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Hong Meiling

Name:

紅 美鈴 (ほん めいりん) (♫)

Hong Meiling

Alternate spellings:

Hong Meirin, Hoan Meirin, Hong Mayling, Hong Mayrin

Species:

Youkai

Abilities:

Control of "Qi", martial arts

Age:

Unknown

Occupation:

Gatekeeper and Gardener of the Scarlet Devil Mansion

Location:

Scarlet Devil Mansion

Description:

  • Aqua-colored eyes and long, scarlet hair that symbolizes both her name and the place that she's guarding. Her green beret and dress resemble traditional Chinese clothing. Her beret has a gold star on the front that reads long (dragon).

Relationships:

Appearances:

Titles:

See Character Titles

Hong Meiling is a youkai, though it isn't known to which specific category she actually belongs. She guards the entrance to the Scarlet Devil Mansion along with her henchmen. She is known for her mastery of the martial arts, part of which can be seen from her movement which is performed with Shin-Kyaku (a move in Chinese martial arts).

During the events of Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, she bravely fought against the intruding heroines but ultimately failed to complete her job.

Fun Facts

  • The character for Hong literally means "Scarlet" in Japanese and "Red" in Chinese, and Meiling means "Beautiful Bell". The Meiling part, at least, is a common Chinese name. These characters are read in Japanese as "Kurenai Misuzu", and you'll sometimes see her name mispronounced or miswritten that way.
  • However, she is more widely known as "Chuugoku" (中国, which translates to China), the one whose real name is never remembered. At first, it was just a minor fan-only thing, but after a while, even ZUN himself said that he doesn't deny calling her "Chuugoku", so it's considered half-official at the moment.
  • It is known that in 2ch, there was a debate on how to read Meiling's name. One side said Hong Meiling, and the other said Kurenai Misuzu. The debate ended (sort of) when a user said "Why don't we just call her 'Chuugoku', as her clothing seems to identify her the most." As a result, even after ZUN said "Hong Meiling" is the correct pronunciation in an interview, people kept on calling Meiling "Chuugoku".
  • Meiling's nickname is further ingrained into the minds of fans by her clothing, and also by the name of her stage BGM, "Chinese Tea".
  • While that alone sounds quite miserable, that incident took her from being a barely remembered minor boss and made her famous as "the laughingstock of the Touhou series". She's gained quite a lot of popularity since then, recently managing to win the 2nd Touhou Saimoe tournament, besting both protagonists and an Extra Boss. If someone hadn't started calling her "Chuugoku", she would never have achieved such glory... Quite an interesting story.
  • A popular Flash animation called "My Name is Hong Meiling" spawned the meme "Sakuya-san, Sakuya-san, cleaning stop! Room cleaning stop!" (after which she gets stabbed in the forehead by a knife). It should be noted that the song in this video is actually sung to the tune of Kaguya's theme music—and the opening bars are from Eirin's theme music.
  • Sadly, despite reaching some level of recognition by becoming a playable character in Immaterial and Missing Power (albeit through a downloaded patch), Meiling was the only character to not have a storyline.
  • She is commonly referred to as the "lazy guardian" of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, though whether this stems from her actual personality or from the nickname "Chuugoku" is unknown. Many Japanese people complain about the reliability and quality of products manufactured in China. There are many fanfics that depict an enraged Sakuya behind a sleeping Meiling in front of the gates to the Mansion. The implication is that she has the "Chinese" quality of "Shinrai no Chuugoku" (信頼の中国, which translates to Reliable China), with much intended sarcasm.
  • Her relationship with Sakuya seems to be a popular topic for fan work, including comics, music and games. One running gag involves her being stabbed in the head by Sakuya's knives. This is usually due to her inability to keep unwanted visitors, such as Marisa, out of the mansion.
  • Sakuya and Meiling are the only characters in EoSD to have their long sideburns in braids.
  • In the MUGEN community, Meiling is known for her "Chuugoku Satsu" attack, an obvious parody of both her nickname and Akuma of Street Fighter fame's signature attack.

Official Profiles

Embodiment of Scarlet Devil - おまけ.txt

Hong Meiling

 ○華人小娘

  紅 美鈴(ホン・メイリン)


  能力:気を使う程度の能力


  3面ボスです。中国人風の妖怪です。


  カラフルで民族っぽい衣装です。彼女は紅魔館の門番で、湖外からや

  ってくる侵入者を積極的に排除しています。

  これといった特別なキャラではないのですが、ここで初めて、ストー

  リーに関係あるものになっていきます。

  といってもお嬢様の存在を言うだけですが。

Chinese Girl

Hong Meiling

Ability: Control of Chi

Stage 3 boss. A Chinese-looking youkai.

Her clothing is colorful and somewhat traditional. She is the gatekeeper of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, and prevents intruders from beyond the lake from reaching the mansion. She is by no means a special character, but she is the first character that has something to do with the main story. Even if that something happens to be merely mentioning the Mistress.


Immaterial and Missing Power - 上海アリス通信.txt

Hong Meiling


Book Synopsis

Bohemian Archive in Japanese Red

Main article: Article and Interview: Meiling

One day, a mysterious crop circle appears in the gardens of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, causing widespread speculation, rumors and gossip around the Mansion. Meiling, who was responsible for taking care of the garden, claims not to be the culprit, but admits that she's been tasked by Remilia to restore the garden to its original state now that her mistress has become bored with the crop circle pattern. During her interview with Aya, she notes she is quite worried, as she has no idea how change the flowers back. Questioned about the crop circle's origins, Meiling vehemently denies falling asleep, so Aya goes on to talk about aliens...

Perfect Memento in Strict Sense

Main article: Perfect Memento: Hong Meirin
  • Meiling works as a gate guard at the Scarlet Devil Mansion.
  • She is a well-rounded youkai, skilled in martial arts rather than focusing on a single power.
  • Although this means she isn't very powerful among youkai, she has no weak points.
  • She is unusually human-like and will chat with humans while on the job.
  • If you don't try to get through her gate, she will rarely attack you.
  • She performs Tai Chi Chuan daily, and has a nap at noon.
  • The best way to exterminate her is straightforwardly, in a formal match.
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