Chin Village


 * This article is about the village. For other uses, see Chin (disambiguation).

"earth"

- This is by far the worst town we've ever been to.

Chin Village is a medium-sized town located on the cliffs of the Earth Kingdom's southwestern coast. It played host to the unique Avatar Day festival, a festival in retribution for Avatar Kyoshi's alleged murder of their leader, Chin the Great.

History
Chin Village was named after Chin the Conqueror, a warlord and tyrant who launched a military conquest and was killed during a confrontation with Avatar Kyoshi when he threatened her peninsula, her home.

The village was founded by the followers of the deceased warlord, who remembered him as Chin the Great, a great and loved ruler rather than a warlord. The people of Chin Village had, until recently, honored their fallen leader by celebrating what they called "Avatar Day", a day which celebrated their hatred for the Avatar.

It was on the day of said festival in the spring of 100 ASC that Avatar Aang, Sokka, and Katara entered the city. They enjoyed the festival, thinking that the effigies of Kyoshi, Roku, and Aang were there to honor the Avatar. However, when one of the villagers torched the effigies, Katara intervened by extinguishing the fire. Aang revealed his identity to the terrified villagers, and, in an attempt to clear his name, he agreed to stand trial according to the customs of Ching. Unbeknownst to him, that meant that he would be imprisoned until the trial itself as the villagers did not accept Water Tribe currency for his bail.

While Aang bonded with his fellow inmates, Sokka and Katara investigated the crime scene of the alleged murder, where the villagers had erected a statue of Chin and a shrine to commemorate their fallen leader. Due to the material the buildings were erected from, the Water Tribe siblings were able to deduce that their was a big hole in Mayor Tong's story of how Kyoshi murdered Chin.

Aang was tried and found guilty at that spot to next day, though his sentencing was cut short when the Rough Rhinos invaded the town. Kahchi destroyed the statue of Chin the Great before Aang defeated him and blew him in the ocean. The rest of the fighting group proceeded to the town and started to destroy it by setting the houses on fire or tearing them down. However, due to the intervention of Team Avatar, the invaders were expelled, and the villagers repurposed "Avatar Day" to commemorate the day that the Avatar saved the town from destruction.

Laws


The judicial system of the village was rather unconventional. Criminals were not given a trial as in other places, but were instead placed in front of a gathering of villagers where their punishment was decided. The accused were not permitted to defend themselves by formal methods; no defense lawyer, no evidence, and no witnesses were permitted. It was decided whether or not they were guilty by the mayor. If a guilty verdict was delivered, the Wheel of Punishment was presented, with varying degrees of punishments depicted on it, from community service to methods of execution. Members of the crowd often called out their preferred type of punishment.

Avatar Day


Avatar Day was a festival unique to Chin Village which celebrated the Avatar, in this case by showing their hatred. According to village history, Avatar Kyoshi killed their leader, Chin the Great, over three hundred years ago. Every year on the anniversary of Chin's death, the village celebrated Avatar Day to show their hatred for the Avatars. The Avatar Day festival was a parade with large paper floats, vendors selling deep-fried foods, and people celebrating. The highlight of the celebration occurred when giant paper effigies of previous Avatars were paraded through the village to the center where upon they are lit.

After 370 years of this tradition, Avatar Day was altered to honor the Avatar and remember the day that Aang saved the village. Unfried dough in the shape of Aang was served in his honor as a reminder of the day Aang was not boiled in oil.

Notable figures

 * Chin the Great
 * Mayor Tong
 * Scary prisoner
 * Sensitive ruffian

Trivia

 * Sokka remarked that this was the worst town that Team Avatar had visited on their travels.