The Yang World is the term used by the Shen of the Middle Kingdom to describe the Umbra. It seems to encompass the Spirit Wilds, the Dreaming and the Astral Reaches. It is a realm of positive (if not benign) chi and floats "above" the physical plane. Housing a near-infinite number of realms and spirit inhabitants, the Yang World brims with energy.
The Yang Realms have numerous realms, but unlike the Yin World, there is no central, dominating one. Ancient hengeyokai even postulate that all living things have a domain of their own, much like the Den-Realms of the Bastet or the Nagah's Ananata. Yang energy flows capriciously through the area; wild storms and winds buffet the Fabric, and travel is uncertain and dangerous. Various realms dot the Yang maelstrom; these realms house all manner of deities, dragons and powerful spirits. Examples include Umi, the Tiger Lands, the Kingdom of Fiery Passions, the Realm of Fighting Spirits (known in the west as the Battleground), the Temple of Ancestors, the Mountains of Heaven and the Goblin Jungle.
Souls of dead mortal occasionally end up in the Yang Realms. Their stay is short: They pass into a realm; are judged, rewarded or punished by the spirit denizens; then become a spirit, are reincarnated as human or animal, or are cast into the Yomi World. Other frequent visitors are the Shapeshifters, who have a natural affinity for this World. Kuei-jin who follow the Dance of the Thrashing Dragon or the Spirit of the Living Earth, as well as the Immortal Dynasty of the Wu Feng occasionally traverse its realms. Yama Kings whose domains have been reaped from the Yang World include, among others, Rangda and her Hell of Burrowing Maggots and the Feverish Hell of Tou Shen. The Scarlet Path interconnects these realms, granting safe passage through the chaos of the Yang World. A minor Hell in its own right, the Path twists its surroundings to sickly, web-infested jungle trees and sticky red mud, inhabited by hundreds minor spirits of plague. Rumors tell that the Scarlet Path stretches as far as Malfeas.
References
- Kindred of the East, p.183
- Hengeyokai: Shapeshifters of the East, p.45
- The Thousand Hells, p.21-22