Sunming Zhao (Hànzì: 趙孫明, Pinyin: Zhào Sūnmíng, On'yomi: Chō Sonmei) was Lan Di's father and a master of Tiger Swallow Style. He was also friends with Ryo's father Iwao Hazuki and Iwao might have been the one who killed Zhao.
Biography[]
Zhao was a master of Tiger Swallow Style which was revealed in Yuanda Zhu's book on martial arts called The Wulinshu. He was friends with Iwao Hazuki, and the two trained together in Bailu Village. Zhao knew Yunshen Yuan who is Shenhua's adoptive father.
Zhao wanted to retrieve the Phoenix Mirror and Dragon Mirror before they fell into the wrong hands (i.e. the Chi You Men). The mirrors were entrusted to him.
Yuanda Zhu says that Iwao murdered Zhao in Mengcun, and that is the reason Lan Di went to kill him. Although, Zhu believes that it happened, and it could not be true.
Zhao's death left his only son, Longsun Zhao (Lan Di), to be raised by the Chi You Men.
Shenmue the Animation[]
Zhao is mentioned by Lan Di before he murders Iwao in Shenmue the Animation Episode 1 like in the game. In Episode 3, Ryo finds the photo with Zhao and Iwao on it in the Hazuki Residence basement like he can do in the game.
Trivia[]
- There was a theory among fans that the unknown man in the Photo of Father is Sunming Zhao. This was confirmed to be true in Shenmue III.
- If Ryo fails the find the Photo of Father in the Hazuki Residence basement, Fuku-san will bring it to him after the 70-man battle.
- In the first Shenmue, the English version of the game uses the Asian ordering of the names for the Chinese characters, so Zhao is referred to as "Zhao Sun Ming" rather than "Sunming Zhao". In the English versions of Shenmue II, it uses the westernized ordering of the names for all the characters, so Zhao is referred to as "Sunming Zhao". All versions of Shenmue III use the Asian ordering of names, although there is no space in between their given names, so Zhao's name is written as "Zhao Sunming". [1] For the Chinese characters that appeared or are mentioned in Shenmue II and Shenmue III, this wiki uses the westernized ordering of the names to refer to them.
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