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Hong Liwei: "Th-thank you. They knew I was an ally to the Brotherhood and locked me away."
Shao Jun: "I can't believe you survived. And I should be thanking you. I never could've escaped from the inner palace without your help back then..."
—Hong Liwei and Shao Jun, as she rescued him from the Maijishan Grottoes, 1526.[src]-[m]

Hong Liwei (洪立威) was a low-rank eunuch of the Forbidden City who taught calligraphy to the Zhengde Emperor's concubines. He was also secretly an informant and ally of the Chinese Brotherhood of Assassins.

Biography[]

In the early 16th century, Hong Liwei worked at the Forbidden City in Beijing, where he taught calligraphy to the Zhengde Emperor's young concubines, including Shao Jun, whom the eunuch was particularly fond of.[1]

In 1510, during one of his lessons, Liwei heard a disturbance outside and gathered the girls to go and observe the commotion. Outside, they witnessed the public execution of Liu Jin, a traitorous eunuch who had been sentenced to lingchi ("death by a thousand cuts").[2]

In 1521, Wang Yangming, the Mentor of the Chinese Assassins, ordered a retreat of all of the Brotherhood's allies from the Forbidden City in response to the Eight Tigers' takeover of the Imperial court.[3] Liwei helped Shao Jun to escape the palace,[4] but was caught shortly after by soldiers led by the Tiger Wei Bin.[1]

Aware of Liwei's association with the Brotherhood, the Tigers had him imprisoned in the Maijishan Grottoes, a former Assassin stronghold which the Templars had converted into a secret prison.[4] There, he was tortured for the following five years, until Shao Jun, now an Assassin, found him in 1526. After eliminating a crossbowman who held the key to his cell, Shao Jun gave the key to Liwei, allowing him to escape.[5]

As he made his way out of the Maijishan Grottoes, Liwei was found by Wang Yangming, who had travelled there to pick up Shao Jun following her assassination of the Tiger Gao Feng. Yangming allowed the eunuch to ride with him in his carriage and, after picking up Shao Jun, Liwei thanked both Assassins for saving him. The trio then headed to a village housing several surviving Assassin allies, who looked after Liwei.[2]

Behind the scenes[]

Hong Liwei was originally introduced as a minor character in the 2015 video game Assassin's Creed Chronicles: China. His role was significantly expanded in the game's 2019 manga adaptation, Assassin's Creed: Blade of Shao Jun, which explores more of his history with Shao Jun, as well as his fate following his rescue from the Maijishan Grottoes.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Non-canonical appearances[]

References[]

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