Menghean diaspora in Themiclesia: Difference between revisions
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===Historical conditions=== | ===Historical conditions=== | ||
Due to the devestating effects of the [[Menghean Black Plague]], the Myon Dynasty adopted an reclusive approach to foreign contact, barring any and all individuals of Casaterran origin from entry. Themiclesia, though not Casaterran, also found itself less than welcome at the Myon court and ports, and intracontinental trade and diplomacy stalled between the two states. The collapse of the Myon dynasty ushered in a new age of restored contact between the two states. As much as Menghe suffered Casaterran incursions, Themiclesia additionally faced stiff competition in the export market for its want of industrial technology; Themiclesia recognized this problem as early as the 1830s, and by the 1850s encouraging results have garnered attention from Mengheans, particularly from those of the Namyang State, which is culturally most similar to Themiclesia amongst the three successor states to the Myon. Intermittent warfare between them also drove a small number of individuals to settle in Themiclesia. The first Menghean to express a desire to naturalize was 李誨之 ('' | Due to the devestating effects of the [[Menghean Black Plague]], the Myon Dynasty adopted an reclusive approach to foreign contact, barring any and all individuals of Casaterran origin from entry. Themiclesia, though not Casaterran, also found itself less than welcome at the Myon court and ports, and intracontinental trade and diplomacy stalled between the two states. The collapse of the Myon dynasty ushered in a new age of restored contact between the two states. As much as Menghe suffered Casaterran incursions, Themiclesia additionally faced stiff competition in the export market for its want of industrial technology; Themiclesia recognized this problem as early as the 1830s, and by the 1850s encouraging results have garnered attention from Mengheans, particularly from those of the Namyang State, which is culturally most similar to Themiclesia amongst the three successor states to the Myon. Intermittent warfare between them also drove a small number of individuals to settle in Themiclesia. The first Menghean to express a desire to naturalize was 李誨之 (''rje′-m′e′-tje''), who petitioned the Themiclesian court in 1856. | ||
===19th Century=== | ===19th Century=== | ||
Revision as of 06:14, 20 September 2019
震旦孟人 | |
|---|---|
| Total population | |
| c. 1.72 million (2017 estimate) | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| 端寧縣 tuan-ning ghwian | 323,000 |
| 醴泉縣 gli'-dzjuan ghwian | 229,000 |
| 建康縣 kjans-k'ang ghwian | 193,000 |
| 合浦縣 gep-p'a ghwian | 172,000 |
| 懷仁縣 ghwrei-njin ghwian | 156,000 |
| Languages | |
| Various Menghean dialects | |
| Religion | |
| Chŏndoism, Sindoism, Buddhism, Christianity | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Menghe | |
The Menghean diaspora in Themiclesia consists of those of Menghean origin that have migrated to Themiclesia in the modern period. This temporal delineation is necessary as most Themiclesians can trace their ancestries to Menghe at some point in history, but contact almost completely stopped during the 17th to 19th Centuries, during which both nations developed more distinct identities, which culturally and linguistically distinguishes the Menghean diaspora from other Themiclesians of Menghean origin. The Menghean diaspora is currently the most numerous ethnic diaspora in Themiclesia by a significant margin, at 1.72 million individuals who self-identify as Menghean in some sense, ahead of the Dayashinese diaspora, which numbers 1.5 million.
During and after the 19th Century, Mengheans have sought settlement in Themiclesia for a variety of reasons. During the middle of the 19th Century, the Myŏn Dynasty that isolated the nation fractured into three states, and in the ensuing chaos a small number of Mengheans relocated to partake in the growing industrial sector in Themiclesia, which had commenced only a decade before. This has been considered the foremost cause of immigration at that time and until the late 1920s, when the Federal Republic of Menghe was overthrown by General Kwon Chong-hoon, who installed a highly authoritarian regime, from which intellectuals and dissidents fled. After the Pan-Septentrion War, immigration to Themiclesia continued albeit at a moderate pace; the rise of the Democratic People's Republic of Menghe recreated the situation under Kwon's reign, and since the 1980s economic migrants, students, and businesspeople have formed the vast majority of Menghean immigrants.
The Menghean diaspora has made a variety of contributions to Themiclesian society in scientific, artistic, and academic fields; on the other hand, racketeering and organized crime are also associated by some commentators with this group. Themiclesian views regarding the Menghean diaspora has mostly remained on an opinion level, with few government actions either to distinguish or assimilate them into mainstream Themiclesian culture, until after the PSW. Shared cultural heritage has been instrumental in bridging the widening chasm between the kindred nationalities. In particular, those of Namyang State origin have experienced a noticeably higher rate of gaining social status in Themiclesia. In contrast, ethnic minorities in Menghe migrating to Themiclesia have tended to fare worse than others, and there are cases of discrimination amongst the diaspora itself.
History
Menghean migration to Themiclesia have historically co-incided with periods of turbulence, during which migrants saw Themiclesia as a place of refuge or resettlement. Starting from the 19th Century, however, economic and commercial reasons have since surpassed sanctuary as the main cause of migration.
Historical conditions
Due to the devestating effects of the Menghean Black Plague, the Myon Dynasty adopted an reclusive approach to foreign contact, barring any and all individuals of Casaterran origin from entry. Themiclesia, though not Casaterran, also found itself less than welcome at the Myon court and ports, and intracontinental trade and diplomacy stalled between the two states. The collapse of the Myon dynasty ushered in a new age of restored contact between the two states. As much as Menghe suffered Casaterran incursions, Themiclesia additionally faced stiff competition in the export market for its want of industrial technology; Themiclesia recognized this problem as early as the 1830s, and by the 1850s encouraging results have garnered attention from Mengheans, particularly from those of the Namyang State, which is culturally most similar to Themiclesia amongst the three successor states to the Myon. Intermittent warfare between them also drove a small number of individuals to settle in Themiclesia. The first Menghean to express a desire to naturalize was 李誨之 (rje′-m′e′-tje), who petitioned the Themiclesian court in 1856.
19th Century
Under the relatively stable conditions of the second half of the 19th Century, the Themiclesian industrial sector grew at a steady pace, with some guidance (and, at times, misguidance) from the government, to encompass around a quarter of its domestic product in 1863. These developments proved attractive to intellectually pioneering Mengheans, who sometimes lived in Themiclesia for extended periods of time to observe the state of its economy and alterations in its political system, seeing it as a sandbox for western political philosophies in a comparable cultural context. Themiclesian universities also became a popular destination for many a sabbatical for Mengheans, as it taught more western subjects. Economic migration during this time was limited, as there was little in the way to assure life in Themiclesia would be more comfortable.
1900–1945
The consolidation of Menghe under the Federal Republic in 1897 began a new chapter in population interchange between the two nations. For its relative openness and positive attitudes towards industrialization, bi-directional commerce intensified. It is during this period that the first economic migrants arrived in Themiclesia, as it had, by this time, developed a reputation for stability and economic progress. Academic exchanges also became frequent, and professors regularly travelled to give seminars to a foreign audience.
The overthrow of the Federal Republic by Kwon Chong-hoon in 1927 drastically altered the dynamic between the two governments. The Themiclesian government was, from the Kwon's installation, suspicious of his intentions. While suspicion per se did not develop into open enmity, Kwon dispatched ideagogues to Themiclesia to promote his variety of nationalism to what he believed would be a sympathetic audience. Initially, the government did not suspect the ordinary Menghean immigrant of complicity with Kwon's scheme, but an incident involving Kwon's nephew where nationalists attempted a coup on the government provoked the latter to suppress the nationlists with gunfire, killing no fewer than 400, including Kwon's nephew. Knowledge of his involvement swayed public opinion against Menghe, and in 1933 a law was enacted denying newly-arrived Mengheans naturalization until they have lived in Themiclesia for a year or more without "causing disruptions to public order".
On the other hand, Kwon's increasingly tight control over the nation's political scene prompted a number of intellectuals, journalists, and political opponents to seek refuge in Themiclesia. These individuals had to flee the country covertly, as Kwon had prohibited emigration altogether. Though notionally one could emigrate with his permission, this became politically impossible when Menghe openly engaged Themiclesia in the Prairie War in 1933. Menghean resettlement in Themiclesia after 1933, and excepting those fleeing persecution, has been virtually limited to captured soldiers that chose to naturalize to the Themiclesian citizenship; these decisions were widely reported by the Themiclesian government to subvert the morale and conviction of Menghean forces, much to the chagrin of the Menghean government.
1945–1964
Menghe's capitulation in 1945 to the Allied invasion ended the decade of misgivings between the two nations. The establishment of the Republic of Menghe in 1952 purported to restore relations to its state under the Federal Republic. There was a considerable wave of re-immigration to Menghe amongst the diaspora (which numbered between 50,000 and 100,000 at this time), which has been attributed to the belief that the "time was ripe" to restart life in Menghe, particularly amongst those who sought refuge for political reasons. This also occurred in some naturalized ex-Menghean soldiers, who averred that they only naturalized to avoid punishment, should they have returned to Menghe under Kwon's (or his successor's) regime. On the other hand, the discriminatory law on Menghean immigrants was lifted in 1948.
The completion of the Trans-Hemithean Railway in 1954 further linked the recovering economy of Menghe to that of Themiclesia, which was focused on rebuilding and restarting its industry after the war. Memory of spartan life under Kwon's military-frist policy as well as lingering instability in the rural areas compelled another group of Mengheans to immigrate to Themiclesia. When those conflicts escalated in the early 1960s, communists have already formed a government in Maverica, cutting off the Trans-Hemithean Railway; therefore, most immigration during this time came via sea and air. In desperate cases, some trekked the vast Dzhungestani steppes to cross into Themiclesia. The victory of the Menghean Communist Party in 1964 over the Republic again set relations back with Themiclesia; with most of the First World, Themiclesia did not switch recognition from the Republic to the Democratic People's Republic.
The faltering prospects of the Republic of Menghe during the final stages of the Menghean Civil War in 1963–64 further forced another mass exodus from Menghe to Themiclesia. Most of these individuals were connected with either the Republic government or one of its key allies, who have participated in suppressing the rebellion. The leadership of the rebellion heavily censured these individuals, further motivating them to leave the country when possible. Many of these individuals enjoyed social stature and political or financial preferrment under the Republic, and in many cases they brought their extended families to Themiclesia along with large quantities of cash, bullion, and movable properties, sometimes obtained by questionable means. The other major subset of this group are entrepreneurs, who stood to lose their property under a communist regime. They likewise sought to protect their interests by converting them to Themiclesian assets. A number of prominent statesmen, industrialists, academics, professionals, and celebrities that held pessimistic views about the impending regime change also migrated to Themiclesia.
1964–1987
The primary source of immigration to Themiclesia from Menghe during this period is political persecution; however, Themiclesia was not the destination par excellence for dissidents, who preferred Altagracia for its proximity to Menghe and protection afforded as a Sylvan enclave. Still, members of the Menghean Government in Exile were present in Themiclesia, mostly working with the existing community of immigrants to accrue support for their cause. As with the Greater Menghean Empire, emigration from Menghe was all but forbidden with the greatest force of the law.
Since 1987
Due to a series of poor, ideological policies leading to a famine in Menghe between 1985~87, only exaggerated by an existing embargo imposed on Menghe due to the DPRM's interest in nuclear arsenal, army officer Choe Sŭng-min led a successful coup against the leader of the DPRM and, in short order, declared the Socialist Republic of Menghe. Choe (whose name was rendered as mskljui-gljeng-mrjing in Themiclesia and some other parts of the world) superintended the re-emergence and re-integration of the Menghean economy with the international community. Sensing an opportunity for a breakthrough in dealing with Eastern Hemithea (most of which was FSR-aligned and hostile to Themiclesia), the government quickly organized relief efforts in the dying days of 1987 and continued throughout 1988, providing food, sanitary water, and medical services, all in acute shortage, to emaciated Menghean peasants. These gestures have somewhat counteracted the negative assessment of Themiclesia under the previous administration.
Businessmen of both nationalities composed the first corpora of migrants to other state. They have been followed by academics and university students, who have been virtually isolated from each other for the better part of the two previous decades. As a widely published example, the Faculty of Historical Linguistics of the University of Sunju organized an expedition more than a-hundred-strong to confer with Themiclesian counterparts about the latest state of their research. The cross-section of both societies that contacted each other then spread from there to include various types of migrants, expat students, and exchange programmes organized publicly and privately.
The Menghean government's proclamation of an amnesty on all illegal emigrants who fled the country during the civil war had a profound influence on the immigrant community. A considerable amount of them desired to return to Menghe, though others expressed reservations regarding the sincerity of Choe's amnesty. Still others have already fully settled in Themiclesia and established local interests, and these typically did not wish to return to Menghe. While the Themiclesian government did not want them to leave the country, under the policy of détente with the Socialist Republic, it did not prevent any Menghean immigrant from re-immigrating to Menghe, though it did encourage acquiring a full understanding of the political, social, and economic situation of Menghe and re-establishing contacts in Menghe if they have decided to return. Many of these people possessed expertise in operating a business, an extinct skill in Menghe; their return was especially desired by Choe, who sought them to re-establish a market economy in Menghe.
Demographics
Culture
As Menghe is home to a vast array of regional cultures that possess some commonalities amongst themselves, the cultural identities of Menghean-Themiclesians most often reflect those of their origins. Menghe is culturally and linguistically divisible into the Haedong and Chonro regions, and immigrant populations largely retain those affinities to the modern day. This manifests as sectarianism within the immigrant population.
The earliest immigrants in the modern age have, for the most part, merged into the primary Themiclesian identity. Those arriving during the last decade of the 19th Century, however, have tended to form distinct social enclaves, which their larger and more concentrated population enables, largely corresponding to their state of origin: the Society of Namyang Expatriots (南陽僑民會, nehm-jiang-gjiaw-mjiehn-ghuads) was set up in 1892, not only to care for the welfare of Namyang immigrants, but also to lobby the Themiclesian government in favour of Namyang State; conversely, the Society of Haedong Mutualism (海東互助會, hmeh-tong-ghah-dziah-ghuads) was founded by the epinymous community in 1893. Conflict between these two bodies frequently erupted, sometimes in courtrooms and others in the streets, much to the exasperation of local magistrates around the coastal city of Tuan-neng. It is interpreted that such animosity was carried over from their native states, and the union of Namyang and Haedong in 1897 did not soothe tensions between the two bodies, which would remain a sharp, intraversible rift until after the Pan-Septentrion War.
1950s
The Pan-Septentrion War swept away the last remnants of "gentle birth". The scale of mobilization not only in conscription, but civic efforts to support the forces, radically altered many groups' perception of their roles and relations to the government and the public. For the Mengean diaspora community, the 1950s was a time of vibrancy and, in some wise, celebration of their identity. During the war, some had suspected of their decision to immigrate, though the war's outcome disspelled of those doubts. Confidence arising therefrom encouraged Menghean-Themiclesians to become more vocal towards the majority public and less evasive about their origins.
Particularly, during the previous decades, the diaspora community (or at least the part of it that was not well-off to start with) had cultivated a working-class identity that combined elements of the structural difficulties that they faced as well as issues, such as gang violence, that affected their communities. Though in a sense an outspoken appeal for attention and a break from the mainstream culture and orthodox ethic of Themiclesia, some historians have interpreted this as a coming to terms with differences that they had with Themiclesian culture; that is, they gained sufficient confidence and thus did not feel compelled to integrate with Themiclesian society completely. This would be a crucial step towards the modern policy of welcoming and supporting multiculturalism.
An example of this can be seen in the street fashion that Menghean youth adopted as the rest of society shut away memories of the war: wearing surplus military apparel and footwear, they made a loud, shocking statement that head-on collided with Themiclesian cultural sensibilities and normalcy. In the 1930s and 40s, the Ministry of War sold military apparel for severely inflated prices to civilians as a means to create income; one such item was the M54 Army Shoe whose sole imprinted "Army Supporter" wherever the wearer walked. The sale of these items ended with the war; however, as the Army issued the M49 Army Shoe in 1949 and demobilized rapidly, large quantities of unissued combat boots were sold for a pittance, since most Themiclesians would avoid wearing them lest reminding one another of the war. Many a Menghean youth, coming from working-class backgrounds, eagerly bought these shoes, for their durability, versatility, and striking looks. Jeans and button-down shirts permeated the community for like reasons. By 1955, "black under foot" (腳下烏) was used as a monicker for second-generation Menghean immigrants, and eventually when the surpluses ran out, a brand replicating their design was launched by a Menghean-Themiclesian entrepreneur.
1960s
The cultural statement of the 50s carried strong into the first years of the new decade, but the impending closure of the Menghean Civil War in favour of the rebellion led by communist factionists and remnants of the Imperial Menghean Army represented another transformative phase for the diaspora community. Much akin to the late 20s and early 30s, Menghean industrialists that thrived under the (foreign-supported) Republic of Menghe and almost anyone affiliated with it fled the impending rebel victory and the mass purges that was sure to follow it. Many of these individuals fled to Altagracia, administered by Sylva; yet more considered the enclave not sufficiently secure and relocated their families and assets to Themiclesia.
Though this wave of migration is defined by the relocation of assets and entrepreneurship, a non-negligible number of individuals not falling into either category also came to Themiclesia. In contrast to existing diaspora members, much of this new group were brought up during Kwon Chong-hoon's regime; their dispositions were immediately noticed by Themiclesians as different from their antecedents. There was a much stronger undercurrent to the defence of Menghean identity (though not nationality) in this wave of immigration. Not all entrepreneures that made it to Themiclesia made it in Themiclesia, and the frustration that many did not expect fermented a new round of disputes between natives and immigrants. The general desire to remain a distinct group (but not implying transience) contributed to a range of social problems, some of which were witnessed decades ago, but many not.
Linguistic identity was a major concern amongst the working-class families that arrived in Themiclesia. Though Themiclesia had, by this point, made primary and secondary education compulsory, many Menghean parents withheld their children from school; since depriving a child of education is an offence in Themiclesia, disputes regularly broke out between Themiclesian policemen and Menghean immigrant families, who sometimes were under the impression that the policemen were trying to rob their children from them. Police and civilian casualties occurred with alarming frequency. Others were driven by a sense of profound insecurity, leading to a rejuvenation of several Triad organizations and leagues of them. The fashion statement common amongst the lower-class youth during the 50s was heavily integrated by these Triads as a marker of affiliation, in many cases boasted during large-scale street fights. Many businesses set up by newly-arrived Menghean immigrants actively co-operated with them to protect their property and profits. The rumour that agents of the newly-established Democratic People's Republic had sent agents to extradite, sabotage, or kill these immigrants did not help the insecurity to abate.
Many Themiclesians found these measures adopted by Menghean immigrants either paranoid or repugnant to societal expectations, and in regions where Mengheans settled and brought their milieu, some became concerned with falling property value and safety. In more extreme cases, this caused territorial disputes between native rackets and new ones, erupting into ugly bursts of violence at uncertain intervals. Meanwhile, the generation that had arrived before the 1960s became rather discomfited with the reputation that the newer-arrivals were bringing with them, concerned that it may be reflected on them by innocent minds. As a result, several self-help organizations surfaced amongst more established communities, with the object of assisting police investigations into Triad activities of informing on them. Many second-generation Mengheans chose a career in the police forces specfically to suppress this issue. Conflicts therefore ensued between these bodies, and some Dayashinese-related entities of a similar nature, often culminating in violence on a gross cale. The situation in the capital city of Kien-k'ang was particularly uncontrollable: on the average day, over 20 instances of gang-related violence were reported, and many more are presumed to happen but remained not reported. Several districts in the city were esteemed by locals as no-go areas under any circumstances.
1970s
In January 1970, a group of Menghean-immigrant delinquents, inebriated, set fire to the Dads-sieh-mra Gate, the southern gate to the imperial palace. According to later confessions, it was done "as a dare". The fire burnt uncontrollably for an entire day, reducing an 800-year-old monument to ashes and claiming the lives of four fire brigade members attempting to control the conflageration. This arson marked a turning-point for policies on dedicated immigrant welfare, which formerly was typically granted on a request-basis. The government redoubled on efforts to extend services that were deemed "logical necessities" to all human beings, such as education, health, infrastructure, and sanitation into the deepest corners of the immigrant community, hoping to reduce their reliance on Triads for protection and reduce their ability to control quotidian requirements and thereby the population that depends on it. It was also meant to provide legitimate employment to immigrants out of work and in squalour.
The government intervened in subtler ways in addition to those above. By helping some talented Menghean artists and performers to achieve fame, they desired to provide a positive role-model and alternative to a life in the underworld for some particularly unfortunate members of the diaspora. Though ostensibly well-intended, the force with which these objects were pursued generated considerable disquiet in some communities. To ensure proper education, local councils sometimes resorted to arresting children and placing them into makeshift boarding schools, where their parents would be prevented from meeting them; conditions at such dormitories often were unsatisfactory and created a negative mindset on the children forced to live in it, not to mention the fear that the parents experienced for having their offsprings deprived from their custody. Though this was certainly legal under Themiclesian law at the time, never before was this measure so widely and indiscriminately employed. Similar measures were imposed on members suspected of gang activity: the police would arrest suspects and subject them to poetry recitation and other arbitrary lessons for many hours a day, for which the provided pretext was that they did not complete compulsory education in their youth and must now do so.
The extremity of the policy backfired in some contexts, where open violence ensued between policemen and disobedient gang members. By 1974, the police services encountered difficulties in recruitment, cited as an artifact of their duty of "introducing Themiclesian norms" to members of the organic immigrant community. Though it is highly questionable if the government ever desired to erase the Menghean identity in immigrants, such measures were taken as coersive and fundamentally disagreeable to a society that was founded on the freedom of choice. Admitting that the 31% primary school enrolment rate for immigrant Menghean children ought to be corrected, the new Progressive-Democratic government in 1974 alleviated the heavy-handed approach of its Liberal predecessor, by conceding to certain social realities and creating a special education curriculum for such communities that respected certain Menghean customs and included lessons in and through their native tongues.
Language
Menghean immigrants predominantly speak a variety of languages found in Menghe as their native tongue. While this is a source of resentment in some nations, most Themiclesians, particularly those in major cities, do not find this unusual or objectionable, as a given Shinasthana dialect may be as foreign to another as a Menghean one.
Integration
Linguistic integration in Themiclesia has been, surprisingly, less general as one may expect out of two related cultures. Almost all second-generation Menghean-Themiclesian children acquire a working command of the common dialect though the nation's compulsory education programme, especially in more recent decades; formerly, some immigrant children, due to economic circumstance, had to avoid education to make ends meet, but, with the advent of social security and child welfare legislation, this is rarely the case today.
One of the main complains that Menghean-Themiclesians generally have is that the mandarin dialect, though nominally standard nation-wide, is actually seldom used in daily conversation, and some Themiclesians prefer to speak in their native dialect, to the extent of hesitating to converse with Menghean immigrants familiar with only the mandarin. Yet the local vernacular is almost never taught in schools, leaving the Menghean-Themiclesians "perpetual semi-outsiders in any place except the largest cities" according to Yi Chon-nae (1957).
The earliest arrivals tended to speak Chŏnro-based dialects or the Gwanhwa, which are linguistically part of the same family as Shinasthana. Though the use of Sinmun is less prevalent in the Namyang State than the Haedong-based state of Sinui, knowledge of Mengja was uncommon and an asset in any immigrant. The situation in the Haedong-based community is considerably worse. Whereas Chŏnro-based dialects typically retain a limited degree of mutual intelligibility with Shinasthana dialects, Haedong-based dialects do not, and the prevalence of Sinmun script in the Haedong region has virtually eliminated Mengja literacy, which at the very least enables written communication with Themiclesians. Experiencing similar limitations as their brethren from the Chŏnro region, their language, more similar to modern Standard Menghean, has largely remained the sole language of the community until the 1950s.
The linguistic capabilities of Menghean university students studying in Themiclesia have recently worsened, compared to the situation several decades ago. Under the Socialist Republic, Mengja is no longer a mandatory subject, and the operation of this policy now manifests as the frustration that Menghean students experience when attempting to write in Shinasthana. Students from the Chŏnro region no longer exhibit any significant advantage in Shinasthana proficiency. For some studying more Mengja-reliant disciplines, this handicap has proven debilitating; many universities offer supplementary crash-courses in Mengja, to varying degrees of inefficacy. Native Themiclesians are introduced to around 8,000 characters through 12 years of compulsory education, and desired results have eluded replication under severe time constraints.
The drastically contrasting scripts of Sinmun and Gomun may explain why some Menghean students, in fact, experience more difficulty than Casaterran ones in acquisition of Shinasthana. While over 70% of vocabulary are cognate to Shinasthana, pronunciation has diverged such that few useful rules could be asserted connecting a given sound in Menghean to one in Shinasthana. In more recent times, particularly after Choe's policy of openness, Menghean-Themiclesians have enjoyed the advantage of teaching courses in Menghean.
Challenges
Economic disadvantage
Early migrants to Themiclesia can, in a broad sense, be described by one of two conditions: either they are escaping from political pressure or economic difficulties. Themiclesia's more liberal society held a strong appeal to both groups. The first group, consiting mostly of political figures, journalists, and academics, were generally well-to-do in Menghean society, and this did translate into relatively high living standards, or at least not far from those in Menghe. The second group faced a much more daunting challenge in seeking a better life. Though wages were certainly higher than those in Menghe (under the Empire particularly), prices in industrial cities far exceeded those expected by some migrants, and it remains difficult to decide if they experienced a much-improved existence even years after immigrating.
In seeking employment, prominent Mengheans in media often were able either to find a position in another news agency in Themiclesia, where their reputation would almost guarantee a well-salaried plce, or found their own newspapers, in which their reputation would also assist them. Particularly, their stories revealing the "inner workings" of Kwon's Empire were of particular interest to Themiclesians. Menghean political figures, of the several dozen that Kwon forced into exile, generally did not enter politics personally in Themiclesia; however, they formed the Menghean Civic Society (大孟公民會), which lobbied on behalf of certain Menghean commercial interests and published periodicals lambasting Kwon's administration. Economic migrants, in contrast, were generally at a disadvantage; with no reputation to rely upon, little expertise, and an intrinsic lack of fluency in the local languages, many bunked with settled relatives in the immediate term to seek work, a process that may take months and itself cause violent disputes. Even when they find work, some are seasonal, and most did not pay well. Additionally, in signing employment contracts, many had no legal counsel and unknowingly assented to severely iniquitous provisions worded deceptively. Similar issues occurred in the settlement of labour disputes, and many employers, for one reason or another, failed to remind newly-arrived migrants to naturalize, which would have been invaluable in levying public authority to combat some of these problems.
These adverse conditions existed from the start of the 20th Century to well beyond the Pan-Septentrion War. Government attention to immigrant welfare only began in the 1950s due to the problems that the immigrant community experienced (see below) and with the economic boom at the time, which highlighted the economic disparity between immigrant families and native ones, since may of the limitations seen above extended onto second-generation immigrants.
Bigotry
While there is little evidence for a systematic prejudice or suspicion against Menghean immigrants, many of them, especially the financially less well-endowed, did fall afoul of certain cultural and behavioural criteria of decency that Themiclesians expected out of their community members. Apart from the natural language barrier, immigrants from the Haedong region were typically described as insensitive, alcoholic, and prone to violence, which definitely had a negative impact on their career prospects. Though these characterizations may have some foundation on the more nationalistic and militaristic education which these Mengheans received as children, these traits may have more positive interpretations or manifestations and are not limited, in reality, to immigrants. The "culture of reservations" in Themiclesia, generally encompassing the use of less overtly contradictory or negatory language, the avoidance of unpleasant terms, the strategic application of ambiguity to avoid firm commitments, circumlocution to deny information, and the employment of predictive or resultative description, is not a matter of course in most cultures. Most Themiclesian parents would publicly declare that they have no issues over marriages between natives and immigrants, with the (unspoken but endemic) proviso that it does not involve their own offsprings.
During the Pan-Septentrion War, some Themiclesians questioned the allegiance of some Menghean immigrants. The strength of this sentiment ranges from avoiding Mengheans when conversing about sensitive topics to openly promoting the dismissal or suspension of Menghean-born government officials. The government found these voices unhelpful in maintaining social cohesion when the efforts of every individual was needed desperately to resist a superior enemy; no policy discriminating individuals on the grounds of origin was enacted during the war. After the war, this body of opinion seems to have dissolved or refuted by the statistics of Mengheans serving in the Themiclesian Army: they did not desert or defect at a rate any higher than their native comrades. The surprisingly high rate of voluntary enlistment by Menghean-born men has been attributed to the courtesy dispensation that some local magistrates, responsible for local conscription, gave to Menghean immigrants who felt an attachment to their native countries, who were exempted as the breadwinner in their households or medically disqualified as flat-footed, severely myopic, or asthmaic.
Organized crime
Amongst the most publicized issues within the Menghean diaspora is its association with organized crime. Though prevalent in the 20th Century up to the 60s, much imagery attached to this issue is artistic in nature. The substance of organized crime also needs to be dealt with separately from the aesthetic of delinquency and working-class roughness in general, which for a variety of reasons was common in the diaspora until the 60s (see above).
Early immigrants typically congregated in specific sections of the city for reasons of familiarity and economy. In these places, literature and service would be provided in their native language. However, these places that would permit intensive settlement as well as employment tended to be in less organized quarters of industrialized cities. In the late 19th Century, these places were notorious for disorder and lack of sanitation, as a large population crammed into it and built dwellings out of makeshift materials, often outside of and adjoining a city wall. The Themiclesian administrative system relied upon clearly defined households as basic units, to which land, buildings, livestock, properties etc. were attached. Taxation, infrastructure, and important government functions were prohibited by the excessive density and fluidity in the their demograhpics, leading to chaos and neglect.
Rampant criminal activity therefore permeated these areas, not only amongst immigrants, but also domestic migrants. It is quite possible that some of the domestic migrants took advantage of immigrants' infamiliarity with their new environments and extorted from them, and, as a result, the Mengheans resorted to bonding with their kin to foster collective security. These organizations are not necessarily criminal in modern terms, and indeed they had philanthropic functions within the diaspora community. In contemporary literature, officials decried these bodies as "strangely-clothed individuals forming questionable societies to disparage social order". Yet into the 20th Century, some of them turned to racketeering and blackmail for income and took up drug dealing. Themiclesian police found enforcement of any law in these locations virtually impossible, since they had no household records to rely upon. In spite of sporadic efforts to impose social order during the 20s and 30s, the influence of such bands of mostly male, uneducated, and unemployed people was a quotidian reality in many cities across Themiclesia. In the dealing of drugs between cities, these gangs formed syndicates to control the source and pricing of drugs, which had a constant demand.
The Menghean Triad is often contrasted with the Dayashinese Nanai-dantai