Historical references of chawan sign

[shenhaZ]

Do you know any historical references from there the idea of chawan sign came from? Or it's completely original shenmue 2 idea? Mybe you've seen something like that in movies or books

[BlueMue]

Shenmue II's chawan sign at least references Shenmue. Take a look at this.

By the way. Did you know that Alpha trading office's boss knows the chawan sign??

[Testament]

I've never been able to find any references to it besides those contained within Shenmue. Unfortunately it's a pretty generic callsign (cha+wan = tea+bowl), so there aren't a lot of very specific ways you could search for it.

I will say though, that I would think Wikipedia would mention it somewhere on the Chawan article, if it existed in real life. It's probably just one of those "pulpy" elements of Suzuki's story.

[Zoltor]

Well the game states It's a complete work of fiction, when you start a new game, and that any resemblance to any people or oganizations there may be, are coincidental. That sign is such a unique feature, and exuted in such a specific way, I highly doubt there's any historical ref to such, "not directly anyway"

While this sign is completely made up, in ancient China, they use to use a vast number of secret signs, executed in many ways to pass messages or try to contact other members of a specific sect.

It's down right obvious Yu is a big fan of wuxia series, so the whole sign thing is clearly one of the ideas he drew from watching such.

[Kiyuu]

Do you know any historical references from there the idea of chawan sign came from? Or it's completely original shenmue 2 idea? Mybe you've seen something like that in movies or books

I cannot find any "historical" references of chawan sign, but apparently it's not a completely original idea. It's said that chawan sign was performed in a Japanese manga series, Kenji (拳児, published 1988-1992) a story of a young martial artist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_(manga)

Since it features Bajiquan, the similarities to Shenmue has been pointed out by some Japanese fans. I can't say how similar they are, though, as I've never read Kenji unfortunately.

[rome]

Do you know any historical references from there the idea of chawan sign came from? Or it's completely original shenmue 2 idea? Mybe you've seen something like that in movies or books

I cannot find any "historical" references of chawan sign, but apparently it's not a completely original idea. It's said that chawan sign was performed in a Japanese manga series, Kenji (拳児, published 1988-1992) a story of a young martial artist.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenji_(manga)

Since it features Bajiquan, the similarities to Shenmue has been pointed out by some Japanese fans. I can't say how similar they are, though, as I've never read Kenji unfortunately.

I just started reading, but already hooked.

http://m.mangafox.me/manga/kenji/v01/c001/1.html

Some of the story so far reminds me of Shenmue in a way, but I'm still in the early stages of the story. Thanks Kiyuu.

[Kiyuu]

I just started reading, but already hooked.

http://m.mangafox.me/manga/kenji/v01/c001/1.html

Some of the story so far reminds me of Shenmue in a way, but I'm still in the early stages of the story. Thanks Kiyuu.

You're quite welcome! So, you can read it on Android, though the link doesn't work on my PC. Good for you!
A guy who has read the series said that Chawan sign appears in Vol. #13. Long way to go, huh? Enjoy reading!

[Giorgio]

This link should work for PC: http://mangafox.me/manga/kenji/ I've read a long ago that AM-2 was inspired by this manga in the creation of Shenmue; not sure if this is speculation or not.

[Kiyuu]

This link should work for PC: http://mangafox.me/manga/kenji/

Thank you for the link. But, that doesn't work, either; giving me error message with a link to "cash copy" which leads to the list of Kenji chapters with disabled links. Apparently, they're trying to protect IP in Japan.

[Giorgio]

Thank you for the link. But, that doesn't work, either; giving me error message with a link to "cash copy" which leads to the list of Kenji books with disabled links. Apparently, they're trying to protect IP in Japan.

This: https://www.mediafire.com/?v6myfxqammerx, probably won't be blocked by IP. They are comic book reader/archive files (reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_book_archive). They can still be extracted as ZIP files, through, and the contents are image files.

[Kiyuu]

This: https://www.mediafire.com/?v6myfxqammerx, probably won't be blocked by IP. They are comic book reader/archive files (reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_book_archive). They can still be extracted as ZIP files, through, and the contents are image files.

Thank you, again, for the link. Now I can view the comics.
I've just skimmed Volume #13 of Kenji and found the Iron Lion I talked about in this post:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=46949&start=30#p1071362

That's certainly a possible similarity to Shenmue, besides Bajiquan talked about all the time.
As for chawan sign, I didn't find the reference so far, though there are couple of scenes with tea cups on the table.

[Giorgio]

[...] That's certainly a possible similarity to Shenmue, besides Bajiquan talked about all the time.
As for chawan sign, I didn't find the reference so far, though there are couple of scenes with tea cups on the table.

Think I found the reference for the Chawan Sign, in Vol 6 Ch 2 Pages 27-28. Click the "Show" button below to see the images of these pages.

[Kiyuu]

Think I found the reference for the Chawan Sign, in Vol 6 Ch 2 Pages 27-28. Click the "Show" button below to see the images of these pages.

Ah, yes. Thank you for the images. That should be it, though it's performed with only one cup with lid.

[Himuro]

It should be known that Kenji helped popularize baji quan in Japan, period, and was one of the main influences for Akira in VF.

[Master Kyodai]

There were secret signs in pretty much all cultures where people belonged to a "secret society" and could not talk freely in public, may it be ninjas, secret service agents or other conspirators. The one from Kenji seems reasonable while the chawan sign in Shenmue is undoubtedly pure fiction.

The dumb thing about the chawan sign in Shenmue is that a secret sign should be subtle and discreet for obvious reasons. Putting 4 cups of tea in front of you in a tea shop doesn't just look stupid it also draws attention. It would simply not be very practical to ask for 4 cups when you are sitting in a tea shop alone unless you really enjoy a discussion with the waitress about why you need 4 cups and all at once.