Lord Tony of House Stark Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 There are a lot of cultures in ASOIAF that are based on actual civilizations in history. Pretty much every ancient culture is accounted for with one major exception. There is no Asian based culture mentioned in any detail yet. The only thing that is briefly mentioned is Yi Ti and that only sounds like it could be based on an Asian culture. There is not much evidence in the text to support it or disprove it, but does anyone else want to see an Asian based culture in ASOIAF and to what degree? IMO, Dany is the closest POV and is most likely to encounter them because of the whole to go west you must go east prophecy. But imagine if she bolstered her army with gunpowder or ninja assassins or samurai warriors!!! GRRM could do so much with that, but i ant to hear thoughts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Mac Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Yi Ti is likely some kind of Chinese/east Asian culture. There is also Bayasabhad, Asabhad and Zabhad which could be somewhat like southern Asia, given that region's use of the "bad" in their city names (Islamabad, Hyderabad). As to if we'll see them.... I doubt it. Dany's the closest character and I only see her moving West. GRRM says we're unlikely to see Asshai in person, so if we don't see that, we likely won't visit these locations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YorEmixam Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I saw the dothrakies as mongoles, but im nothing close to an historian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Blue Eyes Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Yi Ti. We actually don't see a lot of cultures. What we do see are the cultures of the Old World and even that just in the narrow sense of Europe + Levante, from about 300 BC to about 1600 AD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimples Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Japan=/=Asia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aryagonnakill#2 Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 The Dothraki definitely constitute the Mongols, which were/are Asian. Dany won't be going farther east than Qarth as per GRRM so there's definitely no chance we will see Yi Ti. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingelheim Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Japan=/=Asia Japan = Europe then? Lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Of Winter Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Why there should be an Asian based culture in the books? The author (GGRM in this case) should be able to freely use/mix any part of any culture or create his own. It's not like there is a rule written in stone that fantasy books must have X-base culture. But imagine if she bolstered her army with gunpowder or ninja assassins or samurai warriors!!! GRRM could do so much with that, but i ant to hear thoughts. Is there any reason for this besides "I think it would be cool" ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrave Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I like this thought. The Free Cities are a mixture of various European liberal cultures with a hint of rich Middle Eastern cities (Baghdad, Tehran, etc). Where Dany is, it's like North African or poorer Middle Eastern regions. I can see Yi Ti as SE Asian. Asshai as Indian. Wow, just thinking about all this makes me really wish we could learn more about these places. So much mystery and exoticness to them. And for all intents and purposes Japan = Asia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Tony of House Stark Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 there is absolutely no other reason for it other than i think it would be cool. and i agree he is free to and does mix elements from many real cultures into his fictional ones. I'm not saying its a rule, I'm saying it is missing. that is not to say that there are not other cultures missing too, but for some reason that one stands out to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Of Winter Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 The Dothraki definitely constitute the Mongols, which were/are Asian. Dany won't be going farther east than Qarth as per GRRM so there's definitely no chance we will see Yi Ti. There are many differences between the two - Mongols were united, Dothraki weren't; M had strictly organized army, D don't; M used armor, D don't; M used siege and conquered cities, while D, according to Jorah, couldn't besiege even the weakest fort; M women were in way better position than their Dothraki counterparts... GRRM said how he based Dorthaki on a number of cultures - Mongols, Huns, Alans, Sioux... Mongols are just one of infleunces among many others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YorEmixam Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Japan =/= asia , japan+china+russia+... is. I think thats what he ment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ingelheim Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Japan =/= asia , japan+china+russia+... is. I think thats what he ment. Oh, if it's that, my bad then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arbor Golden Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 the faceless men are ninjas people people often forget/never understand that ninjas were almost always hired for money Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dimples Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 And for all intents and purposes Japan = Asia. 4 billion people would like to have words with you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Tony of House Stark Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 ^ Good call on that. there is definitely that element within the faceless men. i wish GRRM would come up with a guide/ description of all of the other major areas in planets we might not get to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrave Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 4 billion people would like to have a word with you. Wow, you're splitting hairs here. It's obvious I meant Japan is an Asian country, not literally ALL of Asia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mladen Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 I found interesting thing when I was exploring for my dragon project. Dragons are seen rather positively in Eastern cultures, unlike in Western... That being said, I might be curious to examine how it may impact Dany's future storyline, being seen as a dragon hero in the East, and dragon villain in the West. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Tony of House Stark Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 that dichotomy makes it even more interesting to me to see what her reception would be in the East assuming the culture views dragons as a positive. Maybe they could teach her how to work with her dragons and train them for riders and battle. really the possibilities are endless with what could happen with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight Of Winter Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Yeah, in ancient Chinese mythology dragons were viewed as benevolent creatures symbolizing wisdom. This doesn't seem to be the case with Dany's dragons, but e.g. Robin's Hobb Tawny Man triology offers interesting take on fanatsy world with sentient and intelligent dragons. Hobb's work in general is great for many other reasons, and my first choice when people ask What fantasy besides Martin should I read. Mladen, there's one thing I'm curious about, that you may have researched for dragon project. I found it interesting how dragons appear in various mythologies with no common backgrounds (Greek and Chinese for example). Is there some reason behind this - how people on opposite sides of the globe apparently wrote about similar-looking creatures and put them in their myths and legends? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.