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With all the racism towards Asians recently in wake of COVID-19, I can’t tell you how awesome it is that @Netflix decided to stream the animated series Avatar the Last Airbender (We don’t talk about the movie ). A thread on the little details about the show that make it stand out
My sister and I are colloquial Chinese speakers but my mother and father are Taiwanese and fluent in Chinese and we all have noticed there are so many names in this show which are cleverly named with the correct Chinese characters unlike so many other shows.
The Earth Kingdom is based off China and by extension The KMT. Chin (Qin) 秦 the Conquerer was named after Qin Shi Huang 秦始皇 the first emperor of China after conquering and uniting China’s 39 warring states.
Long Feng translated is 龍鳳 or Dragon Phoenix which also happens to represent Yin and Yang and the emprerors throne. Dragons are dignified as power while the Phoenix represents rebirth and transformation.
Long Feng controlled the earth kingdom with his power of a dragon or Long through the Dai Li and created a new superficial kingdom as represented by Feng or Phoenix similar to how China has been ruled under a communist authorian government with the secret police and censorship
Speaking of the Dai Li this one is really cool. Dai Li is 戴笠. Dai is to wear and Li is the traditional Chinese bamboo cone hat that the Dai Li wear
The Dai Li are also named after Lieutenant General Dai Li who served in the KMT ( Kuomintang) Chief Commandant for Chiang-Kai Shek and was head of KMT Military Intelligence Service.
Lake Laogai or 湖勞改 is a lake named after the shortened term for 勞動改造 or reform through labor. Mao Zedong’s Laogai camps Chinese were prison reformation camps of forced labor. Similar to brainwashing reformation Long Feng carried out under Lake Laogai
The Spirit Wan Shi Tong or 萬事通 is literally “He who knows 10,000 things.” Wan 萬 is 10,000, 事 is thing, and 通 means through. When 事通 is added together it means knowledge. Also he is terrifying...
Remember these annoying families the Zhangs and the Ganjins? So Zhang is often a common family name but in this context, the Zhangs are 臟 or dirty. Now the Gan Jins are 乾淨 or clean. 
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So this guy not so happy guy that was chasing down Toph’s name is Xin Fu 幸福。 Ironically this means happy or fortunate blessed which is the exact opposite when Toph traps him and Master Yu insides metal cage.
Some have tried to combine this name into 辛富 which means bitter and wealth in which he tries to be wealth but fails and is just bitter all the time however that’s those Chinese characters do not make up an actual Chinese phrase.
The Hei Bai Spirit as we all know is a Panda. But what is the color of a panda? Just look at the name Hei Bai or 黑白. Those are for the words white and black. Panda in Chinese 熊猫 but the Black and White spirit was a cool literal translation
Speaking of polar opposites... like black and white... what about the moon spirits? I mean it was literally mentioned in the show but here it is again. Tui and La is 推拉 or push and pull similar to the gravitation push and pull that the moon gives to our water.
Also it’s pretty obvious it also represents yin and yang 陰陽
Speaking of moon spirits. Yue was gave her life to the moon spirits who originally saved her at birth. After Captain, then Admiral Sideburns Zhao killed the white koi fish, Yue he life back to the white moon spirit fish. Yue is Chinese is 月 or the literal translation for moon.
Moving on from spirits and onto parts of Sokka’s life from heartbreak to his swordsmanship (great transition). His master Piandao is片刀 or a blade.
The last two Dragons are named Ran and Shaw or 燃燒. Individually those words mean a different form of burn but combined, they create the word combustion.
There are definitely many other names here that are in reference to Chinese culture and other languages such as Fire Nation names being associated with Japanese. But these are just a few cool ones that I’ve noticed.
S/O to Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko, and Dr. Siu Leung Lee for not only spreading asian culture but doing it properly.
