Avatar:Lady Tienhai
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"Yes, humankind falters every now and then, but you know how to learn from your past mistakes. You've done it before, and you can do it again. I believe that ultimately, you will create a civilization that preserves and protects even as it grows. Do you understand? The spirits will always have a place in this world, as long as you -- and humans like you -- create a place for us."
Lady Tienhai is a giant humanoid spirit who once tended to a seashore in what would later become Earth Kingdom territory under the watchful eye of her friend and protector, General Old Iron. She became the guardian of Tienhaishi, a city erected on that same shore, resulting in a rift between her and General Old Iron.[3] Afterward, Lady Tienhai took on a human form to venture into the city one night per year, but assumed it permanently after falling in love with the city's prince. Following her human death, she assumed the form of several cranefish which flew around her statue.[1]
Some residents of modern Republic City believe that Lady Tienhai still acts as guardian of the area, shielding the metropolis' harbor area.[4]
History
During or soon after the era of Raava, Lady Tienhai tended to the seashore of the Mo Ce Sea as if it was her garden.[3] When a tribe of humans appeared, she became fascinated with them and allowed them to flourish on the land, believing that while it was beautiful, it was stagnant, lacking character, and unchanging.[1] The spirit took on the role of their protector, entertaining their requests. When General Old Iron attempted to destroy the settlement out of fear for her safety, Lady Tienhai stopped him, forsaking her friendship with the spirit as a result. Over the course of thousands of years, the people prospered under her guardianship, with the city of Tienhaishi growing into the most powerful of its time.[3]
After General Old Iron left her, Lady Tienhai began her own tradition, venturing into Tienhaishi one night per year as a human, marveling at everything the settlers had created. On one visit, she met the city's prince and became enamored with his curiosity and endless energy, specifically in the making of machines, books, sculptures, and building designs. As a result of her budding love for the future king, Lady Tienhai gave up her immortality and assumed a permanent human form, living with him in happiness for many years. After her death, she took on the form of cranefish. Avatar Yangchen, in a deal with Old Iron, constructed a statue of Lady Tienhai on the hill overlooking the city and led the Air Nomads in a festival honoring her, which the peaceful people continued after Yangchen's death as Yangchen's Festival. As result of this deal, the city was abandoned against Lady Tienhai's original wishes.
In 102 AG, after Avatar Aang defeated General Old Iron in battle, Lady Tienhai appeared before him in her original form, emerging from one of the cranefish. She explained her mortal life to him and told him that spirits do not die, but instead take on new forms. Lady Tienhai corrected her old friend's belief, stating that human nature is to create rather than dominate. She assured the Avatar, saddened over his failure to protect the sacred ground her statue was on, that humanity knew how to learn from its past mistakes and that it would create a civilization that preserves and protects even as it grows. Reassuming her cranefish form, Lady Tienhai asked him if he understood that spirits would always have a place as long as he and humans like him created a place for them. Asked how she knew this would happen, the spirit simply stated her hope for such an occurrence.[1]
Legacy
Lady Tienhai's arguments ultimately contributed to Aang taking a more positive view of change; he would continue to aid the settlement which had emerged near the spirit's statue.[1] It would evolve into Cranefish Town[5] and later Republic City.[6] One cliff in the area was named "Lady Tienhai's Cliff" in her honor.[7] Some Republic City natives would attribute the resilience of their city's harbor area to the continued guardianship of Lady Tienhai.[4]
Personality
Tienhai had a positive attitude toward nature and humanity. She cared for the world and humanity, so much so that even her friendship with General Old Iron crumbled due to his antagonism toward humans. If she liked something, she protected it. Unlike Old Iron, she did not believe humans would destroy it. Tienhai revealed to Aang that she believed in humans, despite their constant failures. Humans, she said, did not destroy the world, but rather created things that would otherwise seem drab and characterless. He dispelled her doubts, and when asked how she could be so sure of her opinion, she replied that she did not know, but that she firmly believed it.[3][1]
Abilities
As a spirit, Tienhai was immortal and could transform temporarily or completely into a human, although at the cost of her immortality. She could also shift between a ghost form and a cranefish form, and also had an aura that "filled the world with [her] beauty".[3]
Appearances
Graphic novels
Trivia
- Lady Tienhai's name is a transliteration of two Chinese words (天海
(Tiānhǎi)) that mean "sky" and "ocean".[2] - Lady Tienhai is inspired by the Chinese goddess Mazu, sometimes called Tianhou, a goddess of the sea usually depicted with two guardian generals.[8]
- In appearance, she is also similar to Guanyin, a Buddhist deity known as the Bodhisattva of compassion.
- Lady Tienhai turning into cranefish has similarities to cranes' position in Chinese mythology, which are symbolically connected with the idea of immortality, and may be used to refer to transformed Taoist immortals, who sometimes were said to have magical abilities to transform into cranes.
- Lady Tienhai is the first known spirit to have died from natural causes.
- She also is the first and only spirit known to have fallen in love with and marry a human.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Avatar: The Last Airbender Comic: R3
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Avatar: The Last Airbender Comic: TRLE
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Avatar: The Last Airbender Comic: R2
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game. Republic City, Version 1.0, 2022, p. 28.
- ↑ Avatar: The Last Airbender Comic: I1
- ↑ Avatar: The Last Airbender, Book 2, Episode 101
- ↑ Avatar: The Last Airbender Comic: I2
- ↑ The Rift Library Edition, page 146.