Chaeryu

"My father was an unintelligent boor, but during his rule the rains fell, the fields were green, and the fish were so plentiful you could pluck them from the seas by hand."

— Zoryu about Chaeryu's reign.[1]

Chaeryu was the ruler of the Fire Nation preceding Fire Lord Zoryu. Although he was physically strong and his reign was marked by bountiful harvests, Chaeryu was also guided by his passions, easily influenced, and often acted impulsively. Besides his official wife Sulan, he had numerous mistresses, most importantly Huazo. Him having two sons by women belonging to two noble clans eventually resulted in a succession conflict upon his death, called the Camellia-Peony War.^[1][2]

History

As a teenager, Chaeryu fell in love with Lady Huazo of the Saowon clan, taking her as his mistress. They would often retreat from the pressures of the royal court, venturing to the countryside. Chaeryu greatly enjoyed these trips, as they distanced him from the politics. However, he and Huazo would also often bicker due to the trips, as Chaeryu took little interest in preparing them and thought that they would do fine without equipment. In contrast, his mistress believed it foolish to venture into the wilds without anything and often had to handle all of the preparations on her own.^[4]

Huazo was not well-received as a royal mistress, and Chaeryu became convinced that he could do better than her. During a royal garden party, he was introduced to Lady Sulan of the Keohso clan and was immediately smitten with her. Although this provided a great opportunity to end his relationship with Huazo, it turned into a great embarrassment for him when Huazo revealed she was pregnant with his first child, Chaejin.^[4]

Chaeryu married Lady Sulan, who also fell pregnant with a son. Although she was considered a wonderful person by many, others believed her to be hopelessly naive. She convinced Chaeryu to name their son Zoryu, whose name used a character that was traditional to the Saowon clan. This caused great offense to the Saowon, though Sulan had only believed that the name sounded nice.^[4] Sulan died giving birth to Zoryu. Chaeryu took several more mistresses, and Zoryu later suspected that he had many more illegitimate siblings. Unlike Huazo, however, none of these later mistresses had a high rank, and their children were not officially acknowledged as his.^[1]

Chaeryu's sons were playmates to each other in their youth, but after he ascended to the throne, Chaeryu decided to exclude his illegitimate son from the royal family and the line of succession. Chaejin was sent to live with the Fire Sages away from court, and Chaeryu forbade anyone to speak on the matter as long as he lived.^[1]

Despite being considered an unintelligent boor by his family, Chaeryu was remembered for the plentiful harvests during his reign, which came to an end after his death.^[1][2] People began referring to him as "Chaeryu of the green fields"^[2] and he was succeeded by his son Zoryu.

Physical description

Chaeryu's physical appearance was nearly matched by those of his sons, Chaejin^[5] and Zoryu, as Kyoshi described the two of them to have looked like copies of Chaeryu.^[1]

Personality

Chaeryu possessed exceptional strength and an "insatiable appetite" or lust when it came to sexual relations. He loved to travel, wanting to be as close to nature as possible, without the comforts of escaping the confines of the farm. He let himself be carried away by his passions and gave in to meaningless whims regardless of the political consequences. Chaeryu was perceived by some as a "stupid idiot", but he was primarily associated with abundant harvests and resulting prosperity. Although he himself did not play an important role in it, his persona was associated with this flourishing.

Relatives

Main article: Fire Nation Royal Family

First Fire Lord

Descendants

Yosor

Descendants

Gonryu

Descendants

Huazo

Chaeryu

Sulan

Chaejin

Zoryu

Descendants

Taiso

Hazei

Sozin

Zeisan

Yasu

Roku

Ta Min

Azulon

Ilah

Rina

Jinzuk

Iroh

Ozai

Ursa

Noren

Lu Ten

Zuko

Azula

Kiyi

Izumi

Iroh

Izumi's daughter[6]

Preceded by Unknown

Heir to the Fire Lord c. 4th century BG

Succeeded by Zoryu

Preceded by Unknown; eventually Gonryu

Fire Lord c. 4th century BG - c. 297 BG

Succeeded by Zoryu

References