Wan Shi Tong is he who knows ten thousand things. A wise spirit owl and the oldest librarian of the material world, he bestowed knowledge upon the earliest humans by sharing his vast library with the material world. However, humans evolved into fickle beings, and Wan Shi Tong quickly learned of their deceitful nature. He had hoped to preserve all of the world’s knowledge across time and geography to share with mankind, who were burdened with the cycle of death and rebirth. However, mankind did not share his sincerity. They abused his intelligence and trust to wage war and destruction. Wan Shi Tong was enraged by this and banned humans from his library, but continued to add to his collection to satisfy his own curiosity. His library is now an urban legend hidden deep in the Si Wong desert but is still one of the most sought-after destinations in the world, a treasure trove of priceless, untouched knowledge.
“I am Wan Shi Tong, he who knows ten thousand things. You are clearly lost… I suggest you take your leave now, as your kind is no longer permitted in my study.”
“But why? Why collect all these books if you can’t share it with anyone?” the Avatar retorted.
Wan Shi Tong’s eyes narrowed at the boy’s remark. “That’s just it. The motive to learn should only be for oneself, but that is clearly a concept you humans have not learned yet. You only seek knowledge for your own benefit or for the sake of knowing more than someone else. You use it like currency, not that I’ve ever understood you humans and your desperate need for such a construct.”
The Avatar grimaced from the truthfulness of his accusation. He too, was in desperate need of information that might give them the advantage in ending a hundred-year war, not that Wan Shi Tong needed to know that. However, he felt justified in knowing that this information could help end a war, not start one.
“I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself.” He grinned sheepishly. “I’m Aang, and as the Avatar, I promise I won’t abuse your study. I heard you like donations to your collection so I brought this uh…” He frantically shuffled through his bag with his free hand and whipped out the first parchment he felt. “…this… poster?” Aang blinked twice while his wanted poster stared back at him, a bounty price plastered on his forehead.
After a moment of silence for Aang’s pride, Wan Shi Tong reluctantly took the scroll. “You’re not very bright, are you?” he responded.
Aang laughed nervously as he backed away from the owl. “I’ll just be going now, you know, to quench my thirst for knowledge! Thank you, Mr. Owl Spirit… Sir!” He quickly collected his bag and made a beeline for the maps and geography wing.
***
After hours of perusing Wan Shi Tong’s vast library, Aang finally acquired enough knowledge of the Fire Nation to bring to his allies. The Fire Nation had waged war on the rest of the world for almost one hundred years and had conveniently erased any trace of the Fire Nation from generations of world maps to maintain their elusiveness.
“…And who has the great honor of being targeted by our peace-seeking Avatar?”
Aang whipped his head around and came face to face with Wan Shi Tong, whose eyes were just as large as Aang’s head, and only inches away. “No one! I’m just – I just came across some cool pictures is all. I’d never seen any like them, so I… I was going to ask if I could borrow one?”
“If you’re going to lie to him who knows ten thousand things, you ought to try harder. You have betrayed my trust and abused my knowledge, like every human before you.” Wan Shi Tong raised his wings, creating a draft that quickly became a terrifying current.
“You’ve got it all wrong!” Aang shouted over the sound of the wind. “The Fire Nation kills countless people every day! I need this information; it’s the only way to stop them from hurting more people!”
“Countless others have come before you, including the Fire Nation, taking advantage of my vast collection to secure the strategic upper hand against other humans. You think you are the only ones who believe their fight was justified? How many will die for your cause? You came here to exploit their weaknesses, just like they did. Avatar or not, how are you any different from those monsters you fight?”
The wind force from Wan Shi Tong crumbled the ground beneath them, sinking the building into the sand. “You humans never deserved my gift and you’ve shown that you will not change.” Sand poured into the building from all sides, collapsing the ceiling and windows. “I’m afraid you may not return to end your human war, young Avatar, because I will now be taking my knowledge back.”
Author's Note: The plot in the show was so similar to The Spirit-Guarded Cave that I just had to incorporate it somehow! The Spirit-Guarded Cave is essentially about a group of people who flee their home and hide their prized belongings in a cave, in the care of the spirits who reside there. Generations pass and the original owners never return, but the cave spirits spend the rest of time protecting the treasure from looters that they describe as "white foreigners." The story ends by stating that the treasure will remain untouched forever, similar to Wan Shi Tong's library (after he sinks it).
The stories are so similar that I was able to keep the plot from the show essentially the same. The only difference it that it highlights Wan Shi Tong as the main character instead of Aang to make him more relatable to the reader (even though they both had fault to their reasonings). He could easily be depicted as a villain, but he actually had valid reasons to distrust humans that resulted in his hostile attitude towards them. As an eight-year-old watching this show for the very first time, I thought his logic was so profound! Sometimes it takes an objective opinion from an outsider (like Wan Shi Tong) to make us realize things about ourselves that would otherwise require a lot of self-reflection. The interaction between Wan Shi Tong and Aang has always made me reflect on how destructive human nature can be to ourselves and others, and we often don't even realize it. It's also important to realize that all disagreements are (typically) rooted in personal experiences, like how Aang and Wan Shi Tong disagreed because they both thought they were justified.
Laos Folk-Lore: The Spirit-Guarded Cave, by Katherine Neville Fleeson, with photographs by W.A. Briggs (1899).
Red Sand in the Sahara Desert, Source