China is a region in Earth, which is also a nation-state and a civilization. In the Cthulhu Mythos, it is presented as a center of cult activity, particularly that of Cthulhu. The Plateau of Tsang and the Plateau of Leng have both been suspected of being in China.
In Lovecraft's Fiction[]
When the Louisiana cultist Castro gives Inspector Legrasse information about the Cthulhu Cult in "The Call of Cthulhu", he claims that the source of his knowledge is his talks with the "undying leaders of the cult in the mountains of China." These "deathless Chinamen" instruct him about "Cyclopean stones on islands in the Pacific" and "double meanings in the Necronomicon".
Dr. Alfred Clarendon, in "The Last Test", also claims to have gotten eldritch knowledge from China: "I didn’t go to China for nothing," he boasts, and declares that it was there that he once "heard an old man...calling on Yog-Sothoth."
In "Out of the Aeons", China is said to be one of the places where the "hidden and detested cult of Ghatanothoa" had penetrated--and it is said to still survive in "the Far East".
The Deep One's 1846 purge of Innsmouth, according to The Shadow Over Innsmouth, was covered up with rumours of a plague from China.
Lovecraft Circle Writers[]
Frank Belknap Long, in "The Hound of Tindalos", describes the Liao drug as having been "used centuries ago by Chinese alchemists", and to have been used by the Chinese philosopher Lao Tze" to vision the Tao.
Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game[]
Supplements connected to the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game have offered background material on China.
Secrets of Japan[]
- Main article: Secrets of Japan
Taoism, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Islam are all practiced within China, but in a low-key manner. Officially athiesm is the "religion" of the People's Republic of China. Within China are many Mythos secrets. The Plateau of Leng is possibly located within the Xinjiang region. The plateau is the Tcho-Tcho peoples' center of power, and the Lama of Leng is a Tcho-Tcho. Somewhere within China is the city of Yian, the home of the Kuen-Yuin (Oriental sorcerers), and it's likely the center of a Cthulhu Cult. Inside China is also a cult dedicated to Ghatanothoa. The Plateau of Tsang is believed to be in Tibet and has a significant population of Tcho-Tcho and the Miri Nigri, their predecessors. Nyarlathotep's avatar in China is known as the Bloated Woman, the Outer God Yidhra has her avatar Madame Yi, and the Chinese know Hastur as Kaiwan. Within China is also the Brotherhood of the Black Lotus, a cult founded in China during the 6th century BC dedicated to Hastur (through the Emerald Lama, an avatar) and whose influence is global, and which directly or indirectly controls the Chinese Triads and the Golden Triangle drug trade.
Cthulhu Rising[]
- Main article: Cthulhu Rising
In the future setting of Cthulhu Rising, the Chinese Consortium is the most powerful state on Earth, the largest state within the United Earth Federation (UEF), and the greatest contributor to the world's economy. It was established in 2086 AD by the merger of China and most of Southeast Asia, and later came to include parts of Russia. It is an authoritarian state with a socialistic economy, producing a total GDP of E$91.4 trillion. They are one of the leading interstellar colonial powers, rival of the United America with the largest population both on Earth (1.88 billion) and in space (168 million). Of the 12 top megacorporations, the 3rd most powerful is Chinese (the Beijing-based Cheung Corporation) and the 4th most powerful is Sino-American (the Mars-based Consolidated Aerospace). A cutting-edge Chinese biotech firm (Qin Mian Technologies) has been experimenting with Shoggoth DNA, creating a contagion that mutates humans into proto-Shoggoths.
The Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan[]
- Main article: Call of Cthulhu, The Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan
Ruling China in the year 5000 AD is the Empire of Tsan Chan, the last hope of mankind in a world gone mad because of the "Dream" created by Cthulhu. In a world ruled by the Great Old Ones and their servitor races, populated by teeming masses of insane humans (the Dreamers), a dark, oppressive empire rules China, Korea, and parts of Vietnam, Burma, and Thailand. Founded by the Deathless sorcerers (Kuen-Yuin) of the Plateau of Leng, it's an empire of sane humans (the Dreamless) ruled by the Mighty Children (eldritch abominations created by the Deathless), with an elite consisting of the Deathless sorcerers, the Ophidians (aka, the Serpent People), and a military caste. They have formed an alliance with the Elder Things and the Ghouls, and are at war with those who serve Cthulhu (the Star Spawn and Deep Ones), the hordes of Dreamers, the empire of the Tcho-Tcho, the Mi-Go aliens, and the Shoggoth. Protecting its borders is the "Interdiction", a continent-sized Elder Sign created using Deathless and Ophidian sorcery, Elder Thing technology, and pre-Dream human technology.
References[]
- Call of Cthulhu, Secrets of Japan
- Call of Cthulhu, Cthulhu Rising
- Call of Cthulhu, The Cruel Empire of Tsan Chan