Sesshomaru... Chinese?!

[rikana]

I was following a link about how to make Sesshomaru's outfit for Cosplay purposes, and I ran across something very interesting. The woman who wrote the articles actually broke down his entire outfit piece by piece historically, and only a few parts of his outfit are actually Japanese. From there she actually dug pretty deep into his could-be background, speculating his and his family's "heritage." It's a very interesting read. Check it out!

www.squidoo.com/LordSesshomaruHistory

[Patches]

Jul 31, 2008 21:57:02 GMT -5 rikana said:

I was following a link about how to make Sesshomaru's outfit for Cosplay purposes, and I ran across something very interesting. The woman who wrote the articles actually broke down his entire outfit piece by piece historically, and only a few parts of his outfit are actually Japanese. From there she actually dug pretty deep into his could-be background, speculating his and his family's "heritage." It's a very interesting read. Check it out!

www.squidoo.com/LordSesshomaruHistory

The thing I found most interesting about that article is how long this person managed to make it without being able to get a single fact right.

Early in the series, Rumiko indicates the Sesshomaru is 250 years old.

Takahashi has never indicated any age for Sesshoumaru, other than he is equivalently 19 years old.

Than a few years later, we are told that he fought in a war 700 years in the past, making him at least that old.

What...? What in the world is this referring to? The best I can guess is that this person got "700 years" from the third movie, which references 700 years from Kagome's time, making the events at the beginning of movie 3 take place 200 years before Inuyasha's era. Either way, there was no war then, and movie 3 is non-canon, anyway.

Even later in the series we are told that Sesshomaru is not a normal demon, but is some sort of immortal being and has been around for a very long time, with the mention of "thousands of years" being thrown into the conversation.

Now this piece, I just have no idea, and it looks like it came straight out of a fanfic. It is, like everything before and after this, not something from canon, and something that was never, ever mentioned by Takahashi or anyone else working on the series.

Rumiko tells us that Lord Sesshomaru took over his father's empire when his father died. She tells us that his father was the Ruler of the Western Lands, the title now belonging to Sesshomaru, and the reason we call him "Lord".

Stop attributing fanon to Takahashi! This is absolutely never said in the manga, and the manga actually suggests otherwise, that Sesshoumaru inherited nothing from his father but his sword and dashing good looks. And we call him "Lord" because that's what "sama" was translated to in English. "Sama", however, does not necessarily imply any position of power, merely a position of respect. Miroku and Kagome each refer to each other as "sama" in the series, but you don't see either of them with large tracts of land.

At first we assume that The Western Lands are someplace in the Western side of Japan, but a closer study of the series, suggests otherwise.

A closer study of the series would suggest that what was translated as "Western Lands" was originally "Saigoku" in Japanese, an actual named region of the Japanese landscape. This region is known in the modern era as the Kinki region.

Throughout the series, InuYasha battles a wide variety of demons. Every once in a while a demon will show up, wearing an outfit, oddly familiar to Sesshomaru's. Each time a demon of this sort shows up they are greeted with discontent, and the question "You're from the continent, aren't you?".

"Each time" happens precisely once, and it was in the first movie, which, you guessed it, is not canon. And Menoumaru and his cohorts wore clothes that looked nothing like Sesshoumaru's. They looked, you know, Chinese. Any other instance of this is relegated to fanfiction, which I suspect is where this person got the majority of their information.

Through out the series, we see that the Japanese demons do not take a liking to any demon that came to the island from the continent. To clarify this, we must remember that in the series, Japan is always referred to as "The Island" while China is always referred to as "The Continent". Oddly such Chinese demons, are mentioned as coming from the Western Lands.

WTF are you talking about? In the manga series, China isn't even mentioned. EVER. Any youkai described as being from the "Western Lands" (which is limited to Inu-papa in canon and the Hyounekozoku in filler) came from Saigoku.

Ah-Huh! Now we are getting somewhere. Most of Sesshomaru's outfit is Chinese not Japanese.

Sesshoumaru's outfit is in no way Chinese. This piece of art shows the layers of Sesshoumaru's clothing, which are:
Hada-juban (short undergarment)
Naga-juban (long undergarment)
Kikkou-gara Furisode (hexagon-patterned long-sleeved kimono)
Hakama (pants)
Yoroi-tare (lower armor)
Yoroi-dou (upper armor)

Another thing to consider is this: InuYasha a half breed, is outcast for being a half breed, which is unusual in the series as many other half breed demons are fairly well accepted.

... What? There has never, EVER been a hanyou in the entire series who was accepted in the community. Besides Inuyasha, the only other two hanyou were Jinenji and Shiori, both of whom were regularly abused by those in the community.

The Dog Demon Tribe, as we have already determined, are from China.

Well, maybe YOU have determined that, but the series determines that, Inu-papa at least, was from Saigoku.

But looking at the general contempt for Chinese demons in the series, (who are always portrayed as being very evil, btw) we must ask the question: Is InuYasha not only half demon, but also half Japanese?

No. Just... no.

We know that there was such a hatred for InuYasha, that the day of his birth, the empire revolted against their Dog Demon leader, stormed the palace, burnt it to the ground, and slaughtered everyone inside.

.... WTF WTF WTFFFFFFFF?!?!?! WHERE IS THIS STUFF COMING FROM!?! I'm assuming this is some weird role-reversal of the third movie's intro, but... what? Inuyasha was born in Izayoi's castle, which Inu-papa stormed to rescue her before the men of her own castle murdered her and his son. The castle's own guards burnt it down with him inside because he was an intruder, not because it was his castle. And either way, movie 3 is not canon.

Sesshomaru survived because he was not home when this happened, and InuYasha and his mother survived, because his father protected them so she could escape, but he died doing so. She took her only minutes old baby InuYasha and fled back to her homeland of Japan.

@___@ Whaaaaat? This is just getting too ridiculous. It was IZAYOI'S castle that got burned down. It was staffed with SAMURAI, which are not particularly common in China.

We must ask why she fled back to her homeland, and why, the empire rose up against their leader for taken a Japanese Human as his second wife. It seems therefore more accurate to assume that The revolt was caused not by a demon marrying a human, but by a Chinese Demon marrying a Japanese Human.

No, it was because the human owner of the castle was having a tryst with a youkai and bore his child, and her castle staff freaked out and tried to kill her, and he came to rescue her. Seriously, what were you smoking when watching movie 3, this is not that hard to figure out.

Another thing to note, is that in real mythology, the tales of dog demons come from Chinese mythology, not Japanese mythology, thus making it even more logical (and historically accurate) to assume that Sesshomaru is Chinese rather than Japanese.

Holy crap, this is actually almost sorta right! At least, the part about a lot of old Japanese mythology having its roots in China.

After InuYasha's birth, his father's death, and the destruction of the family palace, Sesshomaru took his pet dragon and set out on foot on a personal spiritual quest to become a more powerful demon than his father was.

What the f***********ck. @__@ Where did this pet dragon come from (Ah-un, maybe)? Now we're totally delving into the realm of fanfiction.

By the time we see him in the InuYasha series, Lord Sesshomaru has been on his spirit quest for some 250 years, and in that time has picked up Portuguese and Mongolian influences into his mode of dress. We must assume that this is a result of his having spent time in Portugal and Mongolia at some point prior to his coming to Japan.

Does this person even know where Portugal IS in relation to China and Japan?! This sounds so massively unlikely, it's just... ridiculous. Just like the entire rest of this article.

Anyway, I'm stopping there, because this is just too ridiculous and painful to read. I've already ripped this person enough of a new one, anyway.

[rikana]

XD I've just realized I'm not as dedicated as I thought to the Inu-Yasha world. Thanks for straightening it out! lo

[miyukiwolfire]

WOW. Talk about dedication to the manga! I sincerely hoped you e-mailed the person that wrote those misleading facts and told them what was actually going on.

[concoidialfracture]

Wow. That was fantastic in every way. I'm a little disturbed that someone could mangle the series that badly, but I suppose when some have got a theory, they only see evidence that supports it, even if most of it is non-existent.

Makes for a good laugh, though, don't you think?

On another note, that picture makes me happy, because I think it explains a lot. I've always thought that Sesshoumaru looked like he was just standing around a lot of the time looking lethargic, and now I know why.... HE'S DYING OF HEATSTROKE!

[concoidialfracture]

So, what about this person's other lense about Sesshoumaru being a cross dresser? Is that in any way true? You're the expert, Patches, any rebuttals?

[Patches]

Dec 12, 2008 13:06:33 GMT -5 concoidialfracture said:

So, what about this person's other lense about Sesshoumaru being a cross dresser? Is that in any way true? You're the expert, Patches, any rebuttals?

I'm not really an "expert", but the "cross-dressing" aspect is partially true. The furisode is more commonly worn by women than by men. I don't know enough about Japanese fashion culture to know if it is specifically classified as "women's clothing" the way dresses and skirts are here, or if it's androgynous clothing that is simply worn more often by women.

[concoidialfracture]

I asked one of my other friends about it, and I don't know if I'll get a definite answer, but for how much I've been studying costume lately, I thought it might be a good thing to get some kind of fashion perspective on.

Clothes are just weird things. Just extremely weird.

[Sayuri]

I agree. Let's just run around naked!

[concoidialfracture]

I would say okay, but you know that someone would complain. You know how easily people are offended nowadays.

Anyhow, my friend says that the furisode isn't necessarily a female garment, but she says she and her dad aren't experts either, so I suppose I'll never truly know.

[ladyjanegrey]

Are you kidding??!! Here it's at least it's 32F, and snowing! and snowing! and snowing......!

[ladyjanegrey]

Me again! I looked it up on Wiki (I know, I know!), and this is part of what it said:

A furisode is a style of kimono. It is the most formal style of kimono worn by unmarried women in Japan. The furisode is made of very fine, brightly colored silk, and is commonly rented or bought by parents for their daughters to wear when celebrating Coming of Age Day the year they turn 20. By wearing a furisode, a young woman signifies that she is both single and a legal adult, and thus available for marriage. In this sense, a furisode might be likened to the formal gowns worn by debutantes in the West.

Furisode are distinguishable by their long sleeves, which average between 39 and 42 inches in length. The name "furisode" literally translates as swinging (furi) sleeves (sode). The furisode is generally worn for formal social functions such as the tea ceremony or wedding ceremonies of relatives. As a furisode can be very expensive, many women rent them as needed rather than purchasing them.

[concoidialfracture]

Dec 20, 2008 15:42:32 GMT -5 ladyjanegrey said:

Are you kidding??!! Here it's at least it's 32F, and snowing! and snowing! and snowing......!

Oh come on, you can take it! Right?

Anyhow, I've read that description before, and it seemed a little iffy to me, so I thought I'd confirm. Of course, I keep getting mixed information. Some say it IS just for women, some say it's not, some say in the past it was worn by both men and women, and some say that it was a garment for children way back when.

I just don't know what to believe!

[ladyjanegrey]

Haha! Well the temp DROPPED last night, so we got freezing rain i.e. 1/2 inch of ice on top of the 6"-8" of snow. The temp stayed low today, and heck, it's stating to snow again!!! Sooo, not going anywhere for a while!

About the furisode, I found this site:

www.rekihaku.ac.jp/english/events/publication/rekihaku_137wi.html

which has info and pics ALL ABOUT IT! (Sorry I don't know how to Link; you'll have to paste.)
It says it is the National Museum of Japanese History, and is a Japanese site, and has English pages.

The long and the short of it (haha, a joke!) is that it Was a garment for children (boys and girls), with Long Sleeves. The long sleeves is what made it a furisode, and of course nowadays only young women (available!) wear them. If you want to know more, you can look at the site.

"I'm dreaming... of a White Christmas......!"

[concoidialfracture]

Very cool information. According to this, I'm getting the impression that Sesshoumaru is a "Wakashu" character. Definitely not expected! Of course, the information is organized in a confusing way. The way I'm reading, there was no distinction between the furisode worn by girls or boys until the 18th century, though it says that the young man's furisode worn by Wakashu are supposed to signify neither male nor female either. Where's the difference? Or am I reading this the wrong way?

What an incredibly confusing piece of literature!

White Christmas, huh? That dream may become a reality from the description.

As for the ice, "Nice night for a neck injury" right? lol! Courtesy of Home Alone.