Faction trivia: Yan

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• Yan is a parallel to mainland China, specifically the Tang dynasty which is regarded as the apex of the Chinese civilization. The name itself means "flame" in Chinese which refers to the Flame Emperor (Hanzi: 炎帝; Pinyin: Yán Dì), one of the legendary ancestors of the Yanhuang tribe that gave rise to the Han Chinese.
• The war between the "deities" and the Emperor of Yan might be a reference to the Battle of Zhuolu.
• The names and references of Yan's government branches are borrowed from those in Imperial China, mainly from the Tang era:
  • The major government body of Yan is obviously based on the Three Departments and Six Ministries (Hanzi: 三省六部) during the Tang and Song dynasties. Since there is a full list for it, the Arknights Terra Wiki will list out all of them despite being not fully elaborated in-game.
  • The officials ranking system of Yan is obviously based on the nine-ranking system and eighteen divisions (Hanzi: 九品十八阶), the government division system that is used throughout Chinese history since the Song dynasty.
  • The Censorate (Hanzi: 御史台) is named after the eponymous government agency that was first established during the Qin dynasty.
  • The Central Judicial Office (Hanzi: 大理寺) is named after the Court of Judicature and Revision.
  • The Department of Discipline and Supervision/Anti-Corruption Bureau (Hanzi: 肃政院) could be a reference of the Left and Right Censorates (Hanzi: 左右肃政台), division branches of the original Censorate that were established during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian.
• Some places of Yan are references to the diverse Han Chinese culture and China's enormous yet unique landscapes.
  • Jiangqi might be a reference to the State of Qi and the Qilu culture in modern Shandong.
  • Kou-wu might be a reference to the State of Wu and the Wuye culture in modern Jiangnan region. Mount Hui-ch'i is a Wu Chinese rendering of Mount Kuaiji in Zhejiang.
  • Historical geographical terms have been used as well such as Jiangnan and Saibei.
• The Chamber of Heaven's Designs is obviously Terra's analogue of the Great Wall of China.
• The interchangeable use of the older Wade-Giles romanization and the modern Pinyin romanization is prevalent in many transliterations for Yanese regions, names and places with the former emphasizing ancient settings or dialectic regions (especially those relating to the Southern Chinese dialects/variants) and the latter on modern settings, Mandarin regions, and bureaucrats' names.
  • As a matter of fact, before the Dossoles Holiday update in the EN server, Yan's name was romanized as Yen which is its Wade-Giles version.