Wan Shi Tong's Library
From Avatar Wiki, the Avatar: The Last Airbender database
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- This article is about a place. For the episode by a similar name, see "The Library".
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Wan Shi Tong's Library |
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Si Wong Desert; central Earth Kingdom |
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Wan Shi Tong's Library was an immense library buried within the Si Wong Desert.
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[edit] History
The library is an ancient collection of books, built by the knowledge spirit Wan Shi Tong in the Spirit World. He later transported it to the real world to collect and preserve all of the world's knowledge with the assistance of his Knowledge Seekers. At one point in time the library was accessible to humans, as Wan Shi Tong hoped they would benefit from the vast amount of information. Though it can be assumed the collection was greatly enjoyed, other humans sought secrets that would destroy their enemies. Angered by the abuse of knowledge, the spirit closed the use of the library.
Eventually the location of the library was lost to mankind. Though the building of the library is the size of a large palace, most of it lay buried beneath the sands of the, with its top most spire visible from the desert. At one time, though, then-Lieutenant Zhao stumbled across the library. Because of the library's other-worldly origins, its collection contains a great amount of information concerning the spirits. From this, Zhao learned that the Ocean and Moon spirits, Tui and La, were located at the Spirit Oasis, and were the key to defeating the Water Tribe. The portion of the library concerning the Fire Nation was destroyed, presumably by Zhao to stop anyone from discovering his nation's own weakness.
With the help of Professor Zei, Team Avatar rediscovered the library. Wan Shi Tong grudgingly allowed Team Avatar to peruse the library after each had made a contribution to the collection, and on the condition that no knowledge from the library would be used towards violence. The group found an advanced, domed planetary calender room in the library. Using its gears, cogs, crystal-projected stars, as well as several rotating planets, the planetarium acts as a kind of almanac, illustrating both recorded history as well as projected future planetary alignments. This calendar revealed the solar eclipse to Team Avatar; this information they used to create The Invasion plan.
Outraged at the betrayal of his trust by the team, Wan Shi Tong completely buried the library, including the spire. He specifically said he was "taking his knowledge back", which may mean he returned the library to the Spirit World. While Team Avatar escaped, Zei stayed behind, stating that he could spend an eternity there.
[edit] Trivia
- In an illustration displaying the library as a whole, it retains an appearance similar to that of the Taj Mahal. The buried library's implied massive size is also reference to the mausoleum's most conspicuous characteristic.
- The writing at the bottom of the illustration reads 萬知堂神祕图書館, meaning "Wan Shi Tong's Mysterious Library".
- One of the books within the library illustrates a Lion Turtle.
