World Building
Sep. 8th, 2013 04:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
d_a_renoirI've been taking world-building for granted, apparently. At first the idea seemed simple. Steampunk Sengoku Japan. Shouldn't be too hard, no?
WRONG.
griswaldterrastone.deviantart.com/art/How-to-Create-Your-Own-World-344907941
That link gave me much to think about. Not entirely a bad thing, though. Technology shapes a culture. If a nation had high-end steam tech available to them, what would their opinion on others be like?
The realization first hit me when I read a book about Europeans in Japan in the Sengoku era and I saw that it mentioned the straits of Malacca.
The Portuguese entered Japan around the same time they started roughing up South East Asia.
It was a shame that I actually forgot that because it makes me feel so unpatriotic, but I was not very good with history back at school and I only remembered the Dutch colonization because it lasted longer and left a lot of relics and buildings that are still around to this day. I have NO IDEA if the Portuguese ever left anything in places easily-accessible to me and I haven't bothered to check (again, shame on me).
This was the colonization period. This is the time when the Europeans got out to the world and colonize people. Because... they think they're better than you. And fight each other a lot back in Europe, apparently.
This was when I started taking even more issue with having steampunk existing in the time of Sengoku Japan. Unless EVERY nation and tribe in the world somehow had access to steampunk, or at least localized version of the tech, the Europeans would've steamrolled countries India and the South Americas and South East Asia with that tech. Even though I'm writing about Sengoku Japan and those other countries hardly have anything to do with Japan, it still matter to ME personally. I do not like the idea of my home country being wrecked because the locals of that time stood no chance against the European invaders. They could hardly stand ground in reality, and they would be even less capable of fighting back if they have higher tech.
That being said, I also realized that steampunk doesn't have to be weaponry-related. Which means that the warfare WOULDN'T be affected, but the daily life and culture COULD have been affected. Looking at the history of steam engines, the only era-appropriate tech available at the time are: 1) A steam turbine uses to rotate spit made by an Arab, 2) a European steam-powered pipe organ, and 3) a steam mechanism to open temple doors dating back to the 1st century. Then there's Da Vinci's designs that were never tested (as far as anyone knows anyway).
This still means I have to think a lot about the culture. How would these people present themselves? Would the steam engines be powerful enough to power an airship? Wouldn't this... you know, mean that the locals MIGHT think of them as gods because they fell from the sky and THIS WOULD BE BAD??? The Catholics probably wouldn't take the praise, but what about the non-priests? The ones that landed in Japan aren't all priests and friars!!! What if their ego went sky high and decided to try to enslave the Japanese too? That is not a very nice thought.
Of course, then there's Nobunaga. The guy who doesn't believe in gods and was reported to say he would kill gods if they get in the way. Give him steampunk and he'd flatten Japan in a heartbeat. That is also a scary thought. I have NO idea what his ambitions were because too many sources conflict. Some portray him as simply wanting to end the endless wars by becoming conqueror of all. Fight a war to end all wars. But others reported that midway through he got ambitious and wanted to go after China and Korea too. Hideyoshi, his successor, supposedly made the invasions in honour of his late masters wishes or something.
This is getting complex quick. But all it boils down is the question of "how much tech is available" because without that, I cannot decide what the culture of the time would be like and what would happen. See the above airship thing. No airship --> The Portuguese would interact with local Japanese like normal. airships --> potentially venerated as god --> big mess happens --> history is altered --> even more complicated! Help!
WRONG.
griswaldterrastone.deviantart.com/art/How-to-Create-Your-Own-World-344907941
That link gave me much to think about. Not entirely a bad thing, though. Technology shapes a culture. If a nation had high-end steam tech available to them, what would their opinion on others be like?
The realization first hit me when I read a book about Europeans in Japan in the Sengoku era and I saw that it mentioned the straits of Malacca.
The Portuguese entered Japan around the same time they started roughing up South East Asia.
It was a shame that I actually forgot that because it makes me feel so unpatriotic, but I was not very good with history back at school and I only remembered the Dutch colonization because it lasted longer and left a lot of relics and buildings that are still around to this day. I have NO IDEA if the Portuguese ever left anything in places easily-accessible to me and I haven't bothered to check (again, shame on me).
This was the colonization period. This is the time when the Europeans got out to the world and colonize people. Because... they think they're better than you. And fight each other a lot back in Europe, apparently.
This was when I started taking even more issue with having steampunk existing in the time of Sengoku Japan. Unless EVERY nation and tribe in the world somehow had access to steampunk, or at least localized version of the tech, the Europeans would've steamrolled countries India and the South Americas and South East Asia with that tech. Even though I'm writing about Sengoku Japan and those other countries hardly have anything to do with Japan, it still matter to ME personally. I do not like the idea of my home country being wrecked because the locals of that time stood no chance against the European invaders. They could hardly stand ground in reality, and they would be even less capable of fighting back if they have higher tech.
That being said, I also realized that steampunk doesn't have to be weaponry-related. Which means that the warfare WOULDN'T be affected, but the daily life and culture COULD have been affected. Looking at the history of steam engines, the only era-appropriate tech available at the time are: 1) A steam turbine uses to rotate spit made by an Arab, 2) a European steam-powered pipe organ, and 3) a steam mechanism to open temple doors dating back to the 1st century. Then there's Da Vinci's designs that were never tested (as far as anyone knows anyway).
This still means I have to think a lot about the culture. How would these people present themselves? Would the steam engines be powerful enough to power an airship? Wouldn't this... you know, mean that the locals MIGHT think of them as gods because they fell from the sky and THIS WOULD BE BAD??? The Catholics probably wouldn't take the praise, but what about the non-priests? The ones that landed in Japan aren't all priests and friars!!! What if their ego went sky high and decided to try to enslave the Japanese too? That is not a very nice thought.
Of course, then there's Nobunaga. The guy who doesn't believe in gods and was reported to say he would kill gods if they get in the way. Give him steampunk and he'd flatten Japan in a heartbeat. That is also a scary thought. I have NO idea what his ambitions were because too many sources conflict. Some portray him as simply wanting to end the endless wars by becoming conqueror of all. Fight a war to end all wars. But others reported that midway through he got ambitious and wanted to go after China and Korea too. Hideyoshi, his successor, supposedly made the invasions in honour of his late masters wishes or something.
This is getting complex quick. But all it boils down is the question of "how much tech is available" because without that, I cannot decide what the culture of the time would be like and what would happen. See the above airship thing. No airship --> The Portuguese would interact with local Japanese like normal. airships --> potentially venerated as god --> big mess happens --> history is altered --> even more complicated! Help!
