Liyue

Overview

Culture

History

This article is about the location. For the soundtrack, see Liyue (Soundtrack).

Liyue
City of Contracts

Emblem
In Game

World

Teyvat

Archon Quest

Chapter I

Associated Element

Info
Other Languages

Demonym	Adjectival
Liyue people^[1] People of Liyue^[2]	Liyue^[3]

Chinese Name

璃月 Líyuè

Japanese Name

璃月リーユエ Riiyue

Korean Name

리월 Riwol

璃리月월 Riwol

音讀 (음독, eumdok)
→ 璃 (리, ri)
→ 月 (월, wol)

A bountiful harbor that lies in the east of Teyvat. Mountains stand tall and proud alongside the stone forest, that, together with the open plains and lively rivers, make up Liyue's bountiful landscape, which shows its unique beauty through each of the four seasons. Just how many gifts from the Geo God lie in wait amongst the rocks of Liyue's mountains?

Liyue (/ˈliːjʉ̯ɛ/, /ˈliːɥɛ/) (Chinese: 璃月 Líyuè) is one of the seven nations in Teyvat. It is the city-state that worships Morax, the Geo Archon.

Access to Liyue is unlocked after completing the Archon Quest Prologue: Act I - The Outlander Who Caught the Wind.

Archon Quest Chapter I: Farewell, Archaic Lord takes place in this nation.

"The God of Contracts, senselessly slaughtered as his people watched on in horror. In the end, he will sign the contract to end all contracts."
Dainsleif, Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview: Travail^[4]

Areas

Subareas

Name	Description	Picture
Liyue Harbor	The establishment of the harbor kicked off Liyue's seafaring trade. As Teyvat's largest market harbor, the sheer amount of goods that flow to and from it is simply incomparable for other ports. Every year during the Lantern Rite you can see thousands of lanterns ascend into the night sky — a Liyue event that you can't afford to miss.
Mt. Tianheng	The pride of the mountain range that shelters Liyue Harbor from the west, acting as a natural shield against any enemies that may come that way. There are uncountable records of wars both big and small whereby enemies have been blocked by this barrier. As such you can still see ancient ruins of city walls, forts, and defensive structures. Liyue's earliest mining operations are also believed to have started in this area.
Dihua Marsh	A wetland area north of Liyue, gets its name from the silvergrass ("dihua" in the local language) that grows in the shallows of the marsh. The scrambling web of rivers has grown into a flourishing and widespread ecosystem full of flora and fauna — an awe-inspiring sight for travelers to the area. The area also acts as the road from Mondstadt to Liyue, and as such many merchant caravans choose to stop here to rest. Wangshu Inn stands within the area, a symbolic structure from all directions.
Wangshu Inn	A landmark within Dihua Marsh, built upon a massive stone pillar. As most of the patrons that stop here are traveling merchants, the inn provides an area for them to trade and set up stalls. The view from the top of the inn is jaw-dropping — weather permitting you can see all the way to Mt. Qingce and Jueyunjian in the distance. Legend amongst the stalls says that the tower of the inn hides a mysterious secret, but that's as far as the legend goes, as no one has ever been able to verify the claims.
Qingce Village	At the northernmost point of Liyue, hidden between the hills and the bamboo forests sits Qingce Village. White rolling clouds that sit in the valleys between the mountains are embellished with row upon row of crescent-moon water paddies. When the wind blows, the ripples in the water give off an array of colors.
Jueyun Karst	Dizzying peaks that sit shrouded in mist and clouds in the northwest of Liyue. The area hides many stunning views, but owing to tracks found on the complex paths leading up the peaks, a legend has formed that the hidden home of the Adepti lies somewhere in the area. Though another factor may simply be the hopes of those that seek blessings from the Adepti. Given the dangers within, the area is not suitable for outsiders. Best viewed from afar at Wangshu Inn.

Characters

Playable Characters

13 Characters match the category selection:

Name	Element	Weapon	Sex	Nation
Beidou	Electro	Claymore	Female	Liyue
Chongyun	Cryo	Claymore	Male	Liyue
Ganyu	Cryo	Bow	Female	Liyue
Hu Tao	Pyro	Polearm	Female	Liyue
Keqing	Electro	Sword	Female	Liyue
Ningguang	Geo	Catalyst	Female	Liyue
Qiqi	Cryo	Sword	Female	Liyue
Xiangling	Pyro	Polearm	Female	Liyue
Xiao	Anemo	Polearm	Male	Liyue
Xingqiu	Hydro	Sword	Male	Liyue
Xinyan	Pyro	Claymore	Female	Liyue
Yanfei	Pyro	Catalyst	Female	Liyue
Zhongli	Geo	Polearm	Male	Liyue

Upcoming Characters

No Characters match the category selection.

Mentioned Characters

4 Characters match the category selection:

Name	Element	Sex	Nation
Baizhu	Dendro	Male	Liyue
Shenhe		Female	Liyue
Yaoyao		Female	Liyue
Yun Jin		Female	Liyue

Developer Insight

Zhangjiajie Chapter

The Creative Inspiration for Liyue

Haidi, Environment Art Team Lead: Genshin Impact is an open-world game — we have always viewed Teyvat as a real world we were designing. With seven distinct nations, the natural features of each region and the cultures and customs they represent are the things we wanted to convey. In the initial stages of game design, we decided that one of the regions will be a re-imagining of Chinese motifs through the lens of a fantasy world, and the end result of that is the Liyue that you see now. At present, open-world games with China-inspired features are few and far between. In creating Liyue, we wanted to share our vision of the "Chinese aesthetic" with players around the world. Genshin Impact combines an anime-influenced, cartoonish style that emphasizes a fresh and lively aesthetic with natural features and key elements of culture that evoke China to showcase Liyue's core artistic vision. Then, based on those real-life references points, we infused that artistic vision with fantastical elements to match Genshin Impact's aesthetic and tone.

Guilin Chapter

What was the creative process for Liyue's cultural atmosphere?

Qiangge, Environment Concept Artist: Many in China say that Guilin has the best scenery in the world. For me, Guilin's beauty lies not just in the sprawling mountains and winding rivers but also in the fishing boats, the brick houses, smoking chimneys, and fishermen's songs and the reeds swaying against the stone scenery on both sides of the river. Reeds often feature in period films; they possess dramatic significance and natural beauty. As you gaze at them, you begin to feel that the ground itself is alive and is trying to communicate its mood to you.

Tang Chunsong, Guilin Museum - Director: Guilin was settled by humans a very long time ago. It dates back 30,000 years, to prehistoric times. Guilin is a place where the Zhongyuan culture and the Lingnan culture met and blended. The culture here is largely influences by the Anhui region. Even today, you can see "Diaojiaolou" in Longsheng which are a kind of stilt house. This kind of building is well-adapted to the local culture and to the local climate. It exists in harmony with the geographical conditions and to the natural scenery.

Luo Jianzhang, Guilin Culture, Broadcasting, TV and Tourism Bureau - Researcher: Guilin's culture and scenery are inseparable; the mountain faces are covered in inscriptions. So hiking in the mountains is like reading a history book. I thought that a game set in the heart of Guilin would turn out looking beautiful. Vistas featuring the geography and landforms of Guilin would showcase China's best scenery to the world.

Qiangge: After a thorough review of many resources, we infused Guilin's unique scenery and culture into the design of an iconic part of Liyue, namely, Dihua Marsh.

Jason, Level Artist: Dihua Marsh is the first environment that the player sees when they leave Mondstadt and pass through the Stone Gate. It is their first impression of Liyue. It reconstructs the prominent features of Guilin's landscape, namely the water and the mountains. The presence of flat-bottomed boats and fishing huts paints a picture of local life before our eyes. The signature building in Dihua Marsh is Wangshu Inn. It adopts features of Guilin architecture and also the sense of "there's more to this place than meets the eye" as captured in the film "Dragon Inn."

Lu Yang, Level Artist: As designers, we constantly asked ourselves: What do people here do during the day? What are their lives like? As the game now shows, the area downstairs is or porters and merchants to rest mid-journey. There are some tables and chairs and tea for the guests. Next to this is a waterwheel-powered elevator to transport people and goods.

Yanjiang, Level Artist: In some places, we went into great detail; in others, we left room for the player's imagination. For example, there is a sunken statue on the mountain behind Liyue Harbor. As the player walks past these small bridges, they may wonder what happened here in the past.

Trivia

Liyue is the most prosperous of the seven nations.
In the trailer Teyvat Chapter Storyline Preview: Travail,^[4] under the title of the quest Farewell, Archaic Lord, there is a line written in Teyvat's Latin script. It reads "Ruat caelum fiat pactum," which roughly means "Let the contract be made, though the heavens fall," and is modified from the phrase fiat justitia ruat caelum.

Etymology

Liyue (璃月 Líyuè) literally means "Glazed Moon" in Chinese. In addition, miHoYo has also offered "Jade Moon" as a viable translation, using the radical of 玉 (jade) in Liyue's Li 璃.
Liyue's Li (璃) can be decomposed into 王 wáng, "king" and 离 lí, "departure", which is the same li found in Zhongli's name in Simplified Chinese. The yue (月) in Liyue can also mean "month," therefore, Liyue's name could possibly have a secondary meaning: "The Month of the King's Departure," which bears striking similarity to a possible interpretation of Zhongli's name ("time of departure").
璃月 Líyuè is a near homophone of 礼乐 lǐyuè, "rites and music", a word that represents the Confucian aspect of the traditional Chinese philosophy and culture.^[5] Lǐ (rite/courtesy) is a visible practice to maintain the order of both a human society and the universe, since the orders of human, terrestrial, and celestial realms are considered to be connected in the Chinese philosophy. Yuè (music) symbolizes the cultural harmony of a society.^[5]
璃月 Líyuè is also a near homophone of "establishing a contract" (Chinese: 立约 lìyuē).
In-game lore defines the country Liyue (Chinese: 璃月 Líyuè) to be established in Guili Plain before the Archon Wars while the Morax's mortal name "Zhongli" was chosen after the Seven. Thus the in-game etymology of "Liyue" leads to deeper lore.
- In Xiao's Story "Ode to Windborne Wraith", the book "Tour of the Land of Liyue" (Chinese: 琉璃岩间国土纪行 lit. "Tour of the Land among the Rock of Glaze") written by Sumeru Academia was renamed as "Hidden Diamond and Cloudy Moon: Wonders and Folklores of Liyue" (Chinese: 匣中琉璃云间月 lit. "Glaze in the Box, Moon among the Clouds") in Liyue. 琉璃 "glaze" and 月 "moon" are the two main elements in the etymology of Liyue.
  - Qingzhou translates the phrase 匣中琉璃云间月 lit. "Glaze in the Box, Moon among the Clouds" as "As man hides Li in a box, so nature hides Yue between the clouds," and explains that "Li" is a "precious ceramic ornament" and "Yue" refers to the moon.
- Deeper lore connects to the sword Lion's Roar (Chinese: 匣里龙吟 "Dragon's Roar in the Box"). Lion's Roar is inspired by a famous poem (Chinese: 古剑篇 "Tale of the Ancient Sword"),^[6] which describes the casting of an ancient sword which "like a white lotus spit out from a glazed jade box, the golden ring on the hilt of the sword is dyed with the brilliance of the sun and the moon" (Chinese: 琉璃玉匣吐莲花，错镂金环映明月). This is the most likely in-game etymology of "Liyue."

Cultural References

Liyue is inspired by China.
Liyue Harbor is said to be an economical center, similar to many port cities in China.
Morax, the founder of Liyue, quotes some proverbs from the Analects of Confucius in a (non-canon) official blog post.^[7]
Divine Body from Guyun says a variety of different ideals were born and died during the Archon War, where Liyue survived the war. It may be a reference to the Hundred Schools of Thought during the Warring States period of Ancient China, where the Confucian philosophy of "Liyue" (Rites and Music) survived the war in academia.