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Just saying what i’ve said before here that the desert tribes united under a profit caste reminds me of the foundation of islam. Also i cant really see that much of Kongzi's thinking in the Tau motives or religon. As other posters have said they resemble America more these days but i guess you can also see it as todays China. Their design is clearly anime inspired too. It being "Asian" is quite an orientalist view though. Although their aesthetic is East Asian I think their more influenced by our own modern warfare today.

Tau Empire is located on the Eastern Fringe. Guest on which part of the Earth is Asia located?

Weird, I always thought of the Eldar as being Welsh, considering a majority of the names and much of the folklore they are derived from are pretty much, well... Welsh.

You mean Gaelic. Specifically Irish or Scottish versions. Their spelling etymology and pronunciation is much closer.
An example for Biel-Tan craftworld.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beltane

Welsh Gaelic has very few if any references in 40k I have found compared to Irish.

bibotot wrote:
Tau Empire is located on the Eastern Fringe. Guest on which part of the Earth is Asia located?

I'm not denying that, just saying my views on the influence on its aesthetics.

I still don't see any specific correlations between the Tau Empire and Modern United States that couldn't be drawn with any 'x' and 'y' because of how broad the comparisons are.

More food for thought: Japan entered WWI in order to seize the opportunity of Germany's distraction/war in Europe and expand it's sphere of influence in China and the Pacific (by conquering German territory in said areas). The Tau Empire (more precisely, Aun'Va) executed the latter half of the Damocles Crusade (where Farsight was made an 'O and gained notoriety) when the Imperium of Man redeployed many of it's forces to more central worlds to battle Hive Fleet Leviathon (or Behemoth, I forget which) and expanded it's sphere of influence. Art mirroring history, here.

“Though he has his suspicions that it is the Dawn Blade that has prolonged his lifespan to such a degree, if Farsight ever found out the horrible truth, he would likely end his own life in ritual suicide then and there.”

Excerpt From: Games Workshop Ltd. “FARSIGHT ENCLAVES.” iBooks.

Ritual Suicide = Seppuku.