I've seen some theories floating around about Zhongli and his association with the sun. What got me thinking about it more was when the new artifact set dropped after the Chasm opened up:
"It is said that Rex Lapis [sic] was yet young, the sun was a chariot that raced across the earth. When the three sisters of the night sky were martyred in a calamity, the solar chariot fell into a deep gorge.
The mountain people, taking it for a sign, repaired the device, allowing it to shine through the darkness again." (Vermillion Hereafter Artifact Set)
This could have no correlation at all minus the proximity of the Solar Chariot (or fallen star as written in Records of Jueyun, Vol. 6 - Hidden Jade) but it does put a stamp on the timeline; Rex Lapis (AKA Morax) was allegedly alive during the moon sister calamity.
That being said, Zhongli has many, MANY associations with the sun. While I'm not entirely sure if I can confidently theorize that he may have been the Solar Chariot driver (and given that the Chariot is also referred to as a fallen star) I can say that there is reason to suspect that there is more to Zhongli than just his dominion over Geo.
Remember our friend the Sun Cross?
It's also the astrological (and alchemy) symbol for Earth. In astrology (zodiac) each sign is assigned to one of the four elements, Earth being one of them.
Zhongli's birthday is Dec 31st, making him a Capricorn. Not only is Capricorn an Earth sign, but is often described in astrology as the oldest and wisest. I'll save the astrology talk for another time...especially since I haven't dived in too deep on all of the nitty gritties of how astrology works.
Another symbol that represents the Sun in astrology, ALSO represents the symbol of gold in alchemy:
Mora can only be minted using the power of the Geo Archon, AKA Morax. He also mentions gold in his voicelines:
In the description of the Prithiva Topaz, he compares Mora to his "flesh and blood"
One of Albedo's voice lines indicates a connection with creating gold "naturally," along with his E-skill being linked from the earth to the sun:
Furthermore, there are a TON of in-game images of Zhongli (or things related to Liyue) that also have imagery of the sun. Here are just a few examples:
In another scene from the Guoba backstory, we see this shown as the symbol representing the sun:
It's portrayed as the same symbol for the Sun in astrology, gold in alchemy, AND...
The Monad
Now, that isn't to say that I think Zhongli is actually The Primordial One, and that is to assume if the Monad and The Primordial One share the same role. But it also CAN'T t be a coincidence, considering Genshin's ties to Gnosticism references. I'm not sure what conclusions to draw from that; only that it is VERY sus.
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If we backtrack to the Moon Sisters, according to their story they were "in love with the morning stars." If we go with the Solar Chariot version of the Chasm's origin, the "morning stars" would be the ones driving the Solar Chariot, AKA the Sun.
As far as when Morax was born vs when he actually descended is a little unclear (unless someone can dig something up, I wasn't really able to). It's a huge stretch, but maybe Morax descended as a morning star during the calamity? Not necessarily as the one that landed in the Chasm, but it is entirely possible that there were fallen stars given the calamity is described as "the disaster that toppled heaven and earth descended."
There is ONE piece of evidence I recently came across (thanks to the many other lore enthusiasts of Genshin Reddit) that did make me reconsider the possibility of Zhongli being connected to the Chariot driver:
I'm not fully convinced that Zhongli is a god or THE god of the Sun, nor am I fully convinced that he was the Solar Chariot driver. But the connections are so obviously there, and I am very eager to find out more about his earlier days and origins.
This isn't a deep analysis type of post, just my initial thoughts after the archon quest and some world quests too!
I didn't get to do this with Fontaine or Natlan sadly, cause life was hell, so I'm gonna try to keep better track, cause once again this is a heavy lore patch!
MAJOR SPOILERS BELOW
I'm sorry, the Fatui did WHAT
The traveler's poor guilty face 😫😫😫
STOP LOOKING AT ME WITH YOUR SOULLESS EYES GIRRRRRL
Hi. Things are bleak, I know that. I know that we paid for Trump's last term with blood and it is likely the price will be blood again.
But listen to me. LISTEN.
You do not have to force yourself to witness horrors as an act of activism. It is not a form of activism. You can put your phone down, you can block that horrific video. We cannot win if you cannot fight and you will not be able to fight if you are hopeless.
Do not let them guilt you into this. People who are exhausted are easier to walk over. Take care of yourself, find community where you find joy.
I know I've recced it before, but if you want a place to monitor the news while avoiding getting caught in the horrors, What The Fuck Just Happened Today is a really useful resource. They summarize political (& adjacent) news so you can remain aware of what's going on while still minimizing the emotional energy you expend on any one issue. (And they provide links and sourcing if you need to know more.)
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