The Tau have two general schools of though for their origins; communism or Americans. Both can be convincingly argued however the idea of a race of communist Americans just doesn’t work. So on to my thoughts on the Tau. We all know of the strong eastern feel seen in everything from the caste system to manga/anime, their castes being different from our worlds in that everyone in equal. Two countries spring to mind Japan and India.

From Japan we get Manga/anime seen in the use of battle suits and drones and they tend to have blue aliens, too. One of the things most people fail to notice is that Tau items are both aesthetic and functional. Something that is not as prominent in the west. The bonding ceremony may also be looked at as being based on the Japanese tea ceremony. The willingness of Tau to give their lives for the Ethereals may be derived from the way samurai put death before dishonour.

An example from Japanese history is found in the muromachi warring states period that proceeded the Edo period. The transition of constant warfare to one of a unified people is hard to miss. While during the Meiji restoration a small group of "men of high purpose" (later referred to as Genro (Elder Statesmen)) managed to reconstruct the nation in a short time. During this period could be the source of the Damacles crusade. The Ruso-Japanese war, where the Russians were fought to a standstill and effectively defeated by an unexpectedly strong "newcomer" to the world scene. The warp storm that saved them, from being destroyed by the Imperium, can be seen as the Kamikaze or divine wind which stopped Kublai Khan’s invasion of Japan.

India provides us with the most famous caste system on the planet. However there is something from India which has greater meaning to us. In Hinduism there is the idea of a third eye which represents spiritualism or enlightenment. Could the cleft on the Tau’s forehead be a physical representation of this?

Tau is the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet but is not the best bet on the name’s origin. That would be Taoism. Taoism (aka Daoism) is the most likely source for their name. The Tao refers to a power which surrounds and flows through all things, living and non-living, regulating seeking balance in the Universe. Is this not what the Tau are trying to do? Looking at another part of the Taoist philosophy we see that the five main parts of the body correspond to the five parts of the sky: water, fire, wood, metal and earth. The sky in this case represents the Tau race but the elements don't exactly match the castes. There are two possible sources here. The first being the west and its five elements; quintessence, air, earth, fire and water, Ethereals being equated with quintessence. Another could be The Book of Five Rings (aka The Book of Five Spheres) written by Miyamoto Musashi. The rings are the five chapters of his teachings; ground, water, fire, wind and the void. The first four are easy to connect with their caste. The void needs more of an explanation. In the book they explain that all of knowledge is known in the void. To not know the void is to be bewildered or in a state of anarchy. The Ethereals can be seen as the knowledge that was used save the Tau race.

Something else the Tau reminds me of is that of a colonial power bringing civilization to the noble savages. Look at how their view towards the Kroot. We can civilize them through our very presence given enough time. Think of the rise of the European powers starting around 1492 to around the end of WW1. Now throw in some advance fire power and you have the Tau. The Kroot and Tau can also be looked upon as the old and new Asia.

I have this little tidbit in my notes; “Tau draw inspiration from Japanese giant mecha anime, right? And the name of a Tau battalion is a Cadre. Write 'cadre' in the Tau font available from the GW site. JaPAn. Pointless little coincidence, but odd nonetheless. (from Morrow)”