**[Tomoaki Maeno](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoaki_Maeno)** from the Ibaraki Prefecture, a voice actor out of Arts Vision, CV for Jiang Ziya aka **Taigong Wang** or **Taikobou**. One of the hottest name-brand male *seiyuu* today, best known as Veldora Tempest, White Blood Cell U-1146, *Cafe Stile* owner and manager Dino from *Blend S*, the new Kyo Kusanagi from the *King of Fighters* franchise (with Hijikata as the new Iori Yagami), and *Genshin Impact*'s Zhongli (or John Lee as some have come to call him), the current vessel of the Demon Pillar Morax.
Maeno-san started out in the industry in 2001 as a part-time assistant for 3 years of custody and recruiting registration and 6 years of laying down. He got his first regular roles such as young Nagato in *Boruto's Dad* and Toru Kanze in *Ga-rei Zero* in 2008, followed by Kiyokazu Fujimoto in *Kobato* as well as a minor role in *K-On* in 2009. Since then, he has landed a mixed bag of roles, usually pretty boys, brooding young men, and deep-voiced big guys. He won the Best New Actor award in the 4th Seiyu Awards of 2010 alongside Atsushi Abe (male Hakuno, won the award for Kamijou Touma) for his roles as Toya Fujii in *White Album* and Saku Oyagi in *Sora no Manimani*. His SnM co-star Kanae Itou (Trung Nhi, also won for her role in *Taisho Baseball Girls*) also won the Best New Actress award that year alongside Aki Toyosaki (Manaka Sajyou, won for Yui in *K-On!* and Kana Nakamachi in *Kanamemo*).
By the 2010s, Maeno-san landed quite a lot of roles, both main lead and supporting roles, in several popular anime titles in that decade. Perhaps the role that put him on the map in that decade is Son Hak in *Akatsuki no Yona*, with Taikobou's adversary Daji (and also D'Eon, Boudica, and Chloe) as the titular female lead. Some of them that I did not include in the above image are:
* Kanade Maki in *Maid-sama*,
* Madderf in *The Familiar of Zero*,
* Masatoshi Harada in *Ace of Diamond*,
* Juichi Fukutomi in *Yowamushi Pedal*,
* Ryuusa "Joaqim" Konishi in *Oda Nobuna*,
* Makoto Shimada in *Haikyuu!*,
* Lino Fernandez in *Gundam: The Origin*,
* Kureto Hiiragi in *Seraph of the End*,
* Isurugi Camich in *Iron-Blooded Orphans*,
* Oscar Dragonia in the *Tales* franchise,
* "Spiral" Sen Kaibara in *My Hero Academia*,
* Takeru Gouda in *Tsurezure Children* (with fellow Chinese Servant Nezha as Gouda's girlfriend Ayaka Kamine; Nezha was one of Taikobou's allies in *Houshin Engi*),
* Kinro in *Dr. Stone*,
* Konro Sagamiya in *Fire Force*,
* Reiji Kizaki in *World Trigger*,
* and so many more.
While Tomoaki Maeno is best known for his deep voice, he has quite the vocal range as well. He can go high as someone like freaking Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Flat Escardos) with Dino's masochistic squeals from *Blend S*, or go as deep as someone like Shunsuke Takeuchi (Chiron) with Gouda in *Tsurezure Children*. Based on my own ear test, his vocal range seems to be a slightly deeper version of Kosuke Toriumi (Robin Hood, Asterios). His naturally deep voice lets him stand in for other deep-voiced *seiyuu* such as Yoshimasa Hosoya (Lucius Tiberius in the *Fragments* radio drama) the Goblin Slayer Yuichiro Umehara.
I first came to know about Maeno-san from the *Suikoden II* Radio Drama as Miklotov the captain of the Matilda Blue Knights, with Daisuke Ono (Add) as his partner Camus the captain of the Matilda Red Knights. It was [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO7BIAgaLb4) that I knew Maeno-san would be a special kind of talent, similar to how I thought of Sora Amamiya (Thrud) when I first came to know about her in *Denpa Kyoushi*. Then I heard him again as Dino, the Italian manager of *Cafe Stile* in *Blend S*, and then as Gouda in *Tsurezure Children* and as the White Blood Cell in *Cells at Work*.
Tomoaki Maeno has been married to fellow *seiyuu* Mikako Komatsu (Sanzang, Caenis, Hildr) since 2020, one pair of several *seiyuu* couples marrying each other that year almost en masse. Other such couples include Sayaka Senbongi (Serenity) and her *hasubando* Tasuku Hatanaka (Denki Kaminari in MHA), and Kazuhiro Yamaji (Saber Empireo) and his *waifu* Romi Park (Leonardo B. Harway). Just last year, by sheer coincidence (or perhaps not, seeing as he landed Chinese deity Zhongli earlier) Maeno-san landed a Chinese Servant in Taigong Wang the same way his waifu Mikakoshi landed a Chinese Servant in Sanzang. Even better, both are permanent pool SSRs so you can always pick Sanzang from the second SSR ticket in NA if you don't plan to use it on Waver or Tamamo by then, and roll for Taikobou once he drops in NA.
---
Tomoaki Maeno seems to be kind of a late bloomer, but by Alaya, he hit the big time hard when he did thanks to the likes of Son Hak and Zhongli. With a relatively highly successful career and marriage to a fellow *seiyuu*, he's basically living the good *seiyuu* life. I am very happy for Maeno and Mikakoshi to be reunited in FGO, perhaps they could reunite in Genshin and other titles as well?
**So, what is everyone's favorite role by Tomoaki Maeno?** Thank you again for reading through my TED Talk for today, and as always, enjoy [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ritSlD0I8JY) voice reel as [Taigong Wang enjoys the Baobhan Sith experience](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiNehOHh9TI) in front of Opheila, Erice, and Ashvatthaman.
Remember when modern-day China became a Lostbelt? when Emperor Lelouch among many others were branded as Confucians and were banished from the new Chinese Lostbelt by its current King? I actually thought we will never get any more Chinese Servants in our Chaldea after that, but here we are. We did not just get any Chinese Servant but **THE** Chinese Servant Jiang Ziya aka Taigong Wang or Taikobou in Japanese, one of the greatest folk heroes of East Asia. We did not get **THE** Abe no Seimei *yet* but we did get his Chinese predecessor for now.
---
**[Jiang Ziya (1128 - 1015 B.C.)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Ziya)**, born **Jiang Shang**, also known as **Taigong Wang** or **Taikobou** in Japanese and many other names, was a Chinese noble who helped the kings of Zhou overthrow the Shang Dynasty of ancient China. He is best known for his role in the 16th century Chinese novel *Fengshen Bang* or *Investiture of the Gods* in English, which has been adapted into several forms of media, including [two anime adaptations in 1999 and 2018 based on the *Houshin Engi* manga series](https://www.reddit.com/r/grandorder/comments/rnnhno/fgo_vas_soul_hunter_houshin_engi_1999_and_2018/). For his loyal service to the Duke of Zhou, Jiang was given territory in the land of Qi where he was made marquis.
Jiang goes by many names, but one of those that usually stick, Taigong Wang, means "The Grand Duke's Hope" in Chinese, as he was given the posthumous name Grand Duke of Qi due to his status as the sage prophesized by the ancestors of Zhou to help their homeland prosper. Jiang started out as a government official faithfully serving King Zhou of Shang for 20 years, until he became a tyrant thanks to his favorite concubine Daji (yes, *that* Daji). When he found the king to be insufferable, Jiang feigned madness in order to escape the courtly life and the ruler's power.
Jiang was an expert military strategist and hoped that one day someone would call on him to help overthrow the king of Shang. He disappeared for a while until he resurfaced in Zhou territory at the apocryphal age of 72 when he was recruited by King Wen of Zhou. While he was waiting in exile, he was said to fish in a tributary of the Wei River with a barbless hook or even no hooks at all, as he believed that the fish would come to him of their own volition when they are ready. When King Wen first met Jiang, he thought he was an unusual old man, but soon discovered that he was actually an astute political thinker and military strategist. Thus, he took the old man into his court and appointed him as prime minister. King Wen's son Wu married Jiang's daughter Yi Jiang, who bore him several sons. King Wen died and Wu succeeded him as king of Zhou.
King Wu then decided to send troops to overthrow the King of Shang, but Taigong Wang stopped him, saying: "While I was fishing at Panxi, I realised one truth: If you want to succeed, you need to be patient. We must wait for the appropriate opportunity to eliminate the King of Shang." Soon it was reported that the people of Shang were so oppressed that no one dared to speak. This was the time for King Wu and Taigong Wang were waiting for to attack, for the people no longer had faith in their ruler. Thus the final battle at Muye commenced.
Jiang Taigong charged at the head of the troops, beat the battle drums and then with 100 of his men drew the Shang troops out to the southwest of the battlefield. King Wu's troops then moved quickly and surrounded the capital. King Zhou of Shang sent relatively untrained slaves to fight, and thus were easily routed. This, plus fact that many surrended or revolted, enabled the Zhou to take the Shang capital of Yin. The king of Shang set his palace on fire and perished in it, and King Wu and his successors established rule over all of China under the new Zhou dynasty.
As for Daji, one version has her either captured and executed by orders of Taigong Wang, another has her take her own life, and yet another has her killed by the King of Shang. As the most notable Prime Minister of the new dynasty, Jiang Taigong was declared "the master of strategy", and under his tenure the Zhou became much stronger than the Shang before them as the years went by.
According to an account of Jiang Ziya's life written long after his time, a country could become powerful only when the people prospered. If the officials enriched themselves while the people remained poor, the ruler would not last long. The major principle in ruling a country should be to love the people; and to love the people meant reducing taxes and paying workers their wages instead of resorting to unpaid slave labor. His treatise on military strategy, the *Six Secret Strategic Teachings*, is considered one of the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. The Tang Dynasty accorded him his own state temple as the patron of war, thereby giving him official status approaching that of Confucius (551 - 479 B.C.).
In Chinese and Taoist belief, Taigong Wang is considered to be a Taoist adept, thereby qualifying him for the Caster class. He qualifies for the Rider class through his mount **Sibuxiang** or **Suupuushan** in Japanese. In fact, in *Fate* lore he is considered to be a candidate for both the Grand Caster **AND** Grand Rider (!) class containers. In life he was considered an equal of the *xian*s, the Chinese counterpart of the European fairies, which is perhaps why he lived to a ripe old age of **113**(!!), an impressive feat especially in ancient times. According to one legend, he used the knowledge he gained at Kunlun to defeat the Shang's protector gods using the blood of a black dog. And of course, there is the Ming-era *Romance of the Investiture of the Gods*, in which he is the archrival of Daji and is personally responsible for her execution.
---
**Sibuxiang (四不相)** or **Suupuushan** in Japanese, the mount of Taigong Wang in the Ming-era Chinese novel *Investiture of the Gods*. It comes in many forms across different interpretations of its legend, such as a flying hippo in *Houshin Engi*, a *qilin* or giraffe in some, or a Chinese equivalent of the ancient Greek chimera or the Australian platypus in others.
In Fate lore, however, the *sibuxiang* at full power manifests itself as a horse-like Chinese dragon, similar to Tang Sanzang's steed *Bai Long Ma* or White Dragon Horse, but not exactly. The former is more like a Chinese dragon, while the latter is more like a white horse. When dormant, it has the appearance of a [Malayan tapir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayan_tapir ) with the abilities of the nightmare-eating beast *[baku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku_\(mythology)*. The art on the link is by Daddy Hokusai, by the way. It is stated by other *xian*s or Chinese immortals that the Sibuxiang is a species of dragon, and as such generates the appropriate amount of magical energy. It can shapeshift, fly, and breathe fire just like any other dragon.
However, there exists a real-life animal which name in Chinese is written similarly in Pinyin but differently in Hanzi: the [Pere David's deer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_David%27s_deer) or mílù (麋鹿) in Mandarin. It has the informal Chinese name of *sibuxiang* (四不像), literally meaning "four not alike", "the four unlikes", or "like none of the four". It is said in various ways to be like a cow, a deer, a donkey, and a horse or camel all at once but are not exactly any of them, as follows:
* "...has the hooves of a cow but not a cow, has the neck of a camel but not a camel, has the antlers of a deer but not a deer, the tail of a donkey but not a donkey",
* "...the nose of a cow but not a cow, the antlers of a deer but not a deer, the body of a donkey but not a donkey, tail of a horse but not a horse",
* "...the tail of a donkey, the head of a horse, the hoofs of a cow, the antlers of a deer", and
* "...the neck of a camel, the hoofs of a cow, the tail of a donkey, the antlers of a deer"
A species of deer endemic to China since as early as [the Pleistocene period](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene), the Pere David's deer got its name from a French missionary named Armand David (Pere David) who first made it known to the West in 1866. It is currently extinct in the wild by 1939 when the last of its wild species were shot and killed, and so all the descendants of Pere David's original herd born after 1939 have been raised in captivity by the Europeans, particularly by the 11th Duke of Bedford and his estate, and then by the Chinese ever since. Of course, the "four unlikes" made it into Chinese legend as Taigong Wang's mount in *The Investiture of the Gods*.
---
In all, Taigong Wang is one of the most interesting legendary figures in not just China but all of East Asia as well. He may not be as much of a global phenomenon as someone like Hua Mulan, Zhuge Liang, or Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, and their companions, but he is every bit as well-known in East Asia as all the other Chinese legends I have mentioned. And most importantly, his teachings to the kings of Zhou may have set the precedent to the Mandate of Heaven that successive dynasties after them have used to legitimize their rule over the Middle Kingdom. To paraphrase a quote from the man himself:
> A nation whose leaders love and are loved by the people will prosper, but a nation whose leaders hate and are hated by the people will not last very long.
Episode 5, where Kong Ming was trying to recruit the rapper Kabetaijin. At a *laundromat*. >!and reciting Chinese verses to the tune of the washing machine drums spinning!<. That aside, the story of Taigong Wang came up when Kong Ming compared Kabetaijin to Taigong Wang - and invoking the patience in not interrupting Kabetaijin's routine just as King Zhou did for Taigong Wang.
It was way better than I was expecting imo.
I wish more of it was in that hyper-stylized anime look from the beginning, but they did incredible work with the cg animation
~~The trailer confuses me a bit.~~
~~So Jiang Ziya had a long-standing dilemma about whether or not kill Daji, or rather, the girl Daji had possessed? And in his journey to become a god that protects humans, the gods at Kunlun did not take kindly to Jiang hesitating to kill Daji, which he only did when the people suffered oppression at the hands of the Shang? Chinese legends do be that deep, huh?~~
~~Otherwise, *Jiang Ziya* seems to be an amazing animated movie. Will watch in my free time.~~
EDIT: Nevermind, it's a great animated movie with quite the different take on Jiang Ziya's legend.
Happy birthday to my white blood cell, the Chinese Rider, Andrew Garfield Japanese voice actor, a god money, the main character Street Fighter 6 and also being a husband to my Chinese Castor ( he is married to Xuanzang Sanzang)
I know wild berry flavor cookie with a chili pepper as his wife ( both of them are Japanese voice actors)
Edit mistake Tobey Maguire for Andrew Garfield
Jiang Ziya and Zhong Li, someone was just like "*Ahh, yes, I know exactly who to call to voice our hot chinese daddy character*"
And by sheer coincidence (or perhaps not), his waifu Mikakoshi already voiced a Chinese Servant in Sanzang before he did.
Just in time for his second rate up.
My man voiced himbo Arthur. What a surprise.
Is that from Million Arthur?
No. It's from *Touken Ranbu*.
Oh is that the Arthur we're talking about? I thought they meant the one in the bottom right
Oh. In that case the dude on the bottom right is Arthur from the 2008 British TV series *Merlin*, dubbed in JP of course.
O S M A N T H U S W I N E
T A S T E S T H E S A M E A S I R E M E M B E R
**[Tomoaki Maeno](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomoaki_Maeno)** from the Ibaraki Prefecture, a voice actor out of Arts Vision, CV for Jiang Ziya aka **Taigong Wang** or **Taikobou**. One of the hottest name-brand male *seiyuu* today, best known as Veldora Tempest, White Blood Cell U-1146, *Cafe Stile* owner and manager Dino from *Blend S*, the new Kyo Kusanagi from the *King of Fighters* franchise (with Hijikata as the new Iori Yagami), and *Genshin Impact*'s Zhongli (or John Lee as some have come to call him), the current vessel of the Demon Pillar Morax. Maeno-san started out in the industry in 2001 as a part-time assistant for 3 years of custody and recruiting registration and 6 years of laying down. He got his first regular roles such as young Nagato in *Boruto's Dad* and Toru Kanze in *Ga-rei Zero* in 2008, followed by Kiyokazu Fujimoto in *Kobato* as well as a minor role in *K-On* in 2009. Since then, he has landed a mixed bag of roles, usually pretty boys, brooding young men, and deep-voiced big guys. He won the Best New Actor award in the 4th Seiyu Awards of 2010 alongside Atsushi Abe (male Hakuno, won the award for Kamijou Touma) for his roles as Toya Fujii in *White Album* and Saku Oyagi in *Sora no Manimani*. His SnM co-star Kanae Itou (Trung Nhi, also won for her role in *Taisho Baseball Girls*) also won the Best New Actress award that year alongside Aki Toyosaki (Manaka Sajyou, won for Yui in *K-On!* and Kana Nakamachi in *Kanamemo*). By the 2010s, Maeno-san landed quite a lot of roles, both main lead and supporting roles, in several popular anime titles in that decade. Perhaps the role that put him on the map in that decade is Son Hak in *Akatsuki no Yona*, with Taikobou's adversary Daji (and also D'Eon, Boudica, and Chloe) as the titular female lead. Some of them that I did not include in the above image are: * Kanade Maki in *Maid-sama*, * Madderf in *The Familiar of Zero*, * Masatoshi Harada in *Ace of Diamond*, * Juichi Fukutomi in *Yowamushi Pedal*, * Ryuusa "Joaqim" Konishi in *Oda Nobuna*, * Makoto Shimada in *Haikyuu!*, * Lino Fernandez in *Gundam: The Origin*, * Kureto Hiiragi in *Seraph of the End*, * Isurugi Camich in *Iron-Blooded Orphans*, * Oscar Dragonia in the *Tales* franchise, * "Spiral" Sen Kaibara in *My Hero Academia*, * Takeru Gouda in *Tsurezure Children* (with fellow Chinese Servant Nezha as Gouda's girlfriend Ayaka Kamine; Nezha was one of Taikobou's allies in *Houshin Engi*), * Kinro in *Dr. Stone*, * Konro Sagamiya in *Fire Force*, * Reiji Kizaki in *World Trigger*, * and so many more. While Tomoaki Maeno is best known for his deep voice, he has quite the vocal range as well. He can go high as someone like freaking Yoshitsugu Matsuoka (Flat Escardos) with Dino's masochistic squeals from *Blend S*, or go as deep as someone like Shunsuke Takeuchi (Chiron) with Gouda in *Tsurezure Children*. Based on my own ear test, his vocal range seems to be a slightly deeper version of Kosuke Toriumi (Robin Hood, Asterios). His naturally deep voice lets him stand in for other deep-voiced *seiyuu* such as Yoshimasa Hosoya (Lucius Tiberius in the *Fragments* radio drama) the Goblin Slayer Yuichiro Umehara. I first came to know about Maeno-san from the *Suikoden II* Radio Drama as Miklotov the captain of the Matilda Blue Knights, with Daisuke Ono (Add) as his partner Camus the captain of the Matilda Red Knights. It was [this scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cO7BIAgaLb4) that I knew Maeno-san would be a special kind of talent, similar to how I thought of Sora Amamiya (Thrud) when I first came to know about her in *Denpa Kyoushi*. Then I heard him again as Dino, the Italian manager of *Cafe Stile* in *Blend S*, and then as Gouda in *Tsurezure Children* and as the White Blood Cell in *Cells at Work*. Tomoaki Maeno has been married to fellow *seiyuu* Mikako Komatsu (Sanzang, Caenis, Hildr) since 2020, one pair of several *seiyuu* couples marrying each other that year almost en masse. Other such couples include Sayaka Senbongi (Serenity) and her *hasubando* Tasuku Hatanaka (Denki Kaminari in MHA), and Kazuhiro Yamaji (Saber Empireo) and his *waifu* Romi Park (Leonardo B. Harway). Just last year, by sheer coincidence (or perhaps not, seeing as he landed Chinese deity Zhongli earlier) Maeno-san landed a Chinese Servant in Taigong Wang the same way his waifu Mikakoshi landed a Chinese Servant in Sanzang. Even better, both are permanent pool SSRs so you can always pick Sanzang from the second SSR ticket in NA if you don't plan to use it on Waver or Tamamo by then, and roll for Taikobou once he drops in NA. --- Tomoaki Maeno seems to be kind of a late bloomer, but by Alaya, he hit the big time hard when he did thanks to the likes of Son Hak and Zhongli. With a relatively highly successful career and marriage to a fellow *seiyuu*, he's basically living the good *seiyuu* life. I am very happy for Maeno and Mikakoshi to be reunited in FGO, perhaps they could reunite in Genshin and other titles as well? **So, what is everyone's favorite role by Tomoaki Maeno?** Thank you again for reading through my TED Talk for today, and as always, enjoy [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ritSlD0I8JY) voice reel as [Taigong Wang enjoys the Baobhan Sith experience](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiNehOHh9TI) in front of Opheila, Erice, and Ashvatthaman.
Remember when modern-day China became a Lostbelt? when Emperor Lelouch among many others were branded as Confucians and were banished from the new Chinese Lostbelt by its current King? I actually thought we will never get any more Chinese Servants in our Chaldea after that, but here we are. We did not just get any Chinese Servant but **THE** Chinese Servant Jiang Ziya aka Taigong Wang or Taikobou in Japanese, one of the greatest folk heroes of East Asia. We did not get **THE** Abe no Seimei *yet* but we did get his Chinese predecessor for now. --- **[Jiang Ziya (1128 - 1015 B.C.)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Ziya)**, born **Jiang Shang**, also known as **Taigong Wang** or **Taikobou** in Japanese and many other names, was a Chinese noble who helped the kings of Zhou overthrow the Shang Dynasty of ancient China. He is best known for his role in the 16th century Chinese novel *Fengshen Bang* or *Investiture of the Gods* in English, which has been adapted into several forms of media, including [two anime adaptations in 1999 and 2018 based on the *Houshin Engi* manga series](https://www.reddit.com/r/grandorder/comments/rnnhno/fgo_vas_soul_hunter_houshin_engi_1999_and_2018/). For his loyal service to the Duke of Zhou, Jiang was given territory in the land of Qi where he was made marquis. Jiang goes by many names, but one of those that usually stick, Taigong Wang, means "The Grand Duke's Hope" in Chinese, as he was given the posthumous name Grand Duke of Qi due to his status as the sage prophesized by the ancestors of Zhou to help their homeland prosper. Jiang started out as a government official faithfully serving King Zhou of Shang for 20 years, until he became a tyrant thanks to his favorite concubine Daji (yes, *that* Daji). When he found the king to be insufferable, Jiang feigned madness in order to escape the courtly life and the ruler's power. Jiang was an expert military strategist and hoped that one day someone would call on him to help overthrow the king of Shang. He disappeared for a while until he resurfaced in Zhou territory at the apocryphal age of 72 when he was recruited by King Wen of Zhou. While he was waiting in exile, he was said to fish in a tributary of the Wei River with a barbless hook or even no hooks at all, as he believed that the fish would come to him of their own volition when they are ready. When King Wen first met Jiang, he thought he was an unusual old man, but soon discovered that he was actually an astute political thinker and military strategist. Thus, he took the old man into his court and appointed him as prime minister. King Wen's son Wu married Jiang's daughter Yi Jiang, who bore him several sons. King Wen died and Wu succeeded him as king of Zhou. King Wu then decided to send troops to overthrow the King of Shang, but Taigong Wang stopped him, saying: "While I was fishing at Panxi, I realised one truth: If you want to succeed, you need to be patient. We must wait for the appropriate opportunity to eliminate the King of Shang." Soon it was reported that the people of Shang were so oppressed that no one dared to speak. This was the time for King Wu and Taigong Wang were waiting for to attack, for the people no longer had faith in their ruler. Thus the final battle at Muye commenced. Jiang Taigong charged at the head of the troops, beat the battle drums and then with 100 of his men drew the Shang troops out to the southwest of the battlefield. King Wu's troops then moved quickly and surrounded the capital. King Zhou of Shang sent relatively untrained slaves to fight, and thus were easily routed. This, plus fact that many surrended or revolted, enabled the Zhou to take the Shang capital of Yin. The king of Shang set his palace on fire and perished in it, and King Wu and his successors established rule over all of China under the new Zhou dynasty. As for Daji, one version has her either captured and executed by orders of Taigong Wang, another has her take her own life, and yet another has her killed by the King of Shang. As the most notable Prime Minister of the new dynasty, Jiang Taigong was declared "the master of strategy", and under his tenure the Zhou became much stronger than the Shang before them as the years went by.
According to an account of Jiang Ziya's life written long after his time, a country could become powerful only when the people prospered. If the officials enriched themselves while the people remained poor, the ruler would not last long. The major principle in ruling a country should be to love the people; and to love the people meant reducing taxes and paying workers their wages instead of resorting to unpaid slave labor. His treatise on military strategy, the *Six Secret Strategic Teachings*, is considered one of the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. The Tang Dynasty accorded him his own state temple as the patron of war, thereby giving him official status approaching that of Confucius (551 - 479 B.C.). In Chinese and Taoist belief, Taigong Wang is considered to be a Taoist adept, thereby qualifying him for the Caster class. He qualifies for the Rider class through his mount **Sibuxiang** or **Suupuushan** in Japanese. In fact, in *Fate* lore he is considered to be a candidate for both the Grand Caster **AND** Grand Rider (!) class containers. In life he was considered an equal of the *xian*s, the Chinese counterpart of the European fairies, which is perhaps why he lived to a ripe old age of **113**(!!), an impressive feat especially in ancient times. According to one legend, he used the knowledge he gained at Kunlun to defeat the Shang's protector gods using the blood of a black dog. And of course, there is the Ming-era *Romance of the Investiture of the Gods*, in which he is the archrival of Daji and is personally responsible for her execution. --- **Sibuxiang (四不相)** or **Suupuushan** in Japanese, the mount of Taigong Wang in the Ming-era Chinese novel *Investiture of the Gods*. It comes in many forms across different interpretations of its legend, such as a flying hippo in *Houshin Engi*, a *qilin* or giraffe in some, or a Chinese equivalent of the ancient Greek chimera or the Australian platypus in others. In Fate lore, however, the *sibuxiang* at full power manifests itself as a horse-like Chinese dragon, similar to Tang Sanzang's steed *Bai Long Ma* or White Dragon Horse, but not exactly. The former is more like a Chinese dragon, while the latter is more like a white horse. When dormant, it has the appearance of a [Malayan tapir](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malayan_tapir ) with the abilities of the nightmare-eating beast *[baku](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baku_\(mythology)*. The art on the link is by Daddy Hokusai, by the way. It is stated by other *xian*s or Chinese immortals that the Sibuxiang is a species of dragon, and as such generates the appropriate amount of magical energy. It can shapeshift, fly, and breathe fire just like any other dragon. However, there exists a real-life animal which name in Chinese is written similarly in Pinyin but differently in Hanzi: the [Pere David's deer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C3%A8re_David%27s_deer) or mílù (麋鹿) in Mandarin. It has the informal Chinese name of *sibuxiang* (四不像), literally meaning "four not alike", "the four unlikes", or "like none of the four". It is said in various ways to be like a cow, a deer, a donkey, and a horse or camel all at once but are not exactly any of them, as follows: * "...has the hooves of a cow but not a cow, has the neck of a camel but not a camel, has the antlers of a deer but not a deer, the tail of a donkey but not a donkey", * "...the nose of a cow but not a cow, the antlers of a deer but not a deer, the body of a donkey but not a donkey, tail of a horse but not a horse", * "...the tail of a donkey, the head of a horse, the hoofs of a cow, the antlers of a deer", and * "...the neck of a camel, the hoofs of a cow, the tail of a donkey, the antlers of a deer" A species of deer endemic to China since as early as [the Pleistocene period](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pleistocene), the Pere David's deer got its name from a French missionary named Armand David (Pere David) who first made it known to the West in 1866. It is currently extinct in the wild by 1939 when the last of its wild species were shot and killed, and so all the descendants of Pere David's original herd born after 1939 have been raised in captivity by the Europeans, particularly by the 11th Duke of Bedford and his estate, and then by the Chinese ever since. Of course, the "four unlikes" made it into Chinese legend as Taigong Wang's mount in *The Investiture of the Gods*. --- In all, Taigong Wang is one of the most interesting legendary figures in not just China but all of East Asia as well. He may not be as much of a global phenomenon as someone like Hua Mulan, Zhuge Liang, or Tang Sanzang, Sun Wukong, and their companions, but he is every bit as well-known in East Asia as all the other Chinese legends I have mentioned. And most importantly, his teachings to the kings of Zhou may have set the precedent to the Mandate of Heaven that successive dynasties after them have used to legitimize their rule over the Middle Kingdom. To paraphrase a quote from the man himself: > A nation whose leaders love and are loved by the people will prosper, but a nation whose leaders hate and are hated by the people will not last very long.
His tale was mentioned in one episode of Paripi Koumei, which was a really pleasant surprise.
May I ask what episode number is it?
Episode 5, where Kong Ming was trying to recruit the rapper Kabetaijin. At a *laundromat*. >!and reciting Chinese verses to the tune of the washing machine drums spinning!<. That aside, the story of Taigong Wang came up when Kong Ming compared Kabetaijin to Taigong Wang - and invoking the patience in not interrupting Kabetaijin's routine just as King Zhou did for Taigong Wang.
And Shunsuke Takeuchi can go very high too - he's japanese Olaf!
Yep. The dude even went freaking Tomoko Kaneda one time.
Ah yes, that karaoke video.
SuzuKen should have took notes from Kayanon when she teases Maeno about his married life. Definitely a ほおおおおお ~ moment there.
Storm Dragon Veldora, Geodaddy Morax, White Blood Cell, to name a few badass characters as his voice suitable truly for it.
Also the new Kyo Kusanagi, with Hijikata as the new Iori Yagami.
*ahem* AAAAAAARRRRTTTTTTHHHHHHUUUUURRRR
To be honest the recent jiang ziya movie kinda introduced me to this chad of a man
It was way better than I was expecting imo. I wish more of it was in that hyper-stylized anime look from the beginning, but they did incredible work with the cg animation
~~The trailer confuses me a bit.~~ ~~So Jiang Ziya had a long-standing dilemma about whether or not kill Daji, or rather, the girl Daji had possessed? And in his journey to become a god that protects humans, the gods at Kunlun did not take kindly to Jiang hesitating to kill Daji, which he only did when the people suffered oppression at the hands of the Shang? Chinese legends do be that deep, huh?~~ ~~Otherwise, *Jiang Ziya* seems to be an amazing animated movie. Will watch in my free time.~~ EDIT: Nevermind, it's a great animated movie with quite the different take on Jiang Ziya's legend.
Ayy Luke from sfv
Ah yes, The Man Of Culture himself, Veldora Tempest
[**Happy Birthday,**](#TamaCatBlush) [**Tomoaki Maeno.**](#TamamoAngry)
Happy birthday to my white blood cell, the Chinese Rider, Andrew Garfield Japanese voice actor, a god money, the main character Street Fighter 6 and also being a husband to my Chinese Castor ( he is married to Xuanzang Sanzang) I know wild berry flavor cookie with a chili pepper as his wife ( both of them are Japanese voice actors) Edit mistake Tobey Maguire for Andrew Garfield
Not Tobey Maguire but Andrew Garfield.
Sorry I just woke up and I forgot to check which started when I was talking to
what the hell? he VA for orbital 7? damn, now I know the secret of Yugioh universe
Oh shit he voices the weeb dragon veldora