Tangkuo

Tanggu Federation Daitangg'o Gurun
Flag
Motto: Our Federation is emblazoned by light
Anthem:  Jin'ou Yonggu Bei ("Firm and Stable Be The Cup of Solid Gold")
Capital	Tukdan
Largest city	Daijuhu
Official languages	Tanggu
Recognised regional languages	Yen Sukhbataaryn Turuk Qidan Tuulu Lamut Orogen Ulcha
Demonym(s)	Tangkuo
Government	Federal dominant-party semi-presidential constitutional republic
• President	Sen Jogosang
• Prime Minister	Ha Bofan
• Chairman of the Senate	Darcongga Ningji
• Upper house	Federation Council
• Lower house	State Yamun
Population
• Estimate	378,000,000
• 2019 census	377,953,506
Currency	Jiha (TJ)
Date format	dd ˘ mm ˘ yyyy
Driving side	left
Internet TLD	.tng

Tangkuo, officially the Tanggu Federation, is a sovereign state in Yidao, Aeia. Its capital city is Tukdan, with its largest city and former capital of the Tanggu People's Republic being Daijuhu. Tangkuo borders Soled to the east and ...

Tangkuo was the homeland of several ethnic groups, including the Wailans, Qidan, Tuulu and Hezhen. At various times, most of the major empires of Yidao and some other minor kingdoms established control in parts of Tangkuo and in some cases tributary relations with peoples in the area. The proto-Wailan people were mostly nomads, but some formed small towns, especially along wealthy trading routes, and grew to be powerful as a result, such as the case of the Niohuru Dynasty. With the Wu dynasty to the south, the Qidan people of Eastern Tangkuo created the Murong Dynasty in the region, which went on to control adjacent parts of Northern Yidao. The Murong dynasty collapsed due to internal turmoil. In the time between the end of the Murong and Tangkuo's unification, the area of Tangkuo was a battleground for many different ethnic groups, with many of the Yen dynasties trying to exert control over the different Wailan and in some cases, Qidan tribes.

Starting in the late 1500s, a Haiilanboo Wailan chieftain, Šurgaci (1577–1643), started to unify Wailan tribes of the region. Over the next several decades, the Wailans took control of most of Tangkuo, and expanded south. In 1631, Šurgaci founded the Jin Dynasty, and his descendants continued to rule large parts of Yidao until the Andong Revolution in 1913, which massively crippled the Jin dynasty, reducing them to a rump state. This Bodin Clique lasted for only a short while before the Aišïn Jahudai clan were finally overthrown in 1938. Tangkuo went through another republican period before this too was overthrown in 1947 after the Tanggu Civil War.

Following the events of October 1st in 1988, the Tanggu People's Republic underwent a velvet revolution, reconstituting itself as the Tanggu Federation, governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. Elections followed soon after, and after a recession that lasted for much of the 90s, the Tanggu Federation's economy boomed as large mineral and resource deposits were utilized in Tangkuo's northeast. Tangkuo's extensive mineral and energy resources are the third largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the leading producers of oil and natural gas globally. Tangkuo has become a vibrant environment for contemporary culture, and produces a wide array of styles, such as the world renowned Tanggu-Pop community.

Etymology

The term "Tangkuo" has disputed origins. Some say it is a borrowing from Yen, with "Tangkuo" meaning "Country of the Tang", which itself is commonly believed to originate from the Yen word Donghu (東胡, "Eastern Barbarians"). Others have formed a theory that the term was probably borrowed directly from East Turuk tunguz meaning "wild pig, boar", which got transferred to the Qidan as "tangga". A minority of historians have also put forward the argument that "Tangkuo" began with Šurgaci, who upon the founding of the Jin dynasty, decided to call the former Wailan tribes "Hundred Peoples" or "Hundred Countries" or "tanggū-gurun".

The proper term to call a person from "Tangkuo" is "Tanggu" or sometimes "Tangkun/Tenggun", though the latter is more archaic and is more historically used.

History

Prehistory

Around the time of the Bronze Age, the ancestors of the Wailans moved south from modern-day ..., most likely through Sukhbataar or over Mederi-Alin. At the time of their notice by Yen historians, the Wailans inhabited the forests and river valleys of the land which is now northern and central Tangkuo. These Wailans that settled down along the way to modern-day Tangkuo are believed to have been assimilated into their overlord's populations. In earlier records, this area was known as the home of the Sushen in around 1100 B.C, the Yilou in around 950 B.C, the Wuji in around 600 B.C, and the Mohe or Malgal in 450 C.E Tangkuo. Under the Jin and in modern Tangkuo scholarship, sources promote that the idea that the Wailans were descendants or even the same people as these earlier tribes but this remains unclear. Some speculate the Wailans were the last in a migration from modern-day ... to Tangkuo and had assimilated the rest.

The Tungusic Wailans, upon migrating to Tangkuo, became subjects of the multi-ethnic Kingdom of Gæjæ (511-340 B.C). The early Wailans enjoyed eating pork, practiced pig farming extensively, and were mainly sedentary. The Wailans used both pig and dog skins for coats and other items of clothing. The Wailans were also predominantly farmers and grew soybeans, wheat, millet, and rice in addition to hunting. It is believed that the later conquest of these early Wailans by the Sahun and the Murong inspired many of them to adopt nomadic traditions and abandon their villages in favour of nomadic camps. Little is known about these early Wailans apart from several carved megaliths and obelisks in areas of western Tangkuo and on the island of Mederi-Alin. These "Animal Stones" were likely sites of ritual worship in the time of the proto-Wailans. Not much is known about proto-Wailan culture or religion, but it can be assumed that it is related to modern Tanggu culture.

The early proto-Wailans split up not long after they first settled the heartlands of southwestern Tangkuo. One group went northwards, to settle the Sahaliyan Ula river valley, driving away other Tungusic groups in the process. The ones in the south became hugely influenced by steppe culture, and adopted steppe customs, such as horseback riding and archery. They came into contact with Qidan groups and were recorded in some of the earliest Yen annals as living between the Tumen, and Lebenggi rivers.

Early History

Prehistoric Tangkuo

The type site at Sohohori is located on the southwest side of a hill at Fodoho Banner, Sain Holo, named after a village 1.3 km to the southeast of the site. 120 pit-houses were discovered at Sohohori. Each home had a hearth at its center. Sohohori also featured a large building in the center of the village. Sohohori is the earliest discovered site in Tangkuo to be surrounded by a ditch. Sohohori also featured an unusual burial custom, as some bodies were buried directly under the houses. Like other Sohohori sites, jade objects were also discovered. In the largest and most lavish grave, a man was buried with several pigs, as well as jade objects. These sites are thought to have been inhabited by proto-Wailans before they penetrated into inland Tangkuo further, before their separation into the Black Head Wailans and the steppe-influenced Wailans. As such, it is a unique find in Tanggu archaeology.

Similar sites were also found at Tuhanmoo, Odoli, and Huncun.

Pre-Niohuru States

State of Yan (9th century BCE to 4th century BCE)

Yan was an ancient Yen state, and the first sophisticated state known to exist within Tanggu lands. As the most north-eastern of all the Yen states during this time period, Yan faced incursions from steppe nomads and in response, King Dao of Yan ordered the construction of rammed-earth great walls in southern Tangkuo, some of which remain today.

State of Sung/Song (3rd century BCE to 1st century CE)

The state of Song, like its predecessor, Yan, was an ancient Yen state. Despite this, evidence suggests that there was a clear Tanggu influence, and they at least made up a significant portion of the population. This state represented the beginnings of the introduction of much Yen influence towards the Tanggu tribes to their north, such as writings, clothing, and customs of piety and divine worship of monarchs.

The state of Sung/Song is also notable as being the source of many Tanggu stories and legends, like the story of Tumæn, or Tao-Wen, a princess of the Dai tribe. According to the story, Tumæn was a Dai princess who lived among her migratory people, who married King Shen of Song. At first it was a political arrangement to prevent the harrassment of her people, but their relationship grew into a budding romance. After a series of wars, Shen was overthrown, at the mercy of his uncle Huai. Huai offered Shen a return to power, so long as he married his daughter, and killed Tumæn. Shen refused, but was able to persuade Huai to imprison Tumæn in a castle instead. Tumæn, calling him a coward, jumped from her cell window into a moat, escaping successfully, evading the guards, and walking all the way home to her people, guided by a star. Finding out her father had died, Tumæn married his successor, and rejoined her people. Gathering many tribes under her banner, Tumæn sacked the Song capital. Finally, with her honour satisfied, and her enemies such as Huai repentant, she established peace. But this was not to last. Not long after, Huai, seeing her mercy as a weakness, sent two soldiers to assassinate her, but she defeated them. Tumæn, learning of the plot, revoked the peace and again sacked the Song capital. So grim was her onslaught that Huai jumped from the balcony of his castle when he saw the devastation. Huai's son, Ai took up the throne, renounced his father, offered tribute, and sued for peace. Tumæn accepted, and peace and harmony returned to the land and the two peoples. What happened to Shen, who had wronged Tumæn so, whether she showed him sympathy or the sword, is lost to time.

According to the Yen scholars who first recorded this story, the ending is purposely ambiguous, rather than being a result of a lack of information or a missing portion of the story. Evidence suggests that the Song capital was attacked many times by nomadic tribes, and there were kings of Song by the name of Shen, Huai, and Ai, but there is nothing conclusive enough to suggest this story was based on fact. However, the story of Tumæn is still a popular story in Tangkuo, and even received a movie adaptation by the world-famous animation studios, ... .

State of Shou/Šehun (180s to 400s)

Like the state of Song/Sung before it, the state of Shou/Šehun was a Yen state that helped trade with and influence Wailan tribes around it. During this time, Wailans were often used as mercenaries, and after a coup toppled King Ding in around 250 B.C, Wailans served in most high offices. Another coup ten years later during the reign of King Yu toppled his dynasty, allowing King Hula, a Wailan by birth, educated in the Yen manner, to rise to the throne. Hula established Yenicizised Wailan rule over the state of Shou/Šehun, although due to the high rate of Yenicization among the ruling class at the time, it is unlikely that any of Hula's children or grandchildren could speak Wailan. As such, the rule of Hula's dynasty is not considered a Wailan dynasty in the same way as the later Niohuru were.

Niohuru Dynasty

The Niohuru dynasty was the first major Wailan power in Tangkuo, consisting of Wailan tribes, which had been mostly united under the warlord of the Haixi clan, Niohuru Tušïnge. Unlike most of the empires that controlled Tangkuo, the Niohuru dynasty didn't use an adopted name, such as the case of the Jin dynasty and the Murong dynasty. Instead they used the dynastic name of the ruler. The Niohuru dynasty had been instrumental to the growth of the Wailan people, and had started the path that led to them to dominate Tangkuo and northern Yidao. Some historians had speculated that if not for the success of the Niohuru dynasty, the Wailans could easily have been overtaken by another steppe culture, such as the Volghar or the Murong, and cast out or assimilated into another culture.

Niohuru Tušïnge, of the Southern Wailans, had united around half of the Southern Wailan tribes under his rule in the 580s, thus establishing the Niohuru dynasty. When he died in 600, his son Heši embarked on several more wars of subjugation, until approximately four of the six Wailan tribes had been united under his rule, before turning southwards to Yidao. He planned to raid the heartlands of the Yi Dynasty in 609 but his initial success had been replaced with horrible losses after the Yi general Fu Jian cut off his supply train and ambushed him. Heši attacked and killed in an ambush, and his brother Aišï was appointed as King-Regent in 610 as Heši's eldest son, Satšï was only three. Aišï took great interest in his nephew, and tutored him as he grew up. Khagan Aišï had a keen intellect in finance. His name itself meant "gold" or "wealthy", and some have wondered if this was an adopted nickname rather than a personal name. Rather than raiding the powerful Yi Dynasty for wealth, he sought to gain wealth through the trade routes stretching through Wailan territory. Aišï established trade posts and improved communications so more traders would take the Wailan route out of Yidao rather than more risky routes.

A Niohuru tomb built around the 7th century.

When his nephew Satšï grew up, Aišï remained true to his late brother's word, and abdicated in 627. It was in this time that Aišï, according to legend, fathered a bastard child to a princess of the Jahudai clan, thus creating the Aišïn Jahudai clan that ruled the Jin dynasty. During Satšï's reign did the Wailans first start to become sedentary. This stabilized the Niohuru dynasty immensely.

The seeds of urban Wailan society had been sown by his uncle Aišï, as when the trade posts grew in wealth and importance, the nomads around it would settle down and become stationary. Satšï moved his capital to Aišïngašan, a large trading post named after his uncle on the Sahaliyan River, on the site of modern-day Tukdan. There he built the precursor to what would later be the Dabkūri Dorgi Hoton, the royal residence of the Jin dynasty. Satšï also became receptive to Yen customs, adopting some Yen architects to build mansions and temples in Aišïngašan. From the Yen, the Niohuru dynasty was able to utilise knowledge about governance, economics, organised warfare, and wide scale agriculture, although the Wailans continued to adopt horseback riding.

After Satšï's reign, the Wailans started to change. Three of the six clans became sedentary by the end of the 7th century, in spite of the fact that the Wailans practised archery on horse back and equestrianism, like nomads. Their primary mode of production was farming and copper mining while they lived in villages, forts, and towns surrounded by walls. The Niohuru dynasty paid tribute to Yen rulers, so much so that a visit from Wailan dignitaries was seen as a divine assurance of leadership.

Satšï's grandson Dingge succeeded him in 667, as according to myth, Satšï was riding out at night and was swept up in a storm, being carried up to heaven before his body was returned to the ground. Regardless of whether or not this is true, Satšï had left behind a considerable legacy. Dingge went further, notably raiding areas to the southeast, coming into contact with ... groups, accepting ... immigrants in the wake of civil war, which also enhanced Niohuru knowledge and prestige. In this time, the first schools were founded in Aišïngašan, and the Niohuru dynasty began to be influenced not just by Yen groups, but also ... groups that had joined the Niohuru cause, becoming assimilated into their culture. With the Niohuru dynasty, the Wailan groups in the south had started to first organise themselves as an independent power.

Up in the north however, the Black Head Wailans had expanded themselves into the Sahaliyan Ula. These Wailans were seen as much more uncivilized, although they were a larger tribal, kin-based entity rather than nomadic. The Niohuru dynasty under Sain and his son Šiekude attempted to invade the Black Head Wailans in the 740s, but had faced immense resistance not just from the climate and geography, but from the scorched earth tactics initiated by the Black Head Wailans. Eventually, seeing nothing of value, the Niohuru retreated. The Black Head Wailans are estimated to have taken severe losses in those wars as a result of their scorched earth tactics, which hampered their ability to take lands from other Tungustic groups for the next century and a half. The Black Head Wailans were seen as uncivilized savages by the increasingly urban Niohuru elite, but they were organised along tribal lines into an unusually stable confederation, and continued to do so right until their absorption into the Jin Dynasty in the 17th century. Perhaps it is somewhat remarkable then, that the Black Head Wailans had been able to confederate and unite themselves for so long and against so many dangers.

The descendants of these Black Head Wailans can be found all across northern Tangkuo, giving rise to many dialects, all of which are mostly centered around the Sahaliyan Ula.

File:NiohuruatHeight.jpg

The Niohuru Dynasty at its height

Over the next few centuries, the Niohuru dynasty had several rebellions over the distribution of power in the Wailan state. Some of the nobles, both nomadic and sedentary, were opposed to the centralization of power by the past few rulers that had been aimed to create a state much like the Yen Empires. Many of these rebellions ended in victory for the Niohuru dynasty, but it still showed long running dissent for the ruling family. The Niohuru slowly expanded east, taking tributaries and vassals, and even raided the Yen Yi Dynasty when they were suffering civil wars. Despite the powerful exterior, things were not well for the Wailans. Climate changes had interrupted and stopped harvests, making the already nervous nobles restless.

By 940, the Niohuru had lost their long time tributaries the Fuyu and Yilou. To make matters worse, one of their tributaries, the Qidan, had slowly gained power under the nose of the Wailans, creating a breakaway state of the Yi, the North Wei, led by a Qidan prince. Soon after, the Qidan had entered open revolt in 970, with assistance from their puppet. In a desperate gamble promised their release if they helped fight against the Murong. The Qidan defeated the Wailans in several battles. In 986, they besieged and burnt down Aišïngašan, and the remaining loyalist Niohuru clans, led by their last ruler Niohuru Šensi'abu fled east, and sought shelter in the ... ... Kingdom. Over the next several hundred years they became loyal generals and officers of the ..., but never regained their former glory, before the entire family was wiped out by invading armies in the late Middle Ages. The Qidan victory over the Niohuru in 986 led them to establish the Murong dynasty.

Middle Ages

Murong Dynasty

The Qayan of the Murong Goes Forth With His Hunting Party, scroll, light colors on silk, dated from around 1050 C.E and is believed to depict Murong Hendeji or his brother Xiandeji; Tanggu National Museum, Tukdan

The Qidan were first mentioned as a group around ..., as they were recorded as having split off from other proto-Sukhbataaryn groups as the Tantan, migrating south towards Tangkuo where they became known as the Toba. The Toba were a grouping of several clans, one of which was the Murong. Originally from Toba origins they were then part of the Huniu tribe until 388 C.E when the Huniu-Murong clan became influenced by Yen groups travelling alone the ... Road. This allowed the Qidan to organize and consolidate their own tribe and entity which led to the beginning of Qidan written history. From the 5th to the 8th centuries the Qidan were dominated by the steppe powers to their West, the Sukhbataaryns and then the Wailans. The Yen also came from the south and regularly subjugated them, setting them up as tributaries, which led to Yenicization among the Qidan.

Northern Yidao around the year 950. The Yi Dynasty was losing power rapidly and the Niohuru were in the process of declining with the breakaway of Fuyu and Yilou. In the North, the Black Head Wailans start to settle the valleys of the Saghalien Ula.

Under this triple domination, the Qidan started to show growing power and independence. Their rise was slow compared to others because they were frequently crushed by neighbouring powers, each of which were using the Qidan to fight their wars for them. With the migration of the Sukhbataaryn loosening their control over the Qidan, and the civil unrest in the Niohuru dynasty, the Qidan established the Murong dynasty in 985. The Murong dynasty proved to be a significant power north of the Yen plain as they gained control over former Yen, Sukhbataaryn, and even some Wailan territories. They eventually fragmented in the face of dynastic conflicts and invasions, with several groups scattering themselves across much of northern Yidao such as the Hedahe, Fufuyu, and Dahe Qidans, of which most modern Qidan groups are descended from.

A Murong Pagoda in downtown Huntun. Pagodas like these were erected across southern Tangkuo during the Murong Dynasty.

The first ruler of the Liao dynasty was Suogu, later Taizu of Murong, of the Yila tribe of the Dahe Qidans. The Dahe Qidan were made up of a small confederacy, of which there were many minor chiefs, usually the heads of large Qidan families. At the time of Suogu's birth, around 947, the Dahe Qidans had settled in the eastern parts of the frontier in-between the northern Yen and the lands of the Niohuru dynasty, with the Yaolian clan having dominated the leadership of the Qidan tribes since the 840s. They maintained good relations with the Yen dynasties to the south. However, by the end of the ninth century, leaders of the powerful Yila tribe expressed their discontent with the Yaolian khans. The land of the Dahe Qidans was harsh and mostly barren, made worse by climate changes and droughts. Many times before had nobles sought to ask the khan to resettle in more fertile lands, but the khan denied these requests as he did not want to risk a war with the Niohuru.

According to the legends, the mother of Suogu dreamed one night that the sun fell from the sky and into her bosom where it transformed into the shape of a white horse, from which pregnancy followed. His mother was the target of prophecies throughout her pregnancy, visions of a white horse galloping through a red field, which was seen as a sign that her child would be a conqueror. Dashi, Suogu's father, took him for many hunting trips as a child, and as a minor chief was able to secure a betrothal between Suogu and Yange, the daughter of another chieftan, Ketuyu. However the alliance secured between these two chiefdoms came to an end in 960 when Suogu was only 13, and Ketuyu killed Dashi in an ambush by throwing a javelin into his heart. Suogu returned home and sought to claim the title of chieftain. But the tribe refused this due to his young age, and abandoned the family, leaving it without protection. For the next several years, the family lived in poverty on the steppe, surviving mostly on wild fruits, ox carcasses, marmots, and other game killed by Suogu and his brothers. If they failed, they went hungry. Suogu grew up observing the tough political climate from a distance, which included tribal warfare, thievery, raids, corruption, and revenge between confederations of certain Qidan tribes, compounded by interference from abroad such as from Yen empires to the south. Suogu's mother taught him many lessons, especially the need for strong alliances to ensure stability. Suogu wondered for a time, before serving as a mercenary captain for Yen and Niohuru groups. by 975, he became a general under the Yaolian khan, distinguishing himself in raids against the Niohuru and the Yen. In 980, when the old Yaolian khan died, Suogu became chosen leader of the Qidan, the first outside the Yaolian lineage to be chosen in more than a century and a half.

Suogu broke away with a number of traditions on his rise to power. He delegated ranks and generalship based on merit and loyalty, rather than family ties. As an incentive for absolute obedience, Suogu promised civilians and soldiers wealth from future war spoils. When he defeated rival tribes, he took the conquered tribe under his protection and integrated its members into his own tribe through marriages. He would even have his mother adopt notable orphans from the conquered tribe, bringing them directly into his family. By the time Suogu was 40, he had fifteen adopted brothers. These political innovations inspired great loyalty among the conquered people, making Suogu stronger with each victory.

The Murong Dynasty at its height, under Suogu's grandson Yeradü Xiuge

From the beginning, Suogu planned to conquer the Niohuru. Wanyan Jiujin, the field commander of the Niohuru army, made a tactical mistake in not attacking the Qidan at the first opportunity. Instead, the Niohuru commander sent a messenger, Ming'an, to the Qidan side, who defected and told the Qidan that the Niohuru army was waiting on the other side of the pass. At this engagement fought at Yehuling, the Qidan massacred hundreds of thousands of Niohuru troops. In 984, Suogu besieged, captured, and sacked the Jin capital of ... (modern-day ...). This forced the Niohuru ruler, King Šensi'abu, to move his capital south to Aišïngašan, abandoning the southern half of his empire to the Qidan. In 986, Aišïngašan fell to the Qidan, and Suogu chose this moment to install himself as Emperor Taizu of the Murong Dynasty.

Most of Suogu's success lay in his ability to introduce innovations to Qidan society. From the outset he was a reformer, and in his time in Yen cities and towns, as well as paying tribute to the Niohuru kings, he recognized certain reforms and adaptations that would allow the Qidan to emerge as a power. Arguably the most important of these was the introduction and implementation of a dual administrative system in which nomadic steppe peoples would be governed by Qidan steppe traditions and settled populations in conquered Niohuru lands, while northern Yen lands would be governed by a civil bureaucracy drawn largely on Yen methods. While this did not receive universal support from tribal leaders due to the erosion of their own powers, this became the model that later steppe peoples would use to govern their diverse empires.

Two more important innovations were introduced in 988, two years after Suogu's conquest of the Niohuru and the establishment of the Murong Empire. He adopted Yen court formalities in which he declared himself Celestial Emperor in the Yen-style and adopted an era name, also in the Yen manner of ruling. The second was to name his son, Yeradü Liujin, heir apparent, also a first in Qidan society and something that directly contrasted with Qidan notions of rule by merit. This second innovation did not take hold so easily as few of his successors experienced simple successions, but due to increasing Yenicization became increasingly common over time. By the year 1130, dynastic infighting in the Murong Empire had grown too strong, and the realm fragmented. Many of the united Qidan groups fled northwards or along the Silk Road towards Sifhar and Asura. The few that remained were dominated and became tributaries of other tribes, although small groups occasionally maintained their independence for centuries after.

Many of these small communities converted to Irsad thanks to intermingling with foreign merchants and missionaries travelling eastward from Sifhar, creating a syncretic Irsadic community that combined traditional Qidan and Yen theology with Irsadic teachings. This proved popular with many disillusioned Qidan, who quickly turned away from their Buddhist and Confucist teachings to embrace this new faith, which based on rumours of Irsadic empires in Sifhar, was seen as being the backbone of a successful empire, which the Qidan would need if they were to rise again. Many of these missionaries became community leaders for the Qidan, and to this day, many Qidan are able to trace back their ancestry to these individuals, many of which are canonised in local mosques and schools of thought as Walis. The Qidan remained politically disunited between several tribes and groupings however, until the rise of the Qara Caliphate in the early 17th century.

Early Modern Period

Qara Caliphate

The Qara Caliphate was an Irsadic Qidan empire centered around the city of Gobali, lasting from 1628 to 1727. Led by preacher and Naiad (Noyan) Burak Hajib Urtu Saual, it quickly grew in size and established itself as an independent power in the region. Initially following a syncretic branch of Irsad that had adopted many Yen religious influences, the Qara Caliphate turned to stricter religious rule during the reign of Hasan Burhan (Son of Burak Shudja ad-Din, brother of Burak Hasan, both of which were sons of Burak Hajib), who imposed strict religious law and sought to invade the Jin dynasty to create a new Irsadic dynasty ruling over Yen. Under his reign the Qara Caliphate reached its height, but his aggressiveness turned the attention of the Jin dynasty towards him. Hasan Burhan's son Masuhud and his brother were both killed fighting against the Jin dynasty in 1720. When he heard this news, Hasan Burhan committed suicide by eating hot coals. The deaths of many of the Qidan royal family in their fight against the Jin lead to the fragmentation and conquest of the Qara Caliphate, completed by 1727.

Despite the relatively short time period, the Qidan Caliphate heralded a revival of Qidan customs and language, and had fully established itself as a settled Yidaoan culture that was able to make their own stand. Revolts like those of Said Hasan Mangu, who called himself Hasan Burhan II, often led to the Jin to actively suppress Qidan culture, even culminating in attempts to outright eliminate it at times. This was evident especially during the rule of the warlord Nahu Tugesu in the 1920s, whose attempt to flood ... with Tanggu immigrants to make the Qidan become a minority backfired with the Qidan Revolt and the Sui Clique.

Unification of the Wailans

In the 16th and 17th centuries, the powerful Sui dynasty had backed two rival clans to the popular Aišïn Jahudai clan, the Hubošu and the Gæjeæ, in order to expand into the Wailan region and to keep the Wailans pacified. After many wars won by the Hubošu, vastly increasing their size at the expense of the other Wailan tribes, the leader of the Aišïn Jahudai clan, Šurgaci, united the Jurchen clans into a unified entity, which he renamed as the Tanggu. This unification of the former Wailan tribes came about to prevent any further expansion by the Sui's allies in the region, and was originally supposed to be temporary. At the same time, the Sui dynasty was fighting for its survival against fiscal turmoil and peasant rebellions, and when Šurgaci listed his Six Grievances against the Sui, asking for compensations and the return of land considered Wailan, the Sui refused. For the Sui, it was a matter of national pride, and they expected the Hubošu and the Gæjeæ to be able to easily fight off this Tanggu coalition with a few thousand Sui reinforcements. Šurgaci led the coalition and at the Battle of Juyge, avenged his father and elder brother by severing the head of the Hubošu, both literally and figuratively, and announced his intention to punish the Sui. He stated his desire to conquer and humiliate them in revenge for backing his two rivals, and for sending troops to the Hubošu.

The Sui general Yuwen Huaji, who had revolted against the Sui some years earlier allied to the Tanggu to bring about the destruction of the Sui. After the subjugation of the Gæjeæ, who Šurgaci spared due to their disloyal attitude towards the Sui, the Tanggu formed five Banner Armies, made up of Wailans, Qidans, Volghars and even some Yen that defected. With the Sui distracted by invasions and peasant rebellions, the Second and Fifth armies quickly rampaged across northern Sui. Meanwhile, the First, Third and Fourth Banner Armies, commanded by Šurgaci's brothers Murhaci, Nurhaci and Ihalaci, spread inland. There they defeated the Sui army in the Battle of Shizuishan, crushing most of the resistance in the north. Along the coast, many of the Sui cities opened their gates and bent the knee to Šurgaci and his armies in fear of destruction. This aided the Tanggu immensely. Soon, the Banner Armies met and besieged the Sui capital, Shendu, taking it in a violent assault. During the attack, the last Sui emperor Yang Youlang had his stomach slit open by a Tanggu soldier when trying to escape, resulting in his capture and his agonizing death hours later.

Not long after the siege at Shendu was won on the 15th of July, Šurgaci proclaimed the beginning of the Jin dynasty in 1631. The Jin name itself meant "gold", a literal translation from the word Aišïn, which also meant "gold" in Tangkuo. The Jin dynasty annexed most of the former Sui, installing Yuwen Huaji as a puppet Emperor of the new Shun dynasty in the south. Unrest followed and the Shun capital was stormed by angry peasants fourteen years after its founding. This gave the excuse for the Jin to conquer the rest of the Sui dynasty, and the peasant armies were quickly defeated by the highly trained and experienced Tangkuo Banner Armies. The Jin then consolidated their rule through bribery, persuasion and with their military might. Šurgaci's strengths were his ability to act as a sort of charismatic salesman for his newly-conquered empire, winning over the Yen with the economic prosperity that resulted after the conquest, though his efforts mostly focused on his homeland of Tangkuo. In the coming decades, Tangkuo became rich with years of peace and trade under Šurgaci's reign.

Empress Consort Songgi, for the past several years, had attempted to place her son, Adali, the Prince of Dei, a son of hers from a previous marriage, on the throne of the Jin. Šurgaci was known for riling up his heirs to compete themselves for his affections, often picking favourites and changing his mind every few months. Šurgaci had favoured Adali, before dismissing him as too glum and serious, too governed by his own emotions. Many of Šurgaci's "chosen heirs" died over the course of a decade, such as his two eldest sons, one of his nephews, and two twin grandchildren, and according to myth, Songgi was responsible. Songgi succeeded in her goal in 1643 upon the mysterious death of Šurgaci. Her son, Adali became the ... Emperor. Her son reigned with less power than his predecessor, as his mother managed control over most affairs, recognising his moodiness and irritability. Adali was left to retire in his mansions in the country, often chasing servant girls naked for sport.

Then one day in 1648, as he was returning to Tukdan to ask for a greater allowance from his mother, Adali's carriage was attacked and burnt down. Popular myth holds that Songgi burnt it down because she had refused to tolerate her insolent son any longer, although her own accounts show she was devastated by his death. She lashed out at any seen enemies in the aftermath, purging many of the royal courts. Upon her son's death, Songgi stripped away any pretence of who was in control, taking the throne for herself and calling herself Empress ... . Songgi, despite being born into the Alatan clan, called her sole reign a continuation of the Jin, as she was Jin by marriage. She reigned for six years, establishing strict control, using court intrigue to maintain superiority. Myth holds that one could not breathe in the palace without her knowing. In the later end of her life, she realised the need to make sure that later writers didn't vilify her, and damn her for her actions. So she wrote an autobiography, known as the Confessions.

Songgi wrote her story, justifying the deaths made under her name, including admitting to killing Šurgaci by poisoning his figs, although forensic analysis of Šurgaci's mummified body remains uncertain as to his cause of death. Songgi had dismissed Šurgaci's sons as being unworthy of the throne. She also criticised Šurgaci's games of playing possible heirs against each other as encouraging bloodshed and division, and it was only when she took control and placed her son, Adali on the throne that she realised he was worse than Šurgaci's heirs. She had hoped to take away more power from Songgi, before finding a suitable heir for him for when he died in the future, but he had been unexpectedly killed before any of her plans could be brought into action, thus in her view making it necessary to establish power and reign on her own. She died not long after her confessions were presumably finished, in 1654. Šurgaci's clever young grandson, Jasahatu, child of his youngest son Toose, quickly seized the throne, becoming the ... Emperor. Ironically, Jasahatu was recognised by Songgi as her heir, and would have had the title bestowed on him regardless of whether he had seized it or not.

After her death, the confessions were burned, along with most copies she had made for safekeeping, and a damnatio memorae was placed on her by Jasahatu and his court officials. Many monuments built by her were inscribed as having been built by Jasahatu instead, and many of her portraits were burned. Some accounts even went so far as to pretend she never existed, and that power had passed seamlessly to Jasahatu in the wake of Šurgaci's death. Much firsthand sources of her reign was lost, and stories were financed to show her in a bad light. However in 1994, 340 years after her death, fragments of a copy of her confessions were located in a plain stone box, neatly hidden in a fireplace in an abandoned area of the royal palace. This find, heralded as the Tanggu find of the century, shed some light on much of her motivations, although over eighty percent of the story has been lost, the introduction and remnants of more detailed chapters remain. Her story was quickly popularised in the media, including in stage plays, books, and the critically-acclaimed television series, "Songgi Bi".

Public opinion remains divided on Empress Songgi. She is often seen as a tyrant by contemporary, a ruthless figure who wanted nothing more than to hold absolute power. Her portrayal in many old myths and plays show her as an evil figure. Her confessions, although undoubtedly biased to show Songgi in a favourable light, tell a markedly different story; one of a daughter of a pig farmer who had rose to become Empress, who was dismayed at the corruption of the court, and pledging herself to maintaining the Jin, sought to save it from the dangerous machinations of its ambitious founder, Šurgaci, and his incapable heirs.

Jin Dynasty

For the next few centuries, life returned to normal, roads were built, transportation was improved, the economy recovered and boomed, and entire families lived their lives without the threat of war. After several expeditions to conquer nearby tribes and tributaries, bringing Tangkuo's territory to its biggest, the Jin dynasty began to close off from the rest of the world as they saw no reason for further expansion. The Emperors of the Jin began to marry Yen princesses, but Tanggu was made the sole language of royalty in an effort to preserve tradition and prevent assimilation into the larger Yen population. An entire class of bilingual administrators sprouted across the country, and the Palace of the Jin was built to accommodate the royal family.

However, despite the peace and prosperity that followed in the centuries after the Jin conquest, the Jin policy of "inward perfection" and isolationism from the rest of the world, as well as stagnation and corruption led to their decline in the beginning of the 19th century, and eventual downfall in 1913.

Nineteenth Century

The Opium Wars and the Weifang Rebellion

A soldier of the late Jin Dynasty, photographed near the end of the 19th century

Whilst the economic stagnation and the problems of corruption had started in the previous century, and would easily have been fixed by a good Emperor, one key factor that was beyond any ability to fix by any sort of Emperor led to it's inevitable demise; the arrival of more technologically advanced and more powerful Asuran nations. Whilst not a direct cause, the arrival of Asuran merchants and diplomats, and their military expeditions into the Jin dynasty weakened it immensely, and gave way for its collapse in 1913, and its official end in 1938.

The Jin dynasty had dealt with merchants and travelers from Asura before, and had granted them an "open port" on the swampy island of Tonghei in 1743, which restricted maritime trade to that city and gave monopoly trading rights to private Yen and Tanggu merchants. Demand in Asura for Yidaoan goods such as silk, tea, and ceramics could only be met if Asuran companies funneled their limited supplies of silver into the Jin dynasty. Since the Jin dynasty's economy was essentially self-sufficient, the country had little need to import goods or raw materials from the Europeans, so the usual way of payment was through silver. In the late 1700s, the governments of Midrasia and Newrey were deeply concerned about the imbalance of trade and the drain of silver, and so began to auction opium grown in Majula to independent foreign traders in exchange for silver, and in doing so strengthened its trading influence in Yidao. This opium was transported to the Yidaoan coast, where local middlemen made massive profits selling the drug inside the Jin dynasty. The influx of narcotics reversed the Jin trade surplus, drained the economy of silver, and increased the numbers of opium addicts inside the country, outcomes that worried Jin officials. Emperor Dalunha, concerned both over the outflow of silver and the damage that opium smoking was causing to his subjects, ordered Zhao Kuangyin, a Yen scholar-official in service to the Jin dynasty, to end the opium trade. Zhao confiscated the stocks of opium without compensation in 1839, leading Midrasia to send a military expedition next year.

The First Opium War revealed the outdated state of the Jin military. The Jin navy, composed entirely of wooden sailing junks, was severely outclassed by the modern tactics and firepower of the Midrasian Republican Navy. Midrasian soldiers, using advanced muskets and artillery, easily outmaneuvered and outgunned Jin forces in ground battles, and the capture of many of the Jin's richest coastal ports by the Midrasians led the Emperor Dalunha to sue for peace. The Jin surrender in 1842 marked a decisive, humiliating blow to the already struggling empire. The Jin had to pay massive amounts of money to the Midrasians, and open up a great number of their ports to western trade and missionaries. The outdated Jin military, the corruption in the Jin bureaucracy and the harsh peace treaty imposed upon the Jin at the end of the First Opium War would help stir up anti-Tangkuo sentiment in Yen-inhabited territories annexed by the Jin.

Over the next few decades, tensions and dissatisfaction with the seemingly ineffective monarchy would increase, paving the way for the Jin dynasty's eventual downfall. Amid widespread social unrest and worsening famine, a rebellion against the Jin broke out in the year 1852. The Weifang Rebellion started when radical general Qi Liangyu seized most of the southern Jin Empire, proclaiming himself Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. Qi Liangyu said that God told him to banish the Tangkuo from Yidao and to shatter the Jin dynasty, before bringing an age of universal peace. The Weifang Rebellion not only posed the most serious threat towards Jin rulers in the entirety of their reign, it has also been called one of the bloodiest and most violent civil wars of all time. In early January 1852, after a small-scale battle resulted in a victory in late December 1851, a 10,000-strong rebel army organized by Qi Liangyu routed Jin forces stationed in Jintian. Weifang forces successfully repulsed an attempted imperial reprisal against the Jintian Uprising. The movement quickly spread as anti-Jin groups joined the rebellion, believing that the main goal of the Weifang Rebellion was simply to end Jin rule. In 1853 Weifang forces captured Dongjing, making it their capital and renaming it Tianjing ("Heavenly Capital"). Tens of thousands of Tangkuo men, women, and children that were captured by Weifang forces were lynched, tortured, banished, and executed in a clear attempt to purge Yidao of the Tangkuo "demons". Weifang leaders tried to widen their popular support and forge alliances with Asuran powers, but due to incidents attacks on Asuran ambassadors and soldiers by xenophobic Weifang supporters, these attempts failed. The Asurans stated their intention to stay officially neutral, despite the service of Asuran military advisors in the Jin army, the supplying of modern weapons to Jin forces, and the temporary transfer of several gunboats to the Jin admiralty.

Initially a broad anti-Jin rebellion, as time went on the Weifang rebellion started to lose support among rural classes, as it quickly became apparent that Qi Liangyu's beliefs clashed with Yidaoan tradition, especially in regards to his application of his own syncretic Alydianist faith as the state religion. The landowning upper class, unsettled by the Weifang ideology and the policy of strict separation of the sexes, even for married couples, sided with government forces and their Western allies. An attempt to take Tonghei in August 1860 was repulsed by an army of Jin troops supported by Asuran officers under the command of Loís-Éduard Montpensier de Agramunt. This army would become known as the "Ever Victorious Army", a seasoned and well trained Jin military force that would be instrumental in the defeat of the Weifang rebels. Qi Liangyu declared that God would defend Dongjing, but in June 1864, with Jin forces approaching, he committed suicide. Hours after his death, Jin forces took the city. His body was buried in the former Song Imperial Palace, and was later exhumed on orders of Emperor Dalunha to verify his death, and then cremated. Qi's ashes were later blasted out of a cannon in order to ensure that his remains have no resting place as eternal punishment for the uprising.

Before the Weifang Rebellion, the Jin dynasty looked down on the Yen as children that needed to be educated and cared for under the Emperor, punishments being necessary in order to instill good values. After such a large and bloody rebellion however, the minority Tangkuo elite had to accept that they had to make concessions for the large Yen population who could no longer be contained, or they would likely be overthrown. The Jin Empire barely survived the rebellion, and the resulting moral, political and social crisis produced as the Jin elite finally realized that their empire sat on a ticking time bomb would flame instability in the Jin Empire for the next three decades. In response to the Weifang Rebellion, the Jin dynasty officially expanded the rights given to Yen by Šurgaci's Proclamations for Celestial Peace two hundred years earlier, in August 1868. These expansions included the right for Yen and Tanggu couples to form relationships and have offspring, for Yen to have equal opportunities at competing with Tanggu merchants, and the right for Yen to immigrate into ethnically Tanggu territory. However, this expansion of rights only served as a halfway measure, a temporary solution that served very little benefit. Tensions between Tanggu and Yen clans, as well as pressure for the Jin Empire to modernize by Tanggu-Yen politicians and activists seeking to adopt Asuran values, would eventually lead to the fall of the Jin Empire.

Early 20th Century

Fall of the Jin Empire

Gathered delegates of the Tangkuo Reform Party, later the Tanggu National Party, in Midrasia 1912, shortly before setting off to Tangkuo. Many of them would be later imprisoned and executed by the Jin authorities or exile themselves only to return with the second Republic.

The Warlord Era

Main articles: Warlord Era of Tangkuo (1913-1940 and History of Tangkuo

The First Republic

When the Jin Empire fell in 1913, it did not collapse instantly. Rather entire regions seized by warlords and various aspiring politicians and bureaucrats broke off from the ailing monarchy, resulting in widespread disintegration of social order. Large portions of the country surrounding Tukdan was seized by military officers in a coup, aligning themselves with the Tangkuo Reform Party, culminating in the creation of the Republic of Tangkuo, led by charismatic reformers Ce Yangha, Jang Fuguzhi, and Sha Dingju. Other areas fell to warlords and bandits, as well as differently aligned cliques.

However, the First Republic of Tangkuo was unpopular due to its inability to solve many underlying problems that plagued the former Jin Empire, was unable to rein in bandits and warlords, and was unstable due to a great many coups, including one attempt where a president declared himself Emperor. The republic alienated most politicians by choosing the middle ground, and became unpopular with Asuran powers for its anti-imperialist stance. The capture of Tukdan in 1928 by monarchist forces loyal to warlord Cai Hesun proved to be the death-knell of the fragile republic, and many of its leaders and politicians were either killed, went underground to await another republican restoration or had fled Tangkuo altogether. After the fall of the First Republic, Tangkuo primarily became divided between the League of Four Provinces in the South, led by Puchan Jogosang, and the Bodin Clique in the North, led by military genius, Cai Hesun.

The League of Four Provinces

The League of Four Provinces, sometimes referred to as the Southern Bodin Clique, was a loose confederation of Tanggu provincial governments centered around its leader, League-Marshal Puchan Jogosang, who declared its formation in 1929. The Four Provinces were defined by their close association with, and formal subservience to, the Central Government in Tukdan, paired with their desire to maintain a high degree of functional autonomy. Beyond the advantage of their collective strength, this seemingly contradictory status was enabled by a series of informal agreements with the Independent Cities, which provided material aid in return for land-leasing rights and other privileges across the League.

Due to its status as a regional confederation of military governments with even fewer democratic commitments than the national-level Jin or Hoji governments, the League of Four Provinces could be considered a consensus-driven oligarchy at best and a kleptocratic dictatorship at worst. None of its internal factions were organized political parties, and were instead a mix of both formal and informal organizations better resembling interest groups or lobbies. The vast majority of power was held by the provincial governors, topped only by the League-Marshal himself. Power struggles between these governors and the League-Marshal, as well as between the governors themselves, were not uncommon and surfaced prominently during the 1932 Takushan Uprising. Soldiers and officials at almost every level of the hierarchy, many already predisposed to corruption, became complicit in everything from arms smuggling to the stolen antiquities trade. As its generals grew fat and rich, the League’s popular support plummeted, culminating in the bloody affair later known as the “Takushan Uprising”.

By 1934 a combination of restlessness and disgust at blatant corruption had spurred insurrectionist forces seeking to restore democracy back into action, and in alignment with agrarian communist remnants in the countryside, they launched a general uprising in and around Takushan; sparking similar risings in Daijuhu, Wuhan, and several cities along the Southeastern Coast. Though the movement floundered and failed within a matter of weeks, crushed in large part thanks to a vicious crackdown in Takushan by Yen General Chen Yi, it is considered by many to have set the stage for future conflicts in Tangkuo. The mass centralization of the League around League-Marshal Puchan Jogosang meant that it collapsed in 1936 with his violent death when his train carriage exploded in an act of sabotage. The League broke up into several cliques as a result, only to be swept up by the resurgent Second Republic and the emerging Tanggu People's Republic, whose leader Sen Kunuma, returned from exile in Midrasia after hearing of the collapse.

The Independent Cities

The term, "Independent Cities" to refer to the treaty ports and cities that were once under joint control of several world powers is something of a misnomer. The Independent Cities were de facto independent in their own affairs, and existed as a sort of confederation between the wealthy port cities of eastern Tangkuo, but only existed in order to expand profits and influence of other world powers owning interests in Tangkuo and Yidao in general. Initially, the Independent Cities flourished, not only through trade with foreign powers but also thanks to smuggling people, drugs, and weapons into Tangkuo. By the 1930s, recent events had caused the Independent economy to collapse, therefore leading to high crime rates. Corruption had caused police forces to be minimal and lobbyists for crime groups to be all over the government. The Independent Cities was initially backed by foreign powers, but as profits started to dry up and economic instability wracked the world, they were left to their own fate. By the time of the Tanggu Civil War, they had been forced to concede much of their territory, including the cities of Boli and Yingkou for profit, before a coup d'etat by local officers ended the Independent Mandate, and the remaining cities were conceded to the Second Republic.

The Hoji Clique

Main articles: History of Tangkuo, and Hoji Clique (1927-1951)

The Hoji Clique, or the Hoxi or Heshi Clique in Yen, also known as the Sei Clique, was one of many cliques and warlord states that erupted from the fall of the Jin Empire. Notable for being led by the Hojis family, an Irsadic Qidan dynasty, the clique has been considered by many to be a model for Tangkuo's future, having promoted the modernization of Tangkuo, national, religious, and gender equality, as well as the funding of many educational, medical, agricultural, and sanitation projects. The Hoji Clique was also notable for having the world's only female Imams. Under the Hoji Clique, illiteracy in the Tadagur region decreased dramatically from 1927 to 1951, from 89% to 13%. The Hoji Clique, while not a republic, had local elections in major towns every couple of years while main executive power was held by the Hoji family.

Originally the Tadagur region was controlled by Governor Liu Sahani, who had controlled the region prior to the Jin collapse in 1913. Liu was only assigned to govern the Tadagur region temporarily, but as soon as the Jin collapsed, he found himself isolated, forced into a governorship that he was unable to relinquish. So Liu bided his time, issuing his personal "Tukdan government" rule, issuing fealty to any clique or warlord that had gained control of Tukdan. Liu had developed a bad case of paranoia, combined with his old age. Thinking even his closest officials were conspiring against him, cabinets were constantly switched as one minister after another was put to death for suspicion of treachery. Liu’s right-hand man, Nahu Tugesu shared many of his traits of generally being power hungry and untrusting of those who escape his very exclusive clique. With Liu only growing more reclusive in his old age, many of the daily responsibilities of administration were left to Jin. However, Liu had not given Nahu enough autonomy to make radical changes on his own, keeping him on a tight leash along with his many other officials. By 1925, Liu, rarely ventured out of his room, only to sign documents and give his handwritten orders to his administrators. It was a complete surprise then, that when Nahu Tugesu sought permission from Liu to hunt down Sukhbataaryn raiders coming over the border, he found his room empty, with Liu seemingly having disappeared from the entire Tadagur region. A quick examination of the accounts showed that the entire treasury of taxes taken from the Qidan population was empty. Nahu acted quickly, and raised his personal army to seize control, executing Liu's other right-hand men. With his control quickly cemented, Nahu began his rule of Tadagur.

Nahu Tugesu was quite obviously Sahani’s protege according to some, but Liu’s paranoia being replaced with Nahu's ego and incompetence. Nahu immediately began to make moves against both the Qidan and his own officials in order to establish dominance over his domain. From the doubling of the Qidan and Nian tax, to finally dealing with the Sukhbataaryn problem he sought to take all necessary steps to ensure that Tadaguria was his and his alone. Nahu’s final goal, however, is unexpected to many, the unification of Tadaguria. Along the Hanjur corridor between the heartland of Tangkuo and the Tadagur region lay the Jau Haanate, a tributary state that allied with Liu after the Jin collapse. On the 27th of May 1926, Nahu invited the Haan of the Jau Haanate, Bala Haan, to celebrate Nahu’s own inauguration as the governor of Tadaguria in Kherlen. Bala agreed, not wanting to insult this new governor. After Bala arrived and partook in the celebrations, he was escorted away, captured, and imprisoned. Nahu’s administrators immediately got to work regarding the recent integration, seeking to take advantage of this new and unique region. Nahu's first step was to truly make use of this exclusive road to civilize the Qidan, with recently annexed Jau becoming the first to be settled in Nahu's quest of making the great Tanggu race reach beyond its typical bounds.

The Jauliks already upset by these foreigners trespassing upon their rightful lands have little patience for this administration. If any thought that the reformist Bala was bad as a monarch, then their current situation was worse than they could have ever imagined. Already feeling the weight on their shoulders, the last straw on their back is quickly broken as a Tanggu tax collector by the name of Tuda Oon arranges a forced marriage to a Jaulik’s underage Irsadic daughter. Already enraged by foreign entry and now the foreign marriage of their honorable people, tensions finally explode. During one of Tuda Oon’s meetings with his soon to be wife’s father, a large group of Jauliks broke into the building, lynching and killing Tuda Oon, the father, and the daughter. For the people of Jau, enough was enough, and their great uprising began. Qidan religious orders began calling for a Jihad, or holy war, against Nahu Tugesu and his government. The Jaulik rebels stormed the fortified inner city, massacring the Tanggu garrison there and beheading many of the newly arrived Tanggu immigrants. At the same time, as news of the occupation spread to the south of Tadaguria, a miner's strike quickly gave way to a revolt.

A local Qidan landholder, minor aristocrat and soldier, Hojis Burhasi, joined the revolt, and quickly became leader of the rebellion. The Qidan, with the aid of other warlords, defeated Nahu's troops and stormed Kherlen. Nahu Tugesu had not mastered his former mentor's art of disappearing however, and faced with an army of Qidan zealots, he stabbed himself with his ceremonial sword. After Nahu's death, Hojis Solomani was elevated to his place. Hoji made deals with the other cliques, telling them that the Tadagur region was now equal in standing to the rest of Tangkuo, and that there would be no more mass migrations into the region. Hojis Solomani paid tribute to the Bodin Clique, the Later Jin dynasty, and then the Second Republic making sure they accepted the Qidan as equals in exchange for loyalty, and the support of several divisons of the elite Danmaa Gungk’ar Braves.

The Hoji Clique from 1927 to 1951, before its invasion by the Tangkuo People's Republic, was led by two brothers, Hojis Solomani and Hojis Sanjii. The Clique, despite being de facto independent, still pledged allegiance to the Jin Remnant, and sometimes sent representatives to the Jin Remnant in order to ease tensions. However, the Hojis family made it clear that they would not give up executive power to the Jin unless a much greater reward was given to them, such as key government positions or vast estates, that the Jin Remnant, being a constitutional monarchy, was either unable or unwilling to do. Despite its progressiveness, the Hoji Clique had major underlying problems, including terrorist attacks and raids by the radical Irsadist Yehewani religious order. Attacks by the Yehewani culminated in a long, protracted conflict lasting for the entirety of the Hoji Clique's history in the mountains surrounding the Tadagur valley. The Yehewani sought to overthrow the Hoji Clique and to establish fundamentalist Irsadic ideals, such as forced conversion, the veiling and strict separation of women from men, and the destruction of non-Irsadic temples and idols. After the annexation of the Hoji Clique into the People's Republic of Tangkuo, the Yehewani attacks ceased amid a brutal crackdown on the Irsadic religion. In recent years however since the fall of the People's Republic, there are signs that the Yehewani are mobilizing again.

Bodin Clique

In March, 1930, Emperor Aišïn Jahudai Jïlunggusu was restored to the throne in Tukdan as a condition of Asuran support for Cai Hesun and the Bodin Clique. The new government was technically a constitutional monarchy, with Jïlunggusu sharing power with a National Assembly in Tukdan. Nominally composed of representatives from all of China, only the area around Tukdan and the North Tangkuo Plain frequently sent representatives, with warlord cliques hostile or ambivalent to Tukdan's rule not participating for various reasons. Cai Hesun initially allowed various democratic parties to hold some seats in the assembly as a way of securing international and domestic legitimacy for his regime. This strategy backfired, however, as Tangkuo’s trade debt continued to spiral out of control.

With day-to-day governance largely handled by the Bodin clique, the Emperor spent the next few decades practicing calligraphy, and playing tennis matches. Theoretically, the Jin Emperor controlled all of the former lands of the Jin Dynasty, but in reality the Emperor's power barely extended beyond the walls of his palace, while Prime Minister Ma Ningji was largely powerless beyond the senate floor. The real power lay with military genius and philosopher-general Cai Hesun, who was more interested in consolidating his power base in Tukdan and balancing military cliques off from each other than actually improving the Jin Remnant in any meaningful way. It was Cai's gravitas that bound the Remnant together, and granted him far-reaching influence outside of the conventional political system.

What seemed to be a somewhat peaceful past few years for eastern Tangkuo suddenly ended when the League of Six Provinces collapsed in February 1936, following the assassination of Puchan Jogosang. With the League in chaos, Cai Hesun and the Bodin clique decided to sit out the collapse, to try and make a deal with the eventual victor. The initial reaction by the general population, however, was one of hostility and anger. By refusing to take a side in the intervention, Cai Hesun opened himself up to widespread criticism not only from the reform parties and urban intellectuals, but from some generals within the Bodin Clique as well. A few were genuine monarchists, but most are simply angry at Cai for failing to use the opportunity of the League collapse to expand their influence southward. These generals, plus the aforementioned reformist parties, began to plot in secret to overthrow Cai Hesun and reinstate Jïlunggusu. On the 9th of May, 1936, the plot was carried out, and Cai was gunned down in the middle of a radio broadcast.

However, the plotters underestimated the number of Cai's supporters. The resulting action was swift, but bloody. Many of the supporting generals were arrested and placed under house arrest, but some escaped and mustered their forces, including the elite Songgi Cadets. Street fighting broke out in downtown Tukdan, and the Imperial Palace came under mortar fire. The Bodin army advanced closer to the Songgi barracks, taking street by street in bloody fighting. When the dust cleared, the plotters had been defeated.

The Second Republic

The resulting crackdown was swift. Immediately, the Emperor was removed from the government, officially ending the monarchy, monarchist supporters in the government were purged, and officials gathered to create a new republican interim government to rule Tangkuo, the role of President being settled on former diplomat to Midrasia Antoine-Bartomieu Oon. The Republic of Tangkuo was restored.

Antoine-Bartomieu Oon, the Great Compromiser and first President of the Second Republic

Sen Kunuma, Leader of the Communist Party of Tangkuo from 1936, and dictator of Tangkuo until his death in 1960

Initially the news of the Second Republic was heralded with praise by republicans across Tangkuo. President Oon, a former diplomat, sought to bring stability to the republic by creating an United Front involving communists and nationalists against the warlords. For the next several years, the two disparaging wings of the republic had been united into the New Republican Reform Association of Tangkuo, and various centrist policies were implemented. At the same time, the secret police of the Second Republic had caused the untimely deaths of a number of more radical elements in both the left and right wings, usually politicians and generals very unhappy with their retrospective parties' idea to co-operate with Oon. Tensions in the street between the left and the right had died down while the republic focused its efforts on combating the warlords. By 1940, most of the main warlords to the south, including Sordo Hen and the "Bandit King" Guo Heye of the untamed north were pacified.

Despite these military successes, leadership remained divided between right-winger Caoha Mentemu and left-winger Sen Kunuma. The two could not have been any different. Sen Kunuma was well dressed, intellectual, a polyglot and sophisticated in attire and manner, with a powerful gift at oratory. Caoha Mentemu on the other hand was a rough former soldier who spoke Tanggu with a thick Northern accent and had little understanding or appreciation of the outside world, but had greater determination and leadership skills when it came to the army and party dynamics than Sen. With support from the Asuran Socialist Republic and Communist movements in other nearby countries, the left wing was gaining traction and popular support from the people. The January 1940 party conference had placed Communists in strategic posts and the party became almost wholly under leftist control. President Oon fought to maintain a compromise and had denounced the left wing's gains as a move that could destabilize the republic, but before any action could be taken, he was shot several times by a disgruntled government official in the middle of the senate on the 11th of January, 1942. Oon hung on for days afterwards, but despite the best efforts of medical personnel, he died on the 15th of January.

With President Antoine-Bartomieu Oon's death, so too died most bipartisan support for the continuation of the United Front. In the resulting chaos, the interim President, one of Oon's protégés, right-winger Caoha Mentemu, seized control of the New Republican Reform Association of Tangkuo. In 1943, Caoha turned on the left-wing of the New Republican Reform Association of Tangkuo, who split away creating the Communist Party of Tangkuo. Communist militia armed themselves and rose up across the country, leading to the Tanggu Civil War.

Tanggu People's Republic - Sen Kunuma (1948 - 1960)

By 1947, the Communist Party of Tangkuo had established control over most of the country. The Communists are believed to have won the Civil War because they made fewer military mistakes than Caoha, and because in his search for a powerful centralized government, Caoha antagonized too many groups in Tangkuo. Meanwhile, the Communists told various ignored or neglected groups, such as peasants or farmers that had formerly been under warlord rule, exactly what they wanted to hear, and cloaked themselves in the cover of Tanggu Nationalism. Sen's tendency to dress up in military uniforms often made many of his critics see him as megalomaniacal, but these tendencies mellowed out as he grew older and became a more established figure, and he let his generals handle most of the work during the Civil War, avoiding many mistakes and pitfalls that his rival, Caoha Mentemu fell into.

After the northeast was captured in 1948, and with Tukdan cut off from Daijuhu, the Nationalist military position became hopeless. Mass surrenders by soldiers of the Nationalist army became common. Tukdan and Daijuhu were occupied without resistance, leading to Sen Kunuma declaring victory in the civil war on the 11th of February 1948 and the establishment of a People's Republic. Due to the discipline required of its essentially insurrectionary program and the understandable distrust of personal warlord power bases, the Communists reformed their party and military structure to a much more centralised form modelled on other historical revolutionary parties, often referred to as the “party-state”. While all decisions were made by essentially democratic means, once agreed upon by vote, the party’s policies had to be obeyed by members to the letter. This measure of unity allowed for the Communists to outmaneuver the other factions in Tangkuo politically and militarily, and to eventually achieve full civilian and military control of most of the country by the end of the Civil War.

Sen Kunuma ultimately imposed one-party rule over leftist officials and politicians in Tangkuo, in theory achieving Ce Yangha's Democratic Principle by holding what was referred to as a temporary dictatorship until the people were supposedly ready for democracy. This was not considered to be feasible in Tangkuo's recently united state, with Sen addressing this by promising to restore elections within fifteen years of the Civil War's ending in 1948. Whether he had actually intended to carry this out this promise was never known, as he died in 1960. His dictatorial period would supposedly end after all of the People's Four Principles were carried out and anti-party influences silenced. The reality of this was that it meant that Sen had imposed upon Tangkuo a dictatorship lasting until his death, a dictatorship referred to as being like those of ..., and ..., but with Tanggu characteristics. With the establishment of a proletarian dictatorship led by Sen Kunuma in the aftermath of the war, all left-wing parties were fused into the structure of the Sen regime, forcibly conforming them into the ideology that would become known as Sen Kunuma Thought through purges and repressions.

Sen Kunuma giving a broadcast during the 1940s.

Over the next twelve years, Sen Kunuma sought to reform Tanggu society and purge it from many of its feudalistic elements. Sen encouraged the creation of a new Tanggu culture that stripped away many Yen influences that had been so readily adopted by landlords and rulers such as the practise of foot-binding, and many Confucian-inspired schools of thought. Sen established vast construction projects in order to launch Tangkuo forward into the 1950s, starting with the creation of several highways linking major cities and industrial areas. Bridges were built over the Sahaliyan Ula, and prefabricated cities were built alongside growing industrial areas. Several of the hardest projects were built through slave labor, at an estimated cost of several thousand lives. Sen Kunuma sought to encourage what he called as "peasant democracy" at the local level, where each villager would have their chance to vote on issues pertaining to the entire village, fostering communal harmony and restoring control of the means of production to the farmers and peasants. That way, according to Sen Kunuma Thought, democracy had been restored to peasants and regional leaders from whence it came, purified from its change into being used as a tool for capitalists to oppress the working class.

Much of Sen's reforms had a fairly mixed effect, although his development of large areas of industrial land and the creation of an entirely new and highly advanced infrastructure system for the time set the foundation for much of Tangkuo's later growth in the 1990s. Sen Kunuma himself continued to write, analyse contemporary political issues and promote Sen Kunuma Thought. Sen's intimate regular radio broadcasts, which told many Tanggu gathered around the radio as to what the country was doing, what they planned to do, and how they were going about it, were something of a success to many. However, all Sen's capability as a leader and his gift of oratory did not prevent him from falling victim to many party affairs.

Sen Kunuma in uniform, 1959.

Many of his blunders in regards to the inner workings of the party emboldened his opponents, who quietly rose in strength. This was exaggerated by Sen's increasing isolation as he got older, spending many weeks in his rural residence in order to refine his theories, talking to some of his most trusted comrades and compatriots and debating with them on philosophy, history, and the future of Tangkuo. This provided a great many opportunities for plots to form. In a situation where Sen was alerted to such a plot, like the Laimo Plot of 1958, Sen acted rashly and brazenly, dismissing innocent officials and ignoring the advice of party members aligned with him.

Kodai Šentumen in a 1960 propaganda poster.

Kodai Šentumen an influential official who was appointed as Director of People's Security after Maoyi Telin died in 1957, was ideologically firmly in the Maximist camp. He had spoke out against Sen before. Kodai criticised Sen during the Cultural Transformation for preserving a great number of "reactionary" historical sites, stating that he was preventing the progression of Tangkuo into a classless utopia. With the help of practically all of the Maximists, Kodai decided in November 1958 that he would try to take control from Sen. While Kodai considered having Sen arrested as he returned from a diplomatic trip in May 1960, he instead spent time persuading members to support the ousting of Sen, remembering how crucial a united front of support had been to legitimising Sen's ascension to leader of Tangkuo. Kodai was given ample time for his conspiracy, for Sen was absent from Tukdan for a total of six months between July 1959 and January 1960. The conspirators, led by Kodai, struck in January 1960, while Sen was on vacation. On the 12th of January, Kodai called Sen to notify him of a supposed plot, requesting that he organise a special meeting to be held the following day under the guise of a new agricultural project. Even though Sen suspected the real reason for the meeting, he flew to Tukdan, and was escorted into the ... building. He entered his office, only to be informed of his ousting by Kodai and several government ministers, with security guards flanking him. Sen was furious and verbally attacked the conspirators, only to have a coughing fit, being escorted to a chair and informed that his health meant he could not function properly. Sen, losing his stomach for a fight, conceded, and signed a letter of resignation. The next day, Kodai moved quickly against opposing party cliques, and established himself as the next candidate to lead the Tanggu People's Republic. By the end of March 1960, Kodai set to work imposing Maximism on Tangkuo, phasing out Sen Kunuma Thought, replacing it with his own policies and thought.

Sen Kunuma, forcibly retired to his country mansion, fell into a deep depression, his health suffering. He died of a heart attack in 1960, at the age of 77, when he was out for one of his walks, accompanied by a guard. Conspiracy theories have since arisen, with some historians claiming that Kodai killed him either slowly through poison, or by ordering Sen's guard to strangle him, citing a lack of documents regarding his autopsy, and his quick cremation.

Tanggu People's Republic - (1977 - 1982)

In the five years between the death of Kodai Šentumen, and the dictatorship led by Wa Jaligi, there were three different Chairmen leading Tangkuo, most of which represented the upholding of Kodai's policies and theories by his "old guard". Most of these Chairmen were unable to hold onto power in the wake of the power vacuum that was Kodai's death; each disgraced and made to resign quietly, where they went back into the background of politics. None of these Chairmen had the charisma and zeal to differentiate enough from Kodai's thoughts to really establish themselves as a new school of thought and as a new focus of propaganda. Tanggu state media at the time called each rotation a 'necessary reform' and each time built up each Chairman with a detailed biography on their contribution to the People's Republic. Suan Niowanggiyan (1979-1981) was the most successful of the three, and sought to create his own school of thought, but was undone by both his own failings, his poor health, and by the changing nature of the party. Suan was forced to resign in 1981 with a rival of his, Wa Jaligi, becoming Chairman in his wake. Wa Jaligi would go on to become the last Chairman of the Tanggu People's Republic.

Tanggu People's Republic - (1982 - 1988)

Wa Jaligi

1988 Revolution

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Army trucks halted by student protesters shouting democratic slogans during the 1988 Revolution

The 1988 Revolution was the beginning of the end of the 40-year period of communism within Tangkuo. Although a multi-party system was established and elections held, the Tanggu Communist Party (Tangg'oi Gungcandang) remained in power until 1991. Nevertheless, reforms were implemented and the transition to a market economy begun, especially during the Presidency of Guan Shuren of the Young Tanggus.

Government

According to the Constitution of Tangkuo, the country is a federation and semi-presidential republic, wherein the President (or Zungtung in Tanggu Pinyin) is the head of state and the Prime Minister is the head of government. The Tanggu Federation is fundamentally structured as a multi-party representative democracy, with the federal government composed of three branches:

Sen Jogosang, President of Tangkuo formerly from 2007 to 2015, and incumbent since 2019

Legislative: The bicameral Federal Assembly of Tangkuo, made up of the 380-member State Yamun and the 100-member Federation Council, adopts federal law, declares war, approves treaties, has the power of the treasury and the power of impeachment of the President. Executive: The President is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, can veto legislative bills before they become law, and appoints the Government of Tangkuo (Cabinet) and other officers, who administer and enforce federal laws and policies. Judiciary: The Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and lower federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Federation Council on the recommendation of the President, interpret laws and can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional.

The president is elected by popular vote for a six-year term with no limits. Ministries of the government are composed of the Premier and his deputies, ministers, and selected other individual, all of which are appointed by the President on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, which in itself requires the permission of the State Council. Leading political parties in Tangkuo include the Tanggu National Party, Mafagurun (Motherland), Tanggu Asita (Young Tanggus), and the Qidan People's Party. In 2017, Tangkuo was ranked as ...th of ... countries in the Democracy Index, while the World Justice Project, as of 2014, ranked Tangkuo ...th of ... countries surveyed in terms of rule of law, based on the rate of corruption in government and accusations of electoral fraud by the ruling Tanggu National Party.

Demographics

The nature of Tangkuo's history meant that for a long time, Tangkuo and the tribes living in it, came under influence of certain Yen empires. This influence resulted in a great many customs and words being borrowed between the two ethnic groups, especially during the reign of the Jin dynasty. Therefore a case can be made that Tangkuo is partly a Yenicized nation. In recent years, regarding the rise of Tanggu nationalism, questions have been asked as to what constitutes something as being Tanggu and where to draw the line on what is shared and what is different. Some nationalist groups have drawn themselves away from Tangkuo's history with Yen empires and focusing more on the shamanistic, semi-nomadic tribes in Tangkuo's north, attempting to recreate Tangkuo based on what they see as its original roots. Others believe that it is through the interactions with the Yen that made Tangkuo what it is, and that as a rising power, it must create its own sphere of influence. This debate only serves to illustrate that Tangkuo is a multi-faceted country, and that when it comes to ethnic nationalism, clear theories and schools of thought have not been set in stone.

Education

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A teacher in Daijuhu teaches young children the Tangkuo language

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Another teacher wearing traditional clothing, in Tukdan, reading out instructions to his class