Ba Sing Se
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Ba Sing Se is a fictional city from Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. It was the capital of the Earth Kingdom and is currently controlled by the Fire Nation.
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[edit] Impenetrable City
Once capitol of the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se means “Impenetrable City.”[1] The city is so named for its two world-famous walls, the gates of which have no hinges or other hardware and are opened by use of Earthbending.[2] Behind the Outer Wall lies a large expanse of farmland, Lake Laogai, and several mountains. The inner wall encloses the city itself. The last great Earth Kingdom stronghold after the fall of Omashu, the fall of Ba Sing Se left the Earth Kingdom with no great points of commmerce, military activity, or production.
In the history of the city, the walls have only been breached on two occasions: The first was by Fire Nation military forces led by General Iroh, the legendary “Dragon of the West”. This attack, a part of his 600 day long siege of the city, was quickly driven back by the city’s guardian forces after he was weakened by the death of his son, Lu Ten. Years later, the Fire Nation used a great drill to bore through the Outer Wall, but Aang and his friends stopped the machine before the army could take advantage of the hole [3]. By the end of the Season 2 finale, Ba Sing Se had fallen to the hands of the Fire Nation through an internal coup d'état lead by Princess Azula.
Ba Sing Se is the cantonese pronunciation of bǎ chéng shì ( 把城市 ) which means "guarded city," not "impenetrable city."
[edit] Old Ba Sing Se
Underneath the palace, and possibly much of the city, lies old Ba Sing Se, an ancient underground city deep within the earth. Not much is currently known about the ancient city, but it was abandoned long ago and untouched. Inside the interior are ancient stone structures, a waterfall and pool, and large green crystals that populate many of the catacombs.
[edit] Fall of Ba Sing Se
During the events of "The Guru" and "The Crossroads of Destiny", the Fire Lord's daughter, Princess Azula, assumed control over the Dai Li and led coup against the Earth King; she was successfull and managed to capture both the Earth King himself and the Council of Five, his highest ranking generals, assuming control over the city. Though the Earth King later escaped with Aang, as they leave the city he remarks "The Earth Kingdom has fallen".
[edit] Layout
Ba Sing Se is a divided city, with inhabitants sorted in various walled “rings” based on economic and social class. These range from the Outer Ring, a place of ghettoes inhabited by refugees and the poor, to the Inner Ring, home of the Kingdom’s ruling classes and the rich. Travel throughout the city (in addition to going in and out of it) is provided by large, Earthbending powered monorails. The monorails meet in large monorail stations.
[edit] Government
As the capital of the Earth Kingdom, Ba Sing Se was home to the Earth King, ruler of the Eart Kingdom and a god to his people. However, true power in the city belonged to the city’s Grand Secretariat, Long Feng. As leader of the Dai Li, Ba Sing Se’s "cultural agents", he enforced strict laws within the city. It was absolutely forbidden to mention the war with the Fire Nation within the city, and those that did were arrested and "re-educated" to the beleif that all is well. According to Long Feng, all this is necessary to maintain Ba Sing Se’s cultural heritage; however, it is, in truth, a totalitarian government.[4]
Though the Earth King had Long Feng arrested during the events of "The Earth King", he allied himself with Azula to engineer a coup d'etat during the events of "The Guru" and, in "The Crossroads of Destiny", was betrayed by the Dai Li and surrendered the city to the Fire Nation.
[edit] Lake Laogai
Hidden beneath the waters of Lake Laogai is an underground facility operated by the Dai Li agents and run by the cultural minister Long Feng. It consists of many chambers and tunnels which hold prison cells and Dai Li and Joo Dee training facilities. These cells also hold equipment used to brainwash people consipiring to destroy the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se. As it is absolutely forbidden to mention the war against the Fire Nation within the walls, those that do are usually arrested and re-educated using the brainwashing technique used on Jet. It was presumed to be destroyed in The Earth King
The term Laogai is an abbreviation for Laodong Gaizao, 勞動改造, which means "reform through labor," and refers to the use of prison labor in the People's Republic of China.
[edit] Inspirations
Ba Sing Se draws on many real world concepts. The division of the different sections of is reminiscent of social stratification systems such as that seen in the Middle Ages of Europe. Alternatively, it could be compared to the racially/socially segregated ghettos that existed in Nazi Germany and nations occupied by it during World War II. The poor section is also reminiscent of New York City's tenements in the 1800s-1900s. The royal palace in Ba Sing Se appears similar to the Forbidden City in China; compare the palace to the Forbidden City's Meridian Gate. Also, the way the city’s government operates, from a figurehead leader to apparent brainwashing techniques and constant observation, is reminiscent of the dystopian governments seen in such classic works of fiction as Nineteen Eighty-Four.
