Introductory Note
General Chan (83 AG – 162 AG), although by no means as prominent a figure as the near-mythical Wang Fire, nevertheless occupies a significant position among the recent patriotic heroes of the Fire Nation. Notably choosing to serve in the Army rather than rather than the Navy of his forebears, Chan began his career during the turbulent period surrounding the downfall of Fire Lord Ozai. In the following decades, he rose to prominence as a fearless warrior, astute diplomat and skilled haiku poet, serving the Fire Nation and the United Republic in numerous campaigns.
Most important for contemporary historians, however, has been Chan's crucial role as a 'clean' Fire Nation officer, disassociated in the popular mind from the excesses of the Ozai regime and renowned for his work with Avatar Aang in multiple reconciliation projects. This state of affairs arguably renders him a more acceptable figure for public commemoration than other military figures of the period such as Admiral Zhao or Yon Rha. Indeed, while never achieving the prominence of the aforementioned Wang Fire, in many respects Chan remains one of the Fire Nation's most significant heroes from the transitional period encompassing the end of the Hundred Year War and the establishment of the United Republic. Chan's peaceful death from natural causes at his home on Ember Island brought forth an outpouring of grief from all corners of the world, with his state funeral in the Fire Nation capital being attended by both Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang along with a host of other global dignitaries.
While cataloguing and removing the considerable assemblage of artefacts, awards and other objects left behind by General Chan, municipal workmen discovered a cache of handwritten scrolls concealed inside a false-bottomed chest of Water Tribe construction. This rich collection of material, known as the Chan Archive, was purchased at auction by the present author and comprises more than fifteen separate bundles of scrolls, containing nothing less than the previously-unknown self-penned memoirs of General Chan himself.
However, as will become clear, it is apparent that even if the Chan memoirs had been known of during their author's lifetime, they could never have been published. Written irregularly in the final years of Chan's life, they present a highly embittered and deeply biased account of his experiences from which no historical figure, including even Avatar Aang himself, is allowed to emerge unscathed.
The author's harshest treatment, however, is reserved for himself – the General Chan startlingly presented to us in his own words is no hero, but instead a coward, bully, cad and thief whose fame, we learn, was built on nothing but falsehood and deception. While the spectacle of a hero attempting so thoroughly to demolish his own reputation in this way may seem unbelievable, it must be pointed out that Chan's descriptions of many historical events can be verified with reference to other sources – indeed, sometimes his uncensored eyewitness account can provide more plausible information than the official Fire Nation accounts of the period, whose reputation for politically-influenced unreliability is well-attested.
In this first selection from the Chan Archive, published with the support of a grant from the Cabbage Corp Historical Research Program, we follow Chan in his own words through the earliest stages of his military career, culminating in the events surrounding the fall of Fire Lord Ozai in which he was a close, if deeply reluctant, participant.
Goro Masanobu Furita
Republic City
169 AG