Idea Developmet

So for my Visualisation project i chose to do the legendary scene from my favourite book Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It is the part where Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei make an oath of brotherhood in the peach gardens behind Zhang Fei's estate, this scene is briefly described in the book as:

"The man said, "My surname is Guan, my given name is Yu, my style name was Shouchang, but then I changed it to Yunchang. I am from Xieliang in the Hedong Commandery. Because there was a man from a wealthy family who was acting like a big shot and bullying everybody, I ended up killing him. I had to become a fugitive, and have been living the life of an itinerant mercenary for the past five or six years. When I heard that this area was recruiting soldiers to go smash bandit rebels, I came especially to join up." When Xuande told the man of his plans, Yunchang was overjoyed. They all went to Zhang Fei's estate to discuss these important matters.Fei said, "There is a peach garden in the rear of my estate, and the flowers are now in full bloom; tomorrow, we should conduct a sacrificial ceremony to heaven and earth. We three should become brothers, joining forces with a common purpose, and later we will be able to accomplish great deeds." Xuande and Yunchang both responded in unison, "An excellent idea!" The following day, they prepared sacrificial offerings such as a black bull and a white horse. The three of them all burned incense, and performed double obeisance. They all took an oath, saying, "When saying the names Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, although the surnames are different, yet we have come together as brothers. From this day forward, we shall join forces for a common purpose, and come to each other's aid in times of crisis. We shall avenge the nation from above, and pacify the citizenry from below. We seek not to be born on the same day, in the same month and in the same year. We merely hope to die on the same day, in the same month and in the same year. May the gods of heaven and earth attest to what is in our hearts. If we should ever do anything to betray our friendship, may the gods in heaven strike us dead." Having completed the oath, Xuande was declared to be eldest brother, followed by Guan Yu, with Zhang Fei as the most junior brother. They made thorough offerings to heaven and earth, and then butchered the bull. They also brought out some wine, and gathered together all of the brave men of the county. They recruited more than three hundred men, so they proceeded to get thoroughly drunk in the peach garden. The day after, they gathered their weapons, but became frustrated that they had no horses to ride."

This oath brought together the three key people in the Three Kingdoms story and effects the whole history of china, it has also inspired a lot from art to secret societies such as the triads. I often imagined what it would look like myself and there are many representations of it some of old Chinese art of the event and some of what it likely would have looked like as described in the book, which is what I am aiming for also. As a virtual environment it ca be used as an environment for any kind of media that would want a virtual backdrop as the story is still popular today. For example a movie has very recently been realised based on the battle of Chi-Bi called Battle of the Red Cliffs, it is China's big current movie realise, and so follow ups are going to be made if it proves successful and as well as that there are many, many depictions of the story ranging from T.V series, cartoon series and computer games which cold all use an environment for such an important part in one of China's most famous historical stories.