Jade Sea. Located east of Yi Ti are the Mountains of the Morn, the Shadow Lands, and Asshai.[1] In the Common Tongue, things relating to Yi Ti are known as "YiTish".[2][3]

The realm of the YiTish civilization is known as the Golden Empire of Yi Ti,[4] which was, according to legend, preceded by the Great Empire of the Dawn. Maester Yandel speculates the YiTish civilization was contemporary with the realm of the Fisher Queens, whereas the YiTish priests insist that mankind's first towns and cities arose along the shores of the Jade Sea, dismissing the rival claims of the Sarnori and Ghiscari as the boasts of savages and children.[2]

About

Lomas Longstrider called Yi Ti "the land of a thousand gods and a hundred princes, ruled by one god-emperor." The power of the God-Emperor has since fallen and extends no further than the walls of his own city, but the hundred princes rule their own realms as they see fit, as do the brigands, priest-kings, sorcerers, warlords, imperial generals, and tax collectors outside their domains.[2]

The land of Yi Ti has thick, green patchwork farmland and a verdant rainforest.[1] Rumors have it that basilisks roam the jungles of Yi Ti.[5] Known cities in Yi Ti include Yin and Jinqi, along the Jade Sea coast, and Tiqui further to the north near the Great Sand Sea. The city of Asabhad is located at the western boundary of Yi Ti near the Bone Mountains and the Jade Gates. There is a trade route from Asabhad to Yin along the coast of the Jade Sea.[1] The Five Forts guard the northeastern marches of the empire.[2]

Yi Ti is ruled by a god-emperor, but true power may reside within the region's various princedoms. It has had various ancient capitals, including Tiqui.[6] The Lion of Night is a god in Yi Ti. One of their major exports is saffron.[7] Yi Ti is also known for its wine.[8]

People

Men from Yi Ti are bright-eyed and wear monkey-tail hats.[9] The people of northern Leng in the Jade Sea are YiTish, while the south of the island is inhabited by the Lengii.[6]

History

Early Legends

According to legend, all the lands between the Jade Sea and the Shivering Sea, the Bone Mountains and the Grey Waste, were all once controlled during the Dawn Age by the Great Empire of the Dawn, centered around Yi Ti. This realm's first emperor was the only-begotten son of the two major deities in Yi Ti's religion, the Lion of Night and the Maiden-Made-of-Light, known as God-on-Earth. It is believed he had a hundred wives and reigned for ten thousand years, before ascending into the stars to join his forebears.

Dominion then passed to his eldest son, known as the Pearl Emperor, who ruled for one thousand years. In turn, he was followed by the Jade Emperor, the Tourmaline Emperor, the Onyx Emperor, the Topaz Emperor, and the Opal Emperor. Each successive generation had shorter reigns and faced rising problems, as mankind grew greedy and corrupt. Monstrous beasts from the surrounding wastes pressed against their borders, while lesser kings grew prideful and rebellious. When the daughter of the Opal Emperor succeeded him as the Amethyst Empress, her envious younger brother slew her and usurped the throne, and event which is remembered as the Blood Betrayal. Her brother then proclaimed himself the Bloodstone Emperor and began a reign of terror, practicing dark magical arts and necromancy, and he cast down the true gods to worship a black stone which had fallen from the sky. In the annals of the east, this legend of the Blood Betrayal is attributed as the cause of the Long Night, as it caused the Maiden-Made-of-Light to despair and turn her face away from mankind, and the Lion of Night sent the generation-long winter to punish mankind for its wickedness. In the chaos that followed, the Great Empire of the Dawn collapsed.

Though these magic-filled legends are widely believed in Yi Ti, there is as little proof for any of it as ancient legends about the Dawn Age from Westeros, which are similarly filled with heroic figure such as Durran Godsgrief, or the Grey King of the Iron Islands who warred with gods and lived for a thousand years. The maesters of the Citadel in Westeros doubt that a Great Empire of the Dawn ever truly existed, but most do agree that Yi Ti's culture is very ancient, and a few believe they were contemporary with the Fisher Queens on the western side of the Bone Mountains (who predate the migration of the First Men to Westeros).[2]

Ancient History

Yi Ti's current civilization is one of the oldest in the world, stretching back to the end of the Long Night itself, and possibly earlier. Whether or not the legends of a "Great Empire of the Dawn" before the Long Night are true, Yi Ti was already old when Valyria and Old Ghis were young, and it has endured long after both of them have crumbled into ruin.

Maester Yandel did not provide much material on Yi Ti in The World of Ice & Fire - not because there was too little to say, however, but because there was far too much. Yi Ti was one of the first civilizations to develop and preserve a literate culture, and thus its recorded history stretches back across the eight thousand years since the Long Night. Meanwhile, men from Westeros know only a vague outline of Yi Ti's history, based on scraps of information from their jealously guarded scrolls. Ultimately, Yandel feared that even sharing what he did know of Yi Ti (much of it inaccurate) could fill so many chapters that they wouldn't fit in his current book, and thus it was beyond his scope to give more than a brief sketch.[2]

What is known is that since the Long Night, eleven dynasties of emperors have ruled over Yi Ti. The shortest ruled no more than half a century, while the longest ruled for seven hundred years. Sometimes the transition between dynasties was peaceful, but other times it was violent. On four separate occasions, the end of one dynasty did not immediately result in a new one that had consolidated rule over all of Yi Ti, but prolonged periods of civil war and anarchy - the longest of these interregnums lasted more than a century.[2][N 1]

Each of the imperial dynasties that have ruled Yi Ti were known by a color honorific, i.e. the current dynasty at the time of the War of the Five Kings in Westeros are known as the line of "Azure Emperors". The names of all eleven dynasties are known, but Yandel did not specify their exact order.

The original capital city of Yi Ti was Yin, at the mouth of a great river on the shores of the Jade Sea. It is a massive and advanced city, whose imperial palace alone is the size of all of King's Landing. The capital was moved to several other cities, then moved back to Yin, then moved again over the millenia, as different dynasties rose and fell. Under the Azure Emperors, the capital is once again in Yin.

Yandel gave two brief listings of emperors which may or may not indicate the order of the eleven dynasties. First, explaining how the capital has moved: the Grey Emperors, Indigo Emperors, and Pearl White Emperors ruled from Yin, but the Scarlet Emperors rose a new capital from the jungles, called Si Qo (which fell into ruin after that dynasty ended); the Purple Emperors ruled from [[Tiqui] in the western hills (bordering the formidable Hyrkoon cities of the mountains), while the Maroon Emperors had their capital in Jinqi to the east, to guard against raiders from the Shadow Lands. This is the order that Yandel gave this information, but whether it necessarily means that (for example) the Scarlet Emperors predate the Purple Emperors, is unclear.

Some of the great wealth acquired by Corlys Velaryon during his nine voyages was from Yi Ti.[10]

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

Daenerys Targaryen remembers that basilisks infest the jungles of Yi Ti.[5] In the Western Market of Vaes Dothrak Dany sees a fat cloth trader from Yi Ti haggling with a Pentoshi over the price of some green dye, the monkey tail on his hat swaying back and forth as he shakes his head. [9]

Before Khal Drogo's body is burnt on his funeral pyre Ser Jorah Mormont begs Daenerys Targaryen to come east with him, to Yi Ti, Qarth, the Jade Sea and Asshai-by-the-Shadow, to see all the wonders yet unseen. [11]

A Clash of Kings

In Qarth Xaro Xhoan Daxos tries to entreat Daenerys to accompany him on his pleasure barge to the Jade Sea. He suggests that they journey around Yi Ti to search for the dreaming city of poets and to sip the wine of wisdom from a dead man's skull.[7]

A Storm of Swords

In Meereen Daenerys Targaryen reminds Ser Jorah Mormont that after Khal Drogo's death he had asked her to go with him to Yi Ti and the Jade Sea.[12]

A Feast for Crows

Garin tells Arianne Martell that according to sailors in Planky Town, grey plague, possibly referring to greyscale, has broken out in Yi Ti.[13]

A Dance with Dragons

When in the cellar of Illyrio's manse in Pentos, Tyrion Lannister notices that Illyrio has wines from the fabled east in his stock, one of which is from Yi Ti.[8]

Notes

  1. The lengths of these eleven dynasties don't neatly match up to a full 8,000 years, though not irreconcilably so. Multiplying 700 years by 11 dynasties yields 7,700 years. The difference of 300 years or so from 8,000 can be accounted for by the four long interregnum periods, the longest of which lasted a full century. This is only the maximum figure, however, as only the longest dynasty lasted 700 years, while the shortest was a mere 50 years or so. Hypothetically averaging at 600 years per dynasty would only add up to 6,600 - and only the longest interregnum was a full century long, which would come to a figure somewhere under 7,000. These figures are not wildly implausible, but very little information was given. Of course, early history in Yi Ti may be just as inaccurate as early history in Westeros, before the Andal invasions 6,000 years ago: records get progressively more accurate and consistent for the millenia closer to the present day.

References