| ~Hakurei Shrine~ > Touhou Addict Recovery Center |
| Purity in Touhou. |
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| WitheringFlowerCrown:
--- Quote from: degradingwindow on April 13, 2024, 06:32:49 PM ---I have a question regarding this, if ghosts aren't pure then why were Yuyuko and Youmu capable of sneaking into the Lunar Capital? Since in Cage in Lunatic Runagate it says: "Ghosts inherently reside in a Pure Land. This meant they have not been tainted by life nor death, and as a result they were able to act without leaving behind any traces of their presence". This would mean that Youmu and Yuyuko are pure beings because the udonge trees on the moon didn't bloom in their presence. Considering their personalities, I wouldn't really call them pure so can an impure being become pure by simply living in a pure land? Does this mean that Suika could theoretically become pure if she lives in the portion of Heaven that she has long enough? --- End quote --- Yes to both of your questions. It's possible for them to become Pure if they live in a Pure Land long enough, or at least gain the same level of Purity as the Lunarians wherein they only have a miniscule amount of Impurity. The waiting areas for Ghosts and Phantoms in general are usually Pure Lands like Higan or the Netherworld curiously. Suika is a bit tricky. If she decided to hole up in the portion of Heaven she has for a prolonged period of time, sure. Whether she will? That's a different question. This is probably the reason Lunarians and Celestials rarely come down to Earth. The opposite is also true. One weird thing is that according to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense and Phantasmagoria of Flower View, Youmu's Hakurouken can cause Phantoms to go to Nirvana when used on them by destroying their regrets and doubts. "Quotes from PoFV and PMiSS": "The Netherworld is a place for souls to stay temporarily when they can't reach nirvana. Souls which can't achieve this peaceful death are those who have left behind regrets or doubts. The Yama decides what world a soul goes in its afterlife, according to the weight of its sins. Whether it goes to hell, heaven, or the Netherworld... Youmu would abruptly cut off all of that from souls. That is, she'd bring them to nirvana. In other words, if a ghost were to be cut down by her sword, before it gets judged by the Yama, then even one that embraces sin could end up in heaven. That is why she was told that it'd be better to not cut down the phantoms still in world of living." PoFV, Youmu's Ending "The other sword, Hakurouken, is the ancestral sword of the Konpaku family, and it's said to have the power to dispel the confusion of those it cuts. That is, using it on phantoms will send them to nirvana, and using it on humans will cause them discomfort and a bit of pain. The exact details of its function are unclear, but it can only be handled by the Konpaku family." PMiSS, Youmu's Article |
| degradingwindow:
--- Quote from: WitheringFlowerCrown on April 13, 2024, 07:53:28 PM ---Yes to both of your questions. It's possible for them to become Pure if they live in a Pure Land long enough, or at least gain the same level of Purity as the Lunarians wherein they only have a miniscule amount of Impurity. The waiting areas for Ghosts and Phantoms in general are usually Pure Lands like Higan or the Netherworld curiously. Suika is a bit tricky. If she decided to hole up in the portion of Heaven she has for a prolonged period of time, sure. Whether she will? That's a different question. This is probably the reason Lunarians and Celestials rarely come down to Earth. The opposite is also true. One weird thing is that according to Perfect Memento in Strict Sense and Phantasmagoria of Flower View, Youmu's Hakurouken can cause Phantoms to go to Nirvana when used on them by destroying their regrets and doubts. --- End quote --- I guess this would bring into question why Lunarians are so up-tight about "acting pure", since Kaguya who is an impure being was able to create a pure land herself and theoretically could reach the same amount of purity as a Lunarian even though she drank the Hourai Elixir. Maybe they're just really arrogant :cirnotan: |
| WitheringFlowerCrown:
--- Quote from: degradingwindow on April 13, 2024, 08:05:22 PM ---Maybe they're just really arrogant :cirnotan: --- End quote --- And now you've figured out the secret to the Lunarians. "Acting Impure" certainly doesn't help in their case though. Since their Land is Pure by a lack of exposure to Kegare rather than naturally being made like that. In other words, it's Artifical, like a sanitised swimming pool. Someone commiting something like Murder or even harbouring feelings of absolute revenge or yearning for lack of death would be like peeing in that swimming pool. To use a better analogy: If you, an Impure human, walked into the Lunar Capital, then it would be like a person who's never taken a shower tracking mud into your house. Now if only they didn't kick out their Pure Land generator... |
| CyberAngel:
Interesting note, Toyosatowhatever did tell Youmu in TH13 that she seems to lack desires related to life and death, so yeah, she's unexpectedly "pure" in that sense. |
| nintendonut888:
A side note: Be wary of trusting the wiki at face value on this topic. I've done a fair amount of research on the topic recently for a story, and a lot of the wiki page's statements on impurity and pure lands beyond the basics of its relation to death are either incorrect, based on outdated translations, or pure conjecture. In reality, I believe the only two places explicitly identified as pure lands are the moon and the netherworld (I mean, the idea of a place directly adjacent to hell and frequented by shinigami like Higan being a pure land is pretty suspect), and Youmu and Yuyuko are stated as having "almost no impurity" rather than none at all. In addition, whoever made the page conflated Kaguya's manipulation of eternity with elements of a pure land, when they're similar but quite distinct subjects (Eientei was a pure land because her power of eternity halted the flow of impurity from entering Eientei, not because eternity and purity are the same thing). For the best source of canonical information on impurity, I recommend reading the first few chapters of Cage in Lunatic Runagate, which most of the page's theories are based on. Trying to gain a complete understanding of any topic in Touhou is a fool's errand due to how open to interpretation much of the information is, but you can at least build a solid theory of it from reading the official works and coming to your own conclusions. |
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