Teyvat is the fictional continent of Genshin Impact and is home to seven nations. It is generally believed that these nations correspond to certain nations or civilizations in real life. For example, most people believe that Inazuma is a fictional representation of Japan, whether through the culture, language, etc. Inazuma is probably the most obvious example.
But other than that, what do the other nations represent? Is it as obvious?
Let's start with the first two nations on the traveler's journey: Mondstadt and Liyue. Mondstadt has its own interesting story that will be discussed later. So let's talk about Liyue first. Many people believe Liyue represents some form of China given the culture, language, and names of the characters and places. But China itself is a very large concept with a very long history. Does the Liyue of Genshin Impact represent all of China and its entire history? It cannot be so simple.
First look at China's geography. Liyue captures the mountainous regions and marshy swamps of Southern China quite well (through Guili plains, etc.). But what about the vast steppe plains of China's north? What about the vast deserts such as the Gobi? These are entirely absent in Liyue.
So for a vast concept such as China, Liyue only seems to represent a part of it, namely the part of China south of the Great Wall. So who represents the other part of China, namely the part of China north and northeast of the Great Wall?
This goes into our second question? What does Mondstadt represent? Mondstadt is located northeast of Liyue. Many people believe that it represents German or some form of European culture. And that may not be wrong at all. But what if Mondstadt represented something more than Germany?
Germany is situated in the western part of the Eurasian continent. Why would Genshin choose to put it northeast of Liyue, nevermind border Liyue at all? First look at Mondstadt's name in Chinese 蒙德 Mengde. Literally, 蒙 Meng means Mongol and 德 De represents Germany (Deutschland). At first, some people may think these characters were chosen to transliterate the word 'Mond' meaning moon in German. They are not entirely wrong at all. But as is the case with many things in Genshin, some things have multiple meanings. Mengde or Mongol Germany just so happens to represent something else deeply tied to the history of China as well:
The Mongol Empire, also known in Chinese as the Yuan dynasty (元朝).
What do the Mongols and Germans have anything to do with each other? The Mongol armies reached as far as Germany during the Mongol Empire. So Mongol Germany basically represents how wide the Mongol Empire was at its peak. It reached as far west as Germany and as far east as China.
And that brings us back to the question: who represents the northern part of China, the part north of the Great Wall? These are precisely the Mongols and various other groups that inhabit north China. It should no longer come as much of a surprise to see why Mondstadt is located north of Liyue.
China is a large civilizational concept with a long history. Certainly, during the smaller Song or Ming dynasties, Liyue may be an accurate representation of the land south of the Great Wall. But that does not represent all of China. China has also gone through various other historical phases, such as the Yuan and Qing dynasties, when the emperors were from the north and northeast.
The Mongols and Man people are precisely those that hailed from north of the Great Wall. It just so happens that the game itself is named 原神 or Yuanshen. Moreover, the Qing dynasty lasted just as long as the Ming dynasty (around 200-300 years) and had just as important of an influence as (if not greater influence than) the Ming on modern China. These were also Chinese dynasties. And it is quite naive to assume that the small nation of Liyue can represent a gigantic concept such as China. Liyue may represent south China, definitely a very important part of China and the source of much of modern Chinese culture, but considering China's history in the past millennia, it is not much of a stretch to say that Mondstadt represents another side of China.
Mondstadt represents Anemo, whereas Liyue represents Geo. Anemo represents the wind, an amorphous concept that can swirl and cover large AoE, while also being able to absorb elements and take on other forms. Geo represents the sturdy and defensive, the rocky and shielded. How do these elements further emphasize the traits of their respective nations?
There is a stereotype that much of China's history has been defensive in nature. During the weaker and smaller periods of the Song and Ming, this is true. Southern China was fighting the northerners. They built the large Great Wall from rock and earth to defend themselves. For these periods in history, the shield and Geo element represent 'China' (or the southern part) quite well.
But that is a naive and incomplete assessment of Chinese history.
Anemo represents the northern element that has expanded across wide territory, having large AoE, while absorbing other elements, eventually becoming them. It is a kind of metaphor for the nomads of north, who have traveled across vast swaths of territory, over time settling down and becoming part of myriad civilizations. This is the manifestation of what the Yuan and Qing dynasties have accomplished in history.
Geo represents a crystallization of culture and civilization into something solid that lasts throughout the ages. Regardless of whatever winds are howling, the earth remains firm. This is a representation of the continuation of Chinese culture throughout its various historical periods. Regardless of time or space, a certain constant, that core civilizational identity has remained throughout millennia.
It should be emphasized that both the Anemo and Geo element are important in Chinese history. If the Yuan and Qing are the extreme embodiments of the Anemo during its golden ages, then the Han and Tang dynasties are the embodiments of Geo during its golden ages. Both the Han and Tang easily count as two of China's greatest empires in history. Both successfully conquered the north, whereas the Song and Ming completely failed to do so. Even though the Han and Tang are a representation of the Geo core civilizational culture, neither were completely passive nor defensive in nature. The Han and Tang were offensive in nature and turned that Geo element into dps. It is sort of like what the Geo claymore user Itto does, converting defense into attack.
An empire long divided must unite. During the periods in history when north and south were unified, when Anemo and Geo were one, the Great Wall became merely a tourist attraction. There was no need for war and bloodshed, when everybody lived under one roof of heaven. This kind of large-scale unity of the empire basically only happened four times in China's history in the past 2000 years: during the Han, Tang, Yuan, and Qing.
See Inazuma for a discussion on Anemo and Inazuma.
Similar to Kazuha, Tartaglia (Childe) is another character that appears closely tied to Liyue, but is also somewhat a force 'outside' of Liyue. Tartaglia does represent something deeply tied to China's history. This goes back to the Mongol empire and the 'Tatar' people or so-called 'Tatar-Mongol yoke'.
The term 'Tatar' has also been used historically to refer to the various people living around China's north, including the Mongol and Man people. So the term Tatar is tied to the Yuan and Qing periods. The stereotype of northerners is that they are tall, big, and good at fighting, and this is sort of captured by Tartaglia's character and story.
How did the Mongol empire, the Yuan dynasty, rise? What existed before the Mongol empire? During the period 900-1200, most of the world was divided into many small kingdoms, akin to small chunks or mobs almost. Even China itself was divided into several smaller kingdoms, including the Song, Jin, Liao, Xia, etc. Outside of China, the world was divided as well, whether it was in Central Asia, West Asia, North Eurasia, Europe, etc.
When these kingdoms were divided, naturally many conflicts and wars arised between them. Like a multi-body problem, the dynamics were complex. Essentially, what the Mongol Yuan accomplished was taking advantage of the various conflicts between these many different kingdoms, ultimately unifying them all into a single massive empire. Often if two kingdoms were fighting, they may use one kingdom against the other, and in the end take over both. This is exactly what happened with the Song, Jin, and Xia dynasties. Song, Jin, Xia were all fighting each other. The Yuan would ally with the Song to take over the Jin, and after that the Yuan would take over the Song.
Using one element against another is essentially what Anemo swirl does. It spreads elemental statuses across an AoE, making Anemo the premier element in breaking shields when multiple enemies are present.
But there is another ability in the game based on the same concept: Riptide. When multiple enemies are marked with riptide and are close to each other, the riptide will hit each other and do many instances of damage. This is arguably the most op skill in Childe's arsenal.
The Mongol Yuan represent one form of Anemo, the kind of massive hurricane that can sweep enemies across a huge AoE. But the Qing represents another form of Anemo, one that maintains characteristics of the wind and speed, but also a kind of crystallization and something that can endure for a long period of time.
So what represents the Qing dynasty in Liyue? There are at least 3 different Liyue characters who represent a form of the Qing: Xiao, Keqing, and Yun Jin.
As for Xiao, he is a Golden Winged Great Peng, and gold or Jin in Chinese is one of the main features of his character. The Qing dynasty initially started as the Later Jin dynasty. The emperors of the Qing were from the Aisin Gioro house, and Aisin Gioro means 'Gold' (Jin) in the Man language. So it could be said that Xiao represents a form of the Qing dynasty. Note that Xiao is one of the aliases he uses. His original yaksha name is Alatus.
Xiao is Anemo but also has characteristics of the Geo element. Xiao uses plunging attacks which do heavy blunt damage, similar to many hard-hitting geo attacks. Xiao does so much poise damage that he is almost like a Geo character, befitting of the land of Geo. Yet like the Qing he represents another form of Anemo, one that embodies wind and speed, but also something that can hit as hard as Geo. The difference between the Yuan and Qing is that the Qing lasted longer. The Qing was very similar to any other Chinese dynasty like the Han and Tang. It was basically indistinguishible from any other Han Chinese led dynasty. It maintained many aspects of Han Chinese culture, and the Qing rulers adopted so many aspects of Han culture, that they were basically Han themselves, and eventually most of the Qing rulers did assimilate to become Han Chinese themselves. Of course the Qing rulers had more of a northern origin and were from the Man ethnic group of Northeast China. So the Qing origins are more rooted in the Anemo element, just like Xiao.
Yun Jin is a representation of the Qing for a similar reason as Jin is part of her name. It is not the same Jin (金) meaning gold, but it sounds similar in Chinese. It is spelled basically the same in English anyways.
Keqing has a somewhat loose connection to the Qing dynasty. First off, Keqing has Qing 晴 in her name. This is technically different from the 清 in the Qing dynasty. And this alone is not too deep a connection since many things in China have 'qing' in their name (even if it is a different character). For example, Kazuha's ancestor Niwa/Kaedehara Yiqing (义庆) has qing (庆) in the name, but that's a very different character.
Moreover, Keqing's CN VA is Xie Ying. Why is this significant? One of the greatest accomplishments of the Qing was destroying the Ming dynasty. The Ming was one of the worst periods in Chinese history, notorious for oppressing the masses at the benefit of the select few. One of the people oppressed was supposedly surnamed Xie according to history books. So when Xie voice acts Keqing, it can be thought of as the Xie clan getting revenge on the Ming.
Also Keqing's JP VA has 英 in the name, which in Chinese can also refer to England. That is, the British empire defeated the Qing dynasty in the Opium wars, causing the decline of the dynasty and ensuing century of humiliation. Lastly, 'Qin Keqing' (different characters 秦可卿) is the name of a character in the famous Qing dynasty novel 'Dream of a Red Chamber' by Cao Xueqin. 'Dream of a Red Chamber' is considered one of the greatest classics of Chinese literature.
Of course, with most characters in Genshin, there are multiple dimensions to their design. This is only one analysis of Keqing's design. By no means is it the only interpretation. There may be many more interpretations as well.
It has been mentioned that much of Liyue's design is based on the beautiful Zhangjiajie (张家界) in Southern China. Zhangjiajie features the tall mountain peaks and forest parks and has even inspired movie films such as Cameron's Avatar. If anything, this is evidence that Liyue draws most inspiration from Southern China rather than Northern China. But bringing in the real-life beauty and natural scenery of China into a video game is quite an impressive feat for Genshin Impact, and the environmental artistic team deserves praise for a job well done. This is not something you would see in Breath of the Wild.
Why was Electro chosen as the element for Inazuma? One reason that comes to mind is Japan's relatively advanced electric technology and industries. The first high speed rail (Shinkansen) was from Japan. Many electronic parts and compliances are from Japan.
Moreover, looking at the radioactive balethunder affecting parts of Inazuma (Tatarasuna, Musoujin Gorge), it is reminiscent of the recent Fukushima radioactive spillover that occured in Japan. The history of Japan also features radiation and the atomic bomb. So perhaps electro is a reminder of Japan's past as well its future.
Why was Dendro chosen for Sumeru? Sumeru symbolizes several areas to the west of China such as India and the Middle East. These areas were the home of several cradles of civilization, including the Hindu civilization, Mesopotamia civilization, and Nile civilization. All these civilizations were based around rivers and featured agriculture, vegetation, and green plant life. Whether it is the rainforests and jungles of South Asia or lush greenery of the Gardens of Babylon, perhaps it is this theme that Sumeru draws its dendro roots from.
The dendro element serves as a catalyzer for reactions, and the dendro resonance gives EM to the party. If anemo embodies speed and cc, geo embodies shields and defense, electro embodies energy, then the theme of dendro is elemental reactions. Dendro reacts with pyro, hydro, and electro. It does not react with anemo, geo, or cryo. These four elements are inert with each other, but react with other elements, thereby forming two clusters of elements.
One dendro-electro reaction is spread or 蔓激化 manjihua. The combat designers have said the dendro-electro reaction is related to the local history of Sumeru. The character 蔓 is pronounced 'man' which is related to several things in the history of the Mideast and India. First off, the Ottoman empire was established in the Mideast, North Africa, and even parts of East Europe. The Ottomans had a Turkic origin and converted to Islam. They were one of the successor states of the vast Mongol Empire. Another such successor state was the Timurid empire in Iran. The Timurids would eventually found the Moghul empire in India, and the founder Babur would claim descent from Genghis Khan, just as Timur did.
The word 'man' also sounds similar to another group of people relevant in Chinese history: the Man 满 people who founded the Qing dynasty. Both the Qing empire and Ottoman empire were superpowers in their heydey, lasting throughout the 1700s and 1800s. Incidentally, both were brought down and carved apart by various European powers, most notably the British.
So the 'man' is a common unifying element between the Qing in the east and the Ottomans in the west. Moreover, the Man people who founded the Qing and the Turkic people who founded the Ottomans, can trace a common origin to North and Northeast China. The original Turks were Asian people from Northeast China that migrated west over time. The Turks formed the Gokturk khaganate in North Asia, but were conquered by the Tang. After the Tang broke apart, the Turks either migrated into China or further west and established various western empires in the Middle East and India. There is even a so-called Altaic hypothesis that the Man, Mongols, and Turkic have a common origin. All these groups were highly involved in the history of North China and Eurasian steppe. Their languages have similar linguistic features such as agglutination and SOV word order. Some Turkic words even share similarities to (Han) Chinese words, just like how Man and Mongol vocabulary shares some Chinese words. But fundamentally, the Man, Mongols, and Turks are all ethnic groups of China, historically and even in modern times. They are ethnic groups just like the Han Chinese because 'China' itself is a much broader concept, what some people (like Martin Jacques, Zhang Weiwei) refer to as a 'civilizational state'.
So it can be said that the quicken reaction occurs when the north steppe forces collide with the local dendro element in Sumeru. It provides the catalyzer for many civilizations in the Mideast and India: the Seljuks, Ottomans, Timurids, Mughals. So why is it electro then? Perhaps since electro refers to the nation of Japan, and Japan is around the northeast of China, it is emblamatic of the Northeast Chinese groups in history such as the Man, Xianbei, Turkic people. The Xianbei were the ancestors of the Mongols. And long ago, even the Yamato Japanese migrated to Japan from Northeast China. The Tungusic and Korean people also are from Northeast Asia. And Keqing (who has 'qing' in her name) has the electro element. So perhaps Genshin wants to say that electro covers the Northeast Asian element. Then when these northeast Asian groups migrate to the dendro lands of the west in the Mideast and India, that creates the quicken reaction.
The fact that Cyno is electro can be interpreted in various ways. For one if Cyno represents an Egyptian Anubis, and electro is the element of energy and technology, then this can be homage to the advanced civilization of Egypt in history. Another interpretation involves the Mamluks who ruled over Egypt around the time of the Mongol Empire and Ilkhanate. The Mamluks themselves had a Eurasian steppe origin and had contact with the Turks, so they themselves could embody the electro or Northeast Asian element.
But lastly, there is a scientific explanation behind the quicken reaction. When lightning strikes grass, it infuses more nitrogen into the earth, which can cause grass to grow greener. This is why if you use electro on the Trilakshana creatures (such as the rock or bouncy mushroom), it will 'activate' it and cause it to grow faster or make you jump higher. Similarly, the quicken reaction allows you to do greater dendro and electro damage.
These are various ways to interpret the quicken reaction, and there may be many more as well. But with the introduction of Sumeru, characters such as Yae and Raiden have become even more powerful for dendro-based teams, especially Yae given her EM scaling and synergy with the Gilded Dreams.