Category:Khitan



Khitan ''"What do you wish of me?" he stuttered."A ship," answered the Khitan. "A ship well manned for a very long voyage.""For how long a voyage?" stammered Publio, never thinking of refusing."To the ends of the world, perhaps," answered the Khitan, "or to the molten seas of hell that lie beyond the sunrise." -The hour of the Dragon''

To most Hyborians Khitai is an alien land with unfathomable people. Even the Turanians find them unnervingly inscrutable. The people in general are called ‘kindly’ by Yag-Kosha but the few who leave Khitai to wander the West are rarely described so generously.

Khitai is an insular kingdom; few ever leave it. The common people are taught that the cheng-li, the white people who live outside the Great Wall, are cannibals. Their first reaction to such people is likely to be fear. The ones who do leave are scholars and sorcerers. That they are yellow-skinned worshippers of bizarre gods and demons is not to be doubted, however. Their eyes have a typical Oriental look and their hair is dark.

Little is known about the Khitan, and they have a reputation as mysterious, secretive creatures, which only adds to their reputation as sorcerers.

The priests have their heads shaven. The knowledge and traditions of these people are esoteric and ancient. They have a taste for spectacle and tradition. The Khitan people are also noted for being extremely knowledgeable and wise, well-versed in ancient lore and folk-tales.

Description
The Khitan complexion carries a slightly yellow tinge leading to some westerners terming the Khitans ‘The Yellow Men’. In the north of Khitai, the complexion is lighter; in the south of the country the skin is darker and almost bronzed. As Khitans age, their skin develops impressively deep lines and wrinkles which, amongst the southern Khitans, creates a leathery appearance to the skin.

Hairstyles are commonly used to denote rank and station.

All Khitans have dark, straight hair that grows luxuriantly, particularly in the north. The color ranges from very dark brown through to raven-black. Hair is traditionally worn long in both sexes but neatly tied and secured with a variety of fixings (plaits, crossed sticks, ribbons and so forth). Beards are seen as somewhat uncouth in polite Khitan society although moustaches are considered to lend gravitas and importance. Amongst the learned classes it is common to shave the forehead into a tonsure; removing the hair laterally back to the crown and then wearing long hair plaited to hang down the back. Hairstyles are commonly used to denote rank and station, with the highest placed in society possessing the most elaborate hair arrangements.

In their general outlook Khitans are open, as honest as their station entitles them to be and fond of laughter at the right times. Despite their aloof demeanor and almost painful attention to courtesy, Khitans can be welcoming and good company but maintain a calm reserve when the situation demands it. They are not prone to irrational outbursts or violent rages. Khitan anger manifests itself as a short rebuke followed by a dignified withdrawal. Khitan happiness is the abundant use of sly wit, subtle jokes as dry as the desert sands and a playful chiding that echoes the earthy humor of the monkeys in the jungles. Vulgarity and lewdness is disdained but every Khitan harbors a bawdy streak that emerges slowly in the right company and circumstances.

Clothing
The people dress in long, high-necked silk jackets and embroidered trousers. The women fix their hair in complicated coifs. Swords are forbidden to the common people, so they have learned to fight bare-handed in amazing flurries of violence, using esoteric techniques handed down through familial lines.

All examples of Khitan clothing are characterized by wide and voluminous sleeves and a very loose fit. The tunic and trousers (or tunic and skirt), use the very minimum number of stitches for the amount of cloth used.

The nobles dress similarly but their dress is made out of more elaborate materials. Silk and cotton are common materials for clothing. Nobles wear ceremonial articles and personal ornaments of exquisite craftsmanship, usually in designs such as coiled dragons, trumpeting elephants, charging tigers and crouching bears.

Darker colors are preferred to lighter shades, so the main color of high-ranking and ceremonial clothing tends to be dark with bright, elaborate tapestry designs and ornamentation used to offset the darker colors. Lighter colors are worn by the common people and peasantry but sometimes by the higher orders household use. The Khitans associate certain colors with specific seasons: green represents spring, red symbolizes summer, white represents autumn and black symbolizes winter.

Behavior and Notable Oddities
Jade - Jade is especially valuable to the Khitans. It is, to them, the essence of heaven and Earth combined. Almost all items used in Khitan rituals are made from jade. It is more valuable than gold. If the Emperor sends a noble or scholar on a royal mission or duty, he often gives the noble or scholar a certain jade tablet to prove that he doing divinely charged work. Nobles often inscribe orders to their officials on bronze bowls. Great military or diplomatic conquests are likewise commemorated in bronze.

Etiquette - The demonstration of position within society is immediately apparent through bearing, dress, quality of residence and the language spoken. Lower positions within a class must always defer to higher positions and lower classes must always defer to higher ones in all matters. Lower orders must always bow to the higher ranks and when in the presence of the God Emperor (a rare occurrence), everyone must prostrate themselves until the God Emperor gives permission to rise. Lower classes are forbidden to openly disagree with the opinions and decisions of a higher class, no matter what the consequences might be.

Lower classes are forbidden to openly disagree with the opinions and decisions of a higher class.

The appropriate etiquette for handling disagreements is to lodge a formal spoken or written petition with someone of a higher rank than the person with whom one disagrees. A petition outlines the disagreement, formulates the reasons, proposes the alternative argument and proposes a solution. If the arbitrator of the petition agrees with the petitioner, he can, if he wishes, overturn or overrule a judgment. If he does not, then the petitioner must accept the situation and is forbidden to argue the case further. It is thus rare for Khitans to argue or disagree in public, creating a sense of a highly polite, ordered, society. In reality, Khitans disagree as vehemently as any other society but their methods of expression are very different, even if the emotions behind them are the same as anywhere else.

Courtesy - Courtesy is of prime importance to the Khitan. Even the lowliest peasant is entitled to a certain degree of courtesy from his betters and this is what the Khitans believe places them above the uncultured savages of the west.

Courtesy is of prime importance to the Khitan.

Justice - All Khitans believe in justice, which is not the same as freedom or equality. Justice is the justice of the Ancestors, which means receiving that to which one is entitled according to one’s station and through one’s deeds. Justice is therefore predicated on expecting no more and no less than one’s entitlement. Denying what a man is entitled to is injustice; denying one’s position is unjust. The Khitan notion of justice includes the concept of hospitality but precludes charity. A good and just Khitan is hospitable to anyone who comes to his house or who seeks help; but hospitality does not automatically grant entitlement. A peasant seeking refuge in the house of a noble will be welcomed but will be given a stable floor to sleep on, bread to eat and water to drink. It is not the peasant’s right to expect more but neither is he expected to accept anything less.

Foreigners - Foreigners and viewed with suspicion and disdain. Every Khitan knows that foreigners brought disaster to the world and that Khitai was blameless. While all around was chaos and savagery, Khitai retained its civilization and developed it. Foreigners, particularly Westerners, might have worked hard to attain some semblance of civilization but they remain little better than barbarians, for all their wealth and pretensions towards culture and learning.

Religion

 * Ancestor Veneration
 * Demon and Spirit Worship
 * Khitan Pantheon
 * Yun
 * Yogah
 * Cheng-Ho

The Khitans hold to many strange beliefs and bizarre superstitions. One example is the legend that death must answer any question put to her by a man with courage enough to grasp and hold her. Khitan temples serve as sorcerous schools, teaching knowledge of all sorts. The emphasis on music in Khitan temples suggests some form of shamanism. The worship of Yogah of Yag also indicates that the Khitans like to worship beings they feel are real.

The Khitans believe the universe has three interconnected divisions: the heavens, the earth and the underworld. Each person has two souls: one soul is forever linked to his descendants and the other goes into the underworld after death to continue life. Much of Khitan worship revolves around ancestor veneration, spirit and demon worship and blood sacrifices. Khitans believe that any serious request of the gods, spirits or demons must be accompanied by blood. Also, music plays a large role in their sorcerous religious rites.

The sorcerers of Khitai probably summon to the earth their dark gods so that they can be worshipped in person. In many of the stories, cities founded by easterners have dark gods living in nameless pits. Salome, in A Witch Shall Be Born, is educated in Khitai and when she takes over Khauran conjures up Thaug to put in a temple, conducting sacrificial rituals to appease it. As more and more demons are summoned and worshipped, the pantheon grows and becomes ever more complex. Worship The spirits and demons of the underworld, the kuei, are worshipped as gods in Khitai. Kuei take many forms and have many powers. In the Khitan view, there is no such thing as good or evil where the kuei are concerned: they are what they are and are defined by the ordering of the cosmos. It is accepted that worshipping the kuei is to effectively trade in dark powers.

Magic enchanted by demons is common practice among the Khitan.

The Khitan pantheon, rumored to host more than nine thousand gods, is mysterious to the lands of the West. Doubtless even the strange, shaven headed priests of Paikang who talk to faceless demons in the lost jungles know the names of all nine thousand gods, so only a few are discussed below.

Cheng-Ho – Cheng Ho is the moon-goddess of Khitai.

Yogah – Yogah is a strange, elephant-headed star-being from green-breasted Yag who dreams in the great blue vastness of Space. His memory is worshipped still as a god in Khitai. He is probably a god of magic and sorcerous knowledge.

Yun – Yun is the main god worshipped in the jungle temples. Shaven headed priests conduct his ceremonies using the music of chimes and bells.

Government
Khitai is ruled by a God-Emperor as part of a dynasty. The last known dynasty is the Yah Dynasty. Khitan society is highly stratified. The position of one’s birth is generally set for life although, in some exceptional circumstances, mobility between ranks is possible, if an individual impresses the right people and distinguishes himself in some way. The governmental system in Khitai is similar to that of the Hyborian nations in that it is feudal but instead of being built around the manor the city-state is the basic political unit in Khitai.

Beneath the emperor are the nobles, or Zhuhou. The nobles are ranked as follows: Gong (prince) swear Allegiance to the God Emperor and are required to follow his edicts and support the emperor with an army if desired; mingong or kung (duke); hou (marquis); peh (earl); bo (count); tszi (viscount); and nan (baron). If a noble actually governs a place, the place name is also in his title.

The eldest son of a consort inherits the title from his father, retaining the same rank. Other sons of consorts, as well as from concubines and mistresses, are given titles one rank lower than their fathers. These nobles rarely have a place name in their titles. Dukes are required to render assistance to the emperor in an emergency. Many of these titles are granted for military merits, not blood-line merits. Thus it is easier for a Khitan to multi-class into noble than it is for most people. Nobles practice horsemanship and military skills by hunting. Like most Khitans, the nobles delight in ritual. The elite of Khitan society loves music, especially bells and chimes. The people honor familial relationships above all, using family to maintain social status distinctions.

Beneath the nobles are the gentry, the Oing. These are often court officials assigned to the nobles, generals (qingche duwei), commanders (qi duwei), officers (yunqiwei) and knights (enqiwei). The lesser sons of barons are also in this rank. Any member of the nobility or gentry can be called gongzi.

Ranking beneath the gentry are the gentlemen. The gentlemen, or Daifu, are often sages or physicians. Scholars with the Noble Blood feat are usually of this rank. Also, the lesser sons of the gentry are of this rank. Court officials assigned to the gentry are also members of this rank. Members of the Daifu may also be merchants and servants.

Below the gentlemen are the yeomen, or Shi, who are minor court officials assigned to the gentlemen, as well as the lesser sons of gentlemen. Often this rank is awarded to commoners who perform valorous deeds for the emperor or the kings. The Shi are farmers and craftsmen directed by the nobility. The farmers work land owned by the nobles and must give up a ninth of their produce to the government. The craftsmen make weapons, tools and clothing as directed by the nobility. Any female member of the nobility, save for the wives of the emperor or kings (who are called queens), may be called princess or gongzhu. She may also incorporate any place name she is associated with into her title. Even women can be become generals in Khitai culture. The spouse of a princess, unless he has a title of his own, is given the noble title of fuma.

Economy
Khitan caravans trade with Kusan, Turan, Stygia, Meru, Vendhya and Iranistan. Their caravans are loaded with jade, cloth-of-gold, silk, lotus blossoms, domesticated jungle animals, gold, silver, spices, charms, amulets, porcelain figures and vases and many other works of Oriental art.

These caravans and a few exiled Khitans are Khitai’s only contact with the West. Khitan steel is weak, so quality steel may be something the Khitans seek in trade. Evidence also exists that Khitai is a powerful maritime nation and has visited the Unknown West. Khitai’s economy is based on slavery, silk and bronze.

Common Professions:
 * Alchemist
 * Jade smith
 * Scholar
 * Soldier
 * Sorcerer/mystic

Sex Roles and Marriage
Khitai has a more enlightened approach to the role of women than in many western nations. Whilst women are, traditionally (and certainly in the lower classes) mothers and home-makers and are expected to be deferential to men, they can achieve status and import of their own. The role of the woman in a family is to be gentle, calm, respectful and to obey her husband or father (depending if she were married or unmarried). No profession is closed to any Khitan woman, even the military ones and many learned scholars, bureaucrats and physicians are female. Women therefore enjoy an almost equal status to men and are more than mere chattels but there is no question that Khitai is a male dominated society.

However, life is cheap in Khitai and punishments for women are especially harsh and aimed at enforcing social compliance. Any girl who insults her parents is strangled; if she injures them with intent, then she is liable for torture and dismemberment.

Slavery
Slavery is common throughout Khitai. Slaves are either Khitans condemned to it as part of a punishment for crimes or are foreigners captured in battles against the Hyrkanians. Once, slaves were treated with a reasonable degree of respect but the rebellion by Lemurian slaves now means that all slaves are treated with contempt and suspicion.

Cruelty (beatings, poor rations and in many cases, sexual abuse) is common: slaves are property and not an especially highly valued property at that.

Only the Zhuhou and above may own slaves although the Han Diafur can be granted the permission to possess no more than one or two slaves by someone of the Zhuhou class. Despite the Khitan respect for justice, slaves are utterly denied either respect or courtesy. For a Khitan to become a slave is the ultimate in shame and he can expect to be completely disowned by his family and friends as a result.

Slaves are given a new name reflecting their station – and this well be something derogatory, focusing on a facial feature or particular habit. Some slaves are referred to simply as ‘Ono’ (the Low Mandir word for slave) without even the luxury of owning a name. For them to use their previous name is a transgression punishable by a beating. Given the slave economy, trade in slaves burgeons in Khitai.

The Shai-rida is the central slave market of Paikang with similar markets in Ruo-gen, Shu-chen and Shaulun. Here, slaves of all types are bought and sold: from the very young to the very old. Fit and healthy slaves are paraded, shackled at the ankles, their hands and heads bound in wooden halters, before the eager crowds. Good slaves fetch hundreds or thousands of sai; poor ones cost only a few dozen. Slaves are denied any access to justice and it is quite legal to kill a slave – although, given their cost, this is not an everyday occurrence.

Influences
Architectural influences: China during the Warring States period.

''Tip: The Khitan building pieces is the obvious choice for building khitan styled buildings. Wooden T2 pieces also look good when building fortresses, mixed with the T3 Khitan ones.''

More Information
RPGS:
 * Return to the Road of Kings (Khitai, p 135-139)
 * Faith and Fervour (Ancient Traditions in Khitai, p 54-57)
 * Khitai (whole book)