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Great Hakurei Barrier

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博麗大結界 (はくれいだいけっかい)
Great Hakurei Barrier
ha̠kɯᵝɺ̠e̞ː da̠ike̞k̚ka̠i
Location

Encircling Gensokyo

Residents
Appearances

The Great Hakurei Barrier (博麗大結界 Hakurei Dai-Kekkai) is the barrier that hides Gensokyo away from the Outside World, and which allows youkai to survive within even when outside humans no longer believe in them. It is known that the Hakurei Shrine is located on the border and believed that Yukari Yakumo lives somewhere along the border as well (though not near the shrine).

History

Sometime in the 15th century, the youkai now known as Yukari Yakumo set the groundwork for the barrier with her "Youkai Expansion Project", turning Gensokyo into a haven for youkai by enchanting it to attract the fantastic and repel the mundane.[1][2][3]

The Barrier was proposed by Yukari and the other Sages of Gensokyo and erected later in Meiji 18 (CE 1885). Although the Gensokyo Record states that it was made by human priests and later reinforced by youkai,[4] ZUN has commented that the Gensokyo Record is unreliable[5] and that Yukari is widely acknowledged as the creator of the Barrier[6][1][7] One doubter of this is Yuyuko Saigyouji, who doubts that even Yukari could form such a strong barrier)[8]. While the idea was at first highly controversial among youkai and led to much infighting between them, it is now almost universally accepted.

The barrier is so important to Gensokyo that the year of its formation is now marked as the year 0 in the Gensokyo Calendar.

Modern Era

The Hakurei Shrine, which exists on both sides of the border, is supposed to be its only gateway. However, the phenomenon of "spiriting away" can also cause objects and even living beings to slip through the border at random, particularly if they have started to be forgotten by the outside world. For instance the crested ibis started to become more common in Gensokyo after the Japanese variety were recognised as extinct, and paper started showing up more frequently with the rise of digital storage. Outside humans are not protected by the Spell Card rules and thus can be freely preyed on by youkai, but they may choose to become citizens of the Human Village or request for the Hakurei shrine maiden to send them home.

Even in modern times, it is still possible for youkai, gods and even entire locations (such as the Scarlet Devil Mansion and Moriya Shrine) to pass through the border and enter Gensokyo.

While some youkai (most notably Yukari Yakumo, Nue Houjuu and the zashiki-warashi) have shown the ability to exit Gensokyo and travel to the outside world, it appears that this requires uncommon knowledge, abilities and/or conditions, as other characters seem to think of it as nigh-impossible. It is believed that youkai go on "hunting trips" through the border to gather humans from the outside world as food, disguising the kidnappings as stories of people running away from home,[4] but it is unclear how and when these are performed.

Structure

A tear in the barrier, from Strange and Bright Nature Deity: Chapter 25.

As a "boundary of common sense" the barrier is designed to affect only living things and their creations, while allowing natural forces to pass through (hence the barrier is permeable to sunlight, and Gensokyo's rivers are connected to those of the Outside World). The space on the edges of the barrier is non-Euclidean - humans who attempt to leave the barrier will find themselves encountering the same landmarks over and over, without ever getting any further from where they started.[7]

Urban Legend in Limbo describes two ways of travelling through the Barrier. True, complete passage can be achieved by punching a hole in the barrier and walking through. However, beings may also enter or leave Gensokyo by being "spirited away", a method which is often only temporary and allows only certain items to be brought inside or outside Gensokyo.[9] Some of these spirited away travellers have little physical presence (sometimes to the point of appearing only as a shadow) and will eventually be pulled back home, remembering their trip as if it were only a dream. In fact at least some of these trips have taken the form of literal dreams, with the traveller's mind returning to their body when they awake. However, it is still possible for a dreamer in the Outside World to bring some objects from Gensokyo to the Outside World and viceversa. Yukari is known for being the one who purposedly spirits away humans by causing fluctuations in the barrier.[10][11]

The barrier is weaker around objects which carry the spiritual energy of the Outside World. Usually this effect is barely noticable, outside of concentrated sources like the Occult Balls. However, when one of the trees around the Hakurei Shrine was killed, a tree from the Outside World was drawn in to replace it, causing the surrounding area to become distorted.[12] On another occasion Rinnosuke Morichika was briefly drawn into the Outside World due to concentrating on an MP3 player while Reimu was nearby tampering with the barrier.[13]

As shown in Touhou Bougetsushou, the similarity of the Great Hakurei Barrier to the barrier which surrounds the Lunar Capital means that it is possible to travel between them with a Lunar Veil, or even a specially-constructed rocket, without ever passing through the Outside World. As Yukari's first attempt at invading the Moon predates the barrier's construction, it is possible that Gensokyo's barrier was at least partially based on that of the Lunar Capital.

Gallery

References