Hyborian Age Gazetteer: Khitai, Part Three
Saturday, September 5, 2009
posted by Al Harron
Print This Post
So far, I’ve looked at the geography and ecology, followed by the religion and culture of Khitai. This final installment shall place trade and people on the slide, as I peer through the microscope to see what I can find.
Before I do, however, I’d like to add an update on Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer. I was contacted by Joel Bylos, lead expansion designer for the game, who offered to answer any questions I might have. Good news on that front: Grey Apes are in, Paikang is indeed festooned with jungle, and Knut Avenstroup Haugen returns with a new soundtrack, with pipes and bells featuring throughout. The storyline he imparted to me is full of twists and turns that attempt to explain the seeming incongruities in history and lore, and time will tell how successful the quests are in that regard. He also put my mind to rest in one regard: the marketing for the expansion gives the impression that Yogah was the major deity, the “Mitra” or “Set” of Khitai: he assures me that this is not the case, and that the polytheistic nature of Khitan religion will be upheld, though Yogah will naturally feature prominently.
Naturally, we can’t make a proper judgment on the game until it is released and played through, but a few things were apparent from my brief correspondence: Mr Bylos is enthusiastic and unapologetic in his appreciation for Howard, and he’s put a lot of thought into his interpretation of Khitai.
With that said, let’s jump in.
Khitan Trade
“I’ve looted enough from the Khitan caravans to know what I’m talking about,” he asserted.
“That’s jade!”
Red Nails
There is evidence of Khitai being a fairly open and approachable nation when it comes to international trade. Caravans carrying distinctive Khitan jade and Khitan silk rugs are found regularly traversing the eastern desert routes, and an be found as far west as the deserts around Khauran and the jungles south of Stygia. Conan himself has looted many such caravans, presumably during his days as a Zuagir, Afghuli or Kozak bandit. Knowing the hazardous nature of the Hyrkanian steppes and the Himelians, the “Old Silk Road” probably followed a more southerly route through Kosala, Vendhya and Iranistan than its modern namesake.
In addition to caravans, Khitai may well have command of a trading fleet. The galley which bore Ishtar in “Marchers of Valhalla” sank in what is now the Gulf of Mexico: its final destination must have been even further. This is an incredible distance for a galley to travel, something only able and confident sailors could accomplish. It is unclear exactly when in the Hyborian or Post-Hyborian Age “Marchers of Valhalla” takes place, but whenever that voyage took place, it suggests Khitai was a strong presence in the Eastern Ocean throughout.
A third Khitan export is more exclusive, and likely not to be traded among the common market stalls: Black Lotus. The dust of the Black Lotus has been seen as far as the Castle of Yimsha and Belverus, to the Thief-City of Zamora and Stygia, suggesting this to be a trade commodity to the sorcerously minded. There may also be gardens of the blossom on a sorcerer’s grounds, with seeds or whole plants carefully transported from the Khitan jungles, and nurtured as a source of magical ingredients. In addition to these known exports, there’s all likelihood that there were other exotic products: since spices, ceramics, tea, rice, and bamboo were famous Chinese exports, so it may it have been with Khitai.
The People of Khitai
“Valerius summoned before him four men of curious and alen aspect. They were tall, gaunt, of yellowish skin, and immobile countenances. They were very similar in appearance, clad alike in long black robes beneath which their sandaled feet were just visible. Their features were shadowed by their hoods. They stood before Valerius with their hands in their wide sleeves.”
The Hour of the Dragon
Like the Hyrkanians, the Khitans are Lemurian diaspora who were enslaved by the proto-Stygians. By the time of Conan, there appears to be three distinct ethnicities within Khitai.
The first, and most ancient of these, are the civilized descendants of the Lemurians who make the bulk of Khitai’s populace. Howard describes the Lemurians as short and swarthy, yet their offspring the Hyrkanians are tall. No doubt the hard lifestyle and high protein diet of the steppe nomad contributed to the Hyrkanians’ height: since the Khitans are largely city-dwellers, they’d probably have a more sedentary lifestyle with a grain-based diet. Admixture with taller Hyborians may also be a factor in the height difference, at least among the more westerly Hyrkanians and Turanians. The temperament of these Khitans is largely unknown, but since they send trade caravans out, dwell in cities and have built ships, they’re probably the most akin to the Medieval Chinese. These are also the Khitans most likely to worship Yun, with their votaries living isolated lives in the lost jungles, and possibly Ishtar and other deities. Civilized Khitans also seem to be fairly hospitable to foreigners: Conan visited Khitai at an undefined point in his life, as did the Aquilonian nobleman Valerius. Belesa even considered making a new life for herself and Tina in Khitai. Even though it’s on the opposite end of the world-continent to Zingara, Khitai seems civilized and welcoming enough to Belesa for her to consider it a new home.
The second type are a curious race of jungle-dwellers. According to “The Tower of the Elephant,” Yogah considered the people of Khitai to be “kindly jungle-folk”. This matches the description of the race Ishtar dwelt among in “Marchers of Valhalla,” who were “strange and kindly.” In “The Hyborian Age,” Howard refers to “a curious race of intelligent, though stunted, aborigines” conquered by the Hyrkanians on their eastward drift, who dwell in “the mountains east of Vilayet.” It’s possible that these Khitans mixed with similar aboriginals in the jungles, and instead of joining their city-dwelling kin, they live a more tribal existence akin to the tribes south of Stygia. The jungle Khitans are known to worship Yogah.
The third type are altogether more mysterious, yet they are also the only Khitans we meet first hand: the four exiles of The Hour of the Dragon. The contrast between these is intriguing: while they are described in similar physical terms outside of their height, they are much more sinister in aspect and demeanour. It is likely that the Khitan sorcerer of “A Witch Shall Be Born” who raised Salome is of similar stock, and perhaps also Zang, Salome’s attendant priest. The most likely explanation for their height is admixture with the proto-Stygians: while most Lemurians were enslaved, it’s perhaps inevitable that a certain amount of mixing would occur, with these mixed race individuals being shunned by both communities. Admixture with fellow sorcerers in Kosala in the years following Khitan emancipation is also a possibility. When the Lemurians cast off the proto-Stygian yoke, they would be driven deep into the jungles–perhaps to the Swamps of the Dead–or in isolated communities among the enemy, much as the Acheronians did in the three millennia since their kingdoms’ fall.
In modern times, the insidious “Khemi-Khitans” have grown stronger, with Salome’s teacher residing in a golden tower in Paikang, where he spends “long hours staring into a crystal globe,” reading “incantations written on serpent’s skin in the blood of virgins” and “poring over musty volumes in forgotten languages.” No doubt Salome’s teacher had to be careful, else he would be discovered, and expelled from the kingdom as the four exiles of Dragon were for delving into “the deeper gulfs of cosmic sorcery.” Since Khitai is an old, old nation, decadence and sorcerous corruption are likely to be rife, if not quite as despotic as Stygia or Zamora.
In order to exist in a part of the world rife with the danger of Hyrkanian raids, Khitai much have had a fairly strong military. Since jungles and swamps take up much of Khitai’s landscape, horse cavalry might not have been as instrumental a factor as with their northern cousins. With difficult to navigate terrain and strong fortifications, the Khitans may have favoured infantry. The trees and foliage of Khitai’s jungles would neutralize the vital mobility and range of Hyrkanian horse archers, forcing them to move uncomfortably close to the enemy. From their fortifications, Khitan archers (crossbowmen with the dreaded Chu Ko Nu?) could rain death upon the Hyrkanians from an attainable range, Khitan halberdiers could bring down the horses and riders with their Ji, and veteran swordsmen would cleave through mount and warrior alike with their terrible two-handed Zhanmadao.
There is also the possibility that, like the people of Thailand, Burma and Vietnam, the Khitans utilized elephants. According to a certain wandering Shemite who spoke to Conan, elephants can be found in herds of hundreds in “the land of the Hyrkanians”–if the Hyrkanians aren’t using them for mounts, perhaps the Khitans are. Indeed, elephants could be useful not just in war, but in construction, hauling, and transport, as well as possibly revered religiously.
Overview
There is still much mystery to uncover with Khitai, but an examination of the available quotes reveals some information, with which one can make a thumbnail sketch:
Khitai of Conan’s time is a fairly rich, influential nation in the far east. Although its distance means that few individuals ever reach the western Hyborian nations, their trade caravans undoubtedly bring a little of its culture to the Dreaming West, even if it is highly folkloric in a manner reminiscent of Europe’s view of China during the Middle Ages. Khitai does not appear to be particularly xenophobic or insular in comparison to, say, Hyperborea, and although it has been corrupted by civilized complacency for many ages, it isn’t as despotic and decadent as Zamora. Khitan sorcerers are highly knowledgeable and more powerful than those of the west, but do not appear to have domination over the nation in the way the Black Ring rules Stygia. While the Hyrkanians are a perennial threat, and Kosala may be a rival, the jungles of Khitai make for an effective natural fortress, as well as the possibilities of swamps, rivers and mountains, making Khitai as unassailable to the Hyrkanians as Burma was to the Mongols.
The political setup of Khitai is more vague. Valerius refers to the four exiles being banished by their “king”: does this refer to a single king for the entire country, or the king of their individual city-state, not unlike the warring states period of China? I vote for the former, personally: since Valerius was the king of Aquilonia by this point of the narrative, it makes sense that it refers to a fellow monarch. The only city mentioned is Paikang, which indicates it is of singular importance and power in the country, and so probably the capital: if there were other, rival states, surely Howard would have mentioned them. In the case of other city-state collections, Howard names either many (Akkharia, Anakia, Eruk, Shumir, Shushan and other Shemite cities of the meadowlands) or none (as in the Corinthian Marches).
There is clearly far more to Khitai than that which I have explored in this article, but at least, it contains the most relevant facets of Khitan geography, history and culture, leading to further extrapolations. Taking Howard’s lead in plucking moments and milieus from the annals of history and mythology, one could see a number of modern parallels: the many dynasties and kingdoms of ancient China, the Lao kingdom of Lan Xang, the Sukhothai and Lanna kingdoms of Thailand, and the rich mythology of those lands. If Cimmeria is the dark nightmare born of fear of the barbarian, and Aquilonia the dream of civilization that so many strive to attain, then Khitai is surely East Asia through the lens of legend: a land shrouded in weird foliage and inhabited by strange beasts; a culture of unknown mysteries and indecipherable rites; a people inscrutable and of an almost alien aspect to the west; ultimately, a place that inspires mystery, apprehension, and wonder.
the Hyborian setting would bring Khitai to the Age of Conan. Titled “Rise of the Godslayer,”
the expansion brings rideable tigers and wolves, a storyline linked to “The Tower of the
Elephant,” and vast new lands set in one of the Hyborian Age’s more elusive and mysterious
kingdoms.
Then there are some rather odd additions. Those acquainted with World of Warcraft will no
doubt find the addition of giant tigers and wolves to the stables somewhat familiar, and
leave the rest of us scratching our heads and wondering when this turned into “Age of
Barsoom”
One could say that the lack of concrete information about Khitai would make it ideal for a
game, since it allows greater freedom of interpretation. As demonstrated in the first issue
of the Hyborian Gazetteer, with a bit of application and connections, one can easily flesh
out the character, history and culture of a nation. Since Khitai is mentioned not once, but
several times, this makes it even easier.
This gazetteer will, hopefully, serve as both a small guide to Khitai as Howard described,
and a look at what Funcom’s plans for the Blue East may entail.
Geography
———
“He was a magician from far Khitai, returning to his native kingdom after a journey to
Stygia. He took me with him to purple-towered Paikang, its minarets rising amid the vine-
festooned jungles of bamboo, and there I grew to womanhood under his teaching.
A Witch Shall Be Born
The major distinguishing feature of Khitan geography is jungle. There are no references to
any other type of terrain, so it likely takes up a substantial portion of the landscape. It
is for this, and other reasons, that Dale Rippke posited that the traditional placement of
Khitai on Hyborian maps on the area analogous to china is incorrect. Instead, Rippke
theorises that Khitai is mostly found in what is now the Indochinese peninsula: naturally
filled with jungles, swamps and rainforest, south of the Tropic of Cancer. This gives it a
latitude similar to Vendhya and the Black nations just south of Stygia. This is a more
satisfying interpretation to me: dense jungle terrain would be a natural deterrent to the
Hyrkanian hordes, without the need of a “Great Wall” to keep them at bay.
Rippke’s map marks Khitai as occupying the area now known as Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand
and Cambodia. As such, although the vast majority of China might be outside the “Khitan”
borders, the southernmost of modern China–Yunnan, Guizhou, Guangxi Zhuang, Sichuan,
Chongoing, Hunan and Guangdong–may well resemble the climate of ancient Khitai.
The only Khitan city mentioned by Howad is Paikang, a metropolis of purple towers and
minarets in stark contrast to the sea of green bamboo surrounding it. The name is, obviously,
highly reminiscent of Peking, the English term for Beijing: a city steeped in history.
Flora & Fauna
————-
“He brought me up from the lost jungles of Khitai where the gray apes danced to the pipes of
the yellow priests, and offerings of fruit and wine heaped my broken altars.”
-The Tower of the Elephant
Khitai is home to one of the most quintessentially Howardian beasts, the Gray Ape. Conan has
faced at least two of these beasts, in “Iron Shadows in the Moon” and The Hour of the Dragon
respectively: a closer study of these fascinating animals could make a full article in
themselves. Although the two individuals Conan encounters are highly aggressive, it’s
possible that this is a result of misplacement and mistreatment, and that they are more
docile in their natural habitat. In an interesting precedent of Howard predicting
palaeontological discoveries, there is prehistoric precedent for gigantic apes in Asia: ten-
foot tall Gigantopithecus, the largest ape yet discovered, roamed what is now India, China
and Vietnam in the Pleistocene.
Khitai is home to some unusual flora, the most infamous of which is the Black Lotus. The
Black Lotus is used in a variety of circumstances: the pollen induces visions of the past,
the juice is deadly, and the dust is used to commune with dark forces. Although Taurus claims
that the Black Lotus grows only in the jungles of Khitai, there are examples of it being
found growing in other climes: blossoms grow in the jungle alongside the Zarkheba river, in
dark pits of Xuthal, and even in the unnatural light of Xuchotl. It is possible Taurus is
mistaken, and that he simply has not heard of Black Lotuses growing outside Khitai, but it
seems hard to imagine the Prince of Thieves to be so ignorant of such a matter. A more likely
explanation is that the Black Lotus has been exported to those places from outside Khitai,
either with the Proto-Stygian migrations and the subsequent foundations of Xuthal and
Tlazitlan Xuchotl, or on a regular basis via the caravan routes.
The Living Tree of Death is rather more mysterious. The only thing known of this tree is that
the four Khitan exiles of “The Hour of the Dragon” possess “long, curiously mottled” staffs
which are cut from it, and possess unusual qualities. A single strike from the staff in the
Khitan sorcerers’ hands results in instant death, turning the bones gelid and flabby. They
can also be used to divine knowledge when used to trace symbols in the sand. They have the
uncanny suggestion of a life of their own, and even appear to writh slightly in their
bearer’s hands. All this suggests that the Living Tree of Death is some monstrous, terrible-
-possibly even sentient–tree, perhaps linked to the malevolent, intelligent oak which
accosts Kull on his road to the coast.
Religion
——–
There are three deities mentioned by Robert E. Howard present in Khitai: Yun, Yogah, and
Ishtar.
Yogah, also known as Yag-Kosha, is an extraterrestrial being from the planet Yag, who was
exiled from his home by its kings. When he was the last remaining of the outcasts, Yogah
dwelt in Khitai, worshipped by the locals. Since Yogah imparted white magic to Yara, it is
logical that he did this with the Khitans also, resulting in him being deified as a god of
knowledge, wisdom and magic. These folk may be the same priests who charm gray apes, and
induce them to dance to their pipes. Quite why or how they can do this is unclear: presumably
it is part of their mysterious rites, perhaps taught to them by Yogah himself.
It isn’t clear how the Khitans reacted to Yara’s kidnapping of Yogah: one would assume that
they would be dismayed at this act of iconoclasm, but even with Yogah’s white magic, they may
have been unable to stop Yara with both his own dark powers and those of the enslaved,
unwilling Yogah against them.
The other major Khitan deity is Yun. Little is known of his nature, save that of his
worshippers. Priests of Yun are known to shave their heads, and dwell in the lost jungles of
Khitai. It is possible that the Priests of Yun and the worshippers of Yogah are one and the
same, and that Yun is Yogah/Yag-Kosha himself: both the gods and the worshippers are located
in “lost jungles” and are described as “yellow-skulled”–which could be synonymous with
shaven headed. Another possibility is that Yun is a separate being from Yag, but also a
benevolent deity. Howard used the name “Yun” in many of his modern stories: Yun Shatu, Yun
Kang, Yun Chei, Yun Lai Kao. The name translates to “cloud” in Chinese, which has relatively
friendly and benign connotations.
However, another possibility is that the two are different deities, and that Yun is more
sinister in nature. The priests of Yun are explicitly associated with the black lotus–no
good ever comes of that hellish bloom. Similarly, the four exiles of The Hour of the Dragon
are very different in temperament from the friendly, kindly Khitans Yogah spoke of, and they
too are found “starving in the jungles” as exiles of their kingdom–likely a result of
falling afoul of powerful foes. However, there’s no indication that the four outcasts are Yun
worshippers. I can see a case for and against both interpretations of Yun.
There is a third named deity associated with Khitai, and it is a surprising one. In “Marchers
of Valhalla,” we learn that Ishtar–a goddess more associated with the Shemites than with the
Khitans–lived in Khitai for a space:
“Then Poseidon wearied of Lemuria and of Atlantis. He rose and shook his foaming mane, and
his white steeds raced over the alls and the spires and the crimson towers. But he lifted me
gently on his bosom and bore me to a far land, where for many centuries I dwelt among a
strange and kindly race.
“Then in an evil day I went upon a galley from distant Khitai, and in a hurricane it sank off
this accursed coast.”
“Marchers of Valhalla”
This certainly puts a new spin on the development of Ishtar worship. It seems likely that
Ishtar worship was exported east, perhaps in the wake of the Proto-Stygians. Eventually the
Zhemri/Sons of Shem discover Ishtar, and adopt her into their pantheon. By Conan’s time,
Ishtar is second only to Mitra in the western Hyborian nations, being sworn by Zingarans,
Ophireans, Kothians and others. Since Ishtar is one and the same with the Ishtar of the
Assyrians–as well as Ashtoreth, Derketo, Isis, Astarte, Freya, Aphrodite and venus,
associations noted by Joseph Campbell and Donald A. Mackenzie–it follows that the similar
goddesses of the Hyborian Age are also faces of Ishtar. This is an intriguing parallel with
another, darker deity in Howardian cosmology: the Black Master, also known as Sathanas,
Beelzebub, Apolleon, Ahriman and Malik Tous. Perhaps she survives into later Chinese
mythology as a Khitan ancestor of Mazu, the goddess of the sea, or Nüwa the creator-goddess.
Apart from Yun, Yogah and Ishtar, there are an indeterminate number of other Khitan deities,
whose appearance is alien and perverse to a western Hyborian mind. None of these are named,
though it can be presumed that they are of lesser importance than the three named deities.
Culture
——-
It’s pretty obvious that Howard intended Khitai to resemble China: Khitan is the root word
for Catai, and anglicized as Cathay, an archaic synonym for China. The Khitans were a
significant ethnos of ancient and medieval Asia, giving rise to the Kara-Khitan Khanate, and
are mentioned in Howard’s historical adventure “Red Blades of Black Cathay.”
Khitan music appears to be dominated by bells, chimes and pipes. Khitan temple bells in
particular are noted for their powerful, somber tones. Khitan chimes are rich and vibrant,
and very appealing to hear. While bells and pipes are used in religious ceremonies, it’s
likely that they are also played for entertainment and other activities. It is possible that
these instruments were analogues of the traditional Bianzhong (bronze bells) and bianqing
(stone chimes) of ancient China. The pipes which charmed the Gray Apes may have been a
Hulusi, Sheng, Lusheng, or any of a great variety of Chinese wind instruments.
Khitan’s art is probably centred around jade and silks. Since Jade is a major export of
Khitai, it follows that jade is used much in the home country: in architecture, jewelry,
talismans, ornamentation, perhaps even burial suits like those made during the Han Dynasty.
The believed medicinal and magical qualities of Jade would also make it a highly prized
medicine or ingredient for magic. Considering the unusual bountifulness of silk in the
Hyborian Age–where Stygian and Hyrkanian peasants were silk–indicates that even then,
Khitan silk was of high value. If the boast of Khitan silk being indestructible has some
truth in it, then it would be highly prized for its longevity and quality.
Khitai appears to be one of the major proponents of sorcery and magical studies. This is not
surprising, considering Khitai was the original home of the proto-Stygians, and that the
Vendhyan Hadrathus considers the wizards of the east to be greater than those of the west.
Western sorcerers such as the Zamorian Yara and the Nemedian Orastes have travelled there,
and at least one Khitan sorcerer travelled to Stygia, showing that the fraternity of
sorcerers is universally inclusive. It is likely that sorcerers from other nations such as
Vendhya also travel to Khitai for learning. Given that the dangerous and exotic nature of the
many Lotus variants used by sorcerers and thieves is primarily found in Khitai, it is logical
that this is one of the major reasons the nation is a centre of such arts.
Trade
—–
“I’ve looted enough from the Khitan caravans to know what I’m talking about,” he asserted.
“That’s jade!”
Red Nails
There is evidence of Khitai being a fairly open and approachable nation when it comes to
international trade. Caravans carrying distinctive Khitan jade and Khitan silk rugs are found
regularly traversing the eastern desert routes, and an be found as far west as the deserts
around Khauran and the jungles south of Stygia. Conan himself has looted many such caravans,
presumably during his days as a Zuagir, Afghuli or Kozak bandit.
In addition to caravans, Khitai may well have command of a trading fleet. The galley which
bore Ishtar sank in what is now Texas: its final destination must have been even further.
This is an incredible distance for a galley to travel, something only able and confident
sailors could accomplish. It is unclear exactly when in the Hyborian Age “Marchers of
Valhalla” takes place, but whenever that voyage took place, it suggests Khitai was a strong
presence in the Eastern Ocean throughout.
A third Khitan export is more exclusive, and likely not to be traded among the common market
stalls: Black Lotus. The dust of the Black Lotus has been seen as far apart as the Castle of
Yimsha and Belverus, to the Thief-City of Zamora and Stygia, suggesting this to be a trade
commodity to the sorcerously minded. There may also be gardens of the blossom on a sorcerer’s
grounds, with seeds or whole plants carefully transported from the Khitan jungles, and
nurtured as a source of magical ingredients.
People
——
“Valerius summoned before him four men of curious and alen aspect. They were tall, gaunt, of
yellowish skin, and immobile countenances. They were very similar in appearance, clad alike
in long black robes beneath which their sandaled feet were just visible. Their features were
shadowed by their hoods. They stood before Valerius with their hands in their wide sleeves.”
Like the Hyrkanians, the Khitans are Lemurian diaspora, likely to have been enslaved by the
proto-Stygians.
According to The Tower of the Elephant, Yogah considered the people of Khitai to be “kindly
jungle-folk”. This matches the description of the race Ishtar dwelt among in “Marchers of
Valhalla,” who were “strange and kindly.” The contrast between these alluded Khitans and
those we meet in The Hour of the Dragon is intriguing: while they may look similar, they are
much more sinister in aspect and demeanour.
Khitai also seems to be fairly hospitable to foreigners: Conan visited Khitai at an undefined
point in his life, as did the Aquilonian nobleman Valerius: Belesa even considered making a
new life for herself and Tina in Khitai. While far away from her homeland, Khitai seems
civilized and welcoming enough to Belesa for her to consider it her new home.
