Li E bringing Yan Jiming and Chen Wu to the village
Mojia Village (墨家村) was a settlement nestled deep within the Taihang Mountains valley in Qinghe. It was established by the retired Tang general Pei Min. It was built on top of one of the secret vaults established by ancient Chinese Assassins that contained a vast armory for future Assassins for use against their enemies. Thus, Pei Min sought to use the village's remote location to safeguard the vault's contents and grant access to any possible xiake he may encounter.
History[]
At some point after 754, Li E, a former Tang soldier from the 7th Army of the Anxi Protectorate and the last Hidden One of the Great Desert, came to Mojia Village where he became a valued member of the community, befriending its inhabitants including Pei Min and his disciples, Jing Jing and Kong Kong.[1]
In 755, after Li E saved Yan Jiming, the son of Changshan Grand Protector Yan Gaoqing, and Jiming's elderly caretaker Chen Wu from guards sent by Boling Commandery's Grand Protector Zhang Wanqing, the Hidden One brought them to the village. While Chen Wu remained behind to recuperate from his injuries, Li E and Yan Jiming set out to the neighbouring counties to rally the loyalists against general An Lushan's army, the Yeluohe.[2] Jiming would never return as he and his father would be captured at the Battle of Changshan and were executed in Luoyang, while Li E was captured by the Golden Turtles' secret ally General Wang Chengye of the royal Feathered Forest guards and imprisoned in the Mengshan Giant Buddha to await execution.[3]
A year later, after escaping from prison, Li E returned to Mojia Village with the help of the poet Li Bai. There, he reunited with an emotional Pei Min and his disciples.[4] Seeking revenge against the Golden Turtles for their role in An Lushan's rebellion, Li E was granted access to the secret vault under the village by Pei Min. After donning the Heavenly King's Armor and equipping the spear used by Wei Yu and the Fish Belly Blade, Li E left the village with a recovered Chen Wu and made their way to Pingyuan Commandery to ally with Yan Gaoqing's cousin, Yan Zhenqing.[5]
Behind the scenes[]
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Pre-release character bio for Pei Min.
Mojia Village features in the manhua Assassin's Creed: Dynasty as a community guarding the Assassin tradition and the home of the protagonist Li E. As a term, Mòjiā (墨家; lit.'School of Mo') means Mohism, a classical Chinese philosophy named after its reputed founder Mozi. By coincidence, the surname Mo (墨) means 'ink', allowing for an alternative though normally erroneous translation of 'ink school'. Another translation could be 'the House of Mo'. Early promotional media for Assassin's Creed: Dynasty, like the character profile for Pei Min, showed that "Mohist" was clearly the intended meaning. Pei Min was there even referred to as a juzi (鉅子), a honorific title among Mohists.
However, by the time of Dynasty's release, all mentions to Mohism had been expunged apart from the village name. Additionally, in the ninth chapter, "Beacon Fire (Part 2)", Li E's companion Jing Jing describes his routine at the village as consisting of eight hours of ink-making. Inkmaking is therefore implied to be the central industry of the village. This coincidence initially appears to be a pun, but it may instead have been a means to indicate to readers that the village name Mojia does not mean "Mohist" as usual but a community of inkmakers. In the original Chinese text of the manhua, the intended meaning becomes ambiguous with the inclusion of this line. The official English translation by Tokyopop renders it Ink Village although the work as a whole is replete with numerous translation errors in the first place, so it is unclear if this is also an error.
Several elements of the story and character designs were cut, rewritten, or altered between the marketing period and the official release, sudden changes which may have coincided with the unannounced disappearance of one of the original authors Zhang Xiao (張肖). The implied change to the meaning of Mojia Village and the absence of any other mention of Mohism suggests a decision to remove a connection between Mohism and the Assassins in the final story draft. To err on the side of caution, this article retains the ambiguity by leaving the village name untranslated.