#but it gets complicated once korea gets taken over by silla like where does north korea go? apparently he just stays put but doesn't really

[mysticalmusicwhispers]

Imo Kiku wondered if Yao predicted his rise; as he grew he felt increasingly sure he did. Cuz Yao was keen to point out his flaws relative to Korea during "lessons." I hc that Korea got praised more often on seemingly easy tasks which irritated little Kiku. But as an adult he's like "old man liked me less because I had the traits to rival him," so after conquering Korea he'd mock him about it; said Yao liked him because he was weak. After all, it was highly plausible. The sentiment remains 2day.

Prev

ooh this is interesting! I can see that happening but I think the timeline might be a little off? I think Kiku would’ve been taking “lessons” from Yao until like 1000-ish AD/CE when relations cooled and official ties were cut, but Korea (I’m going with the theory that Silla = Im Yong Soo and Goguryeo = North Korea’s personification) wasn’t really officially “under” China until ~700 CE ish (when Silla conquered the Korean peninsula with Tang Chinese help, and then drove out the Chinese army that was planning to squash Silla). So imo they only spent a small-ish period of time together; however if we’re going with the interpretation that Kiku was at Yao’s house even after 1000 AD (because unofficial trade and all that continued) or Korea was at Yao’s before 700 AD (because of the trade and cultural borrowing stuff) I can see that happening: Korea being more obedient and “enthusiastic” to borrow stuff from China and “learn” from him than Kiku. Or maybe Kiku thinks they’re all equally eager, but somehow China sees Korea through rose tinted glasses, and favors him/them unfairly. Definitely with you on how a younger Kiku (idk what’s his age at this point, maybe like 10-13? sksk opinions welcome) would be eager for praise (especially from his most powerful neighbor) and the satisfaction/acknowledgement that comes from Yao’s approval of his society and civilization. The whole thing ties into how you mentioned earlier that Japan looked up to Yao as a model of sophistication and therefore wanted his approval and favor in that respect.

Also 100% yes @ the point of how Kiku justifies Yao’s treatment of him after, warping it to make himself seem more powerful. Also goes along with how Kiku has shed Yao’s influence fully, since he doesn’t care anymore about if Yao approves, and mocks Korea for Yao’s approval of him/them. I also saw something about how Imperial Japan saw the Korean peninsula as a rabbit vs the Koreans seeing it as a tiger and that also goes along with Korea’s perceived weakness.

But I don’t know enough about how Japan (ie Japanese citizens) sees South Korea today to comment about that sentiment persisting. From the bits of reading I did, it seems that it would be accurate because the Japanese superiority complex over Asia seems to be pretty prominent :|||||||| (apparently there’s a phrase “so stupid a Korean can do it”?), but I’m not sure if that’s just in the older generations or throughout Japanese society.

FACT CHECKS VERY WELCOME for any part of this

Also some additional reading for Ancient Chinese/Korean and Ancient Chinese/Japanese r/ships because I’m going to forget where I got the information from later

Edit: also I can definitely see Kiku being like “hmm did Yao know I was going to be this strong someday?” Because, honestly, Yao probably did. but just brushed the thought off until it was too late. So it’s very clever for Kiku to realize that, but it also shows some of his feelings of superiority I think. Him thinking that he’s the golden child (bad metaphor but it’ll do for now) and thinking that Yao saw himself, an empire, mirrored in Kiku, and therefore trying to push him down and belittle him to prevent it. V in character for Kiku.