Tangkuo

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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 Dahai
• 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 is the homeland of several ethnic groups, including the Yeren, 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-Yeren people were sedentary, especially along wealthy trading routes, which allowed them to grow to become kingdoms in their own right, such as the case of the Qing Yeren. The Qidan people of Eastern Tangkuo created the Hei Dynasty, which went on to control adjacent parts of Northern Yidao. In the time between the end of the Hei 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 Yeren and in some cases, Qidan tribes. Starting in the late 1500s, a Hailanboo Yeren chieftain, Šurgaci (1577–1643), started to unify Yeren tribes of the region. Over the next several decades, the Yeren 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 1903, which brought about a Republic of Tangkuo. Ultimately warlords took control and divided the country. 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 most 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 Yeren tribes "Hundred Peoples" or "Hundred Countries" or "tanggū-gurun".

The proper term to call a person from "Tangkuo" is "Tanggu".

History

Prehistory

Around the time of the Bronze Age, the ancestors of the Yeren moved south from modern-day ..., most likely through Sukhbataar or over Mederi-Alin. At the time of their notice by Yen historians, the Yeren inhabited the forests and river valleys of the land which is now northern and central Tangkuo. These Yeren 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 Yeren were descendants or even the same people as these earlier tribes but this remains unclear. Some speculate the Yeren were the last in a migration from modern-day ... to Tangkuo and had assimilated the rest.

The Tungusic Yeren, upon migrating to Tangkuo, became subjects of the multi-ethnic Kingdom of Gæjæ (511-340 B.C). The early Yeren enjoyed eating pork, practiced pig farming extensively, and were mainly sedentary. The Yeren used both pig and dog skins for coats and other items of clothing. The Yeren 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 Yeren by the Sahun and the Qidan inspired many of them to adopt nomadic traditions and abandon their villages in favour of nomadic camps. Little is known about these early Yeren 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-Yeren. Not much is known about proto-Yeren culture or religion, but it can be assumed that it is related to modern Tanggu culture.

The early proto-Yeren 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-Yeren before they penetrated into inland Tangkuo further, before their separation into the Black Head Yeren and the steppe-influenced Yeren. As such, it is a unique find in Tanggu archaeology.

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

Pre-Qing Yeren 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 during the early 4th century BCE, some of which remain today.

State of Sung/Song (2nd 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 Yeren 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 Yeren 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 of Yeren. 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 harassment 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, ... .

Towards the end of the Song, Yeren were often used as mercenaries, and after a coup toppled King Ding in around 250 B.C, Yeren served in most high offices. Another coup ten years later during the reign of King Yu toppled his dynasty, allowing King Hula, a Yeren by birth, educated in the Yen manner, to rise to the throne. Hula established Yenicizised Yeren rule over the state of Song, 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 Yeren. Hula also avoided the chance to proclaim a new state, instead continuing to maintain the state in Yen manners. The rule of Hula's dynasty is known as the state of Yeren Song.

Qing Yeren

The state of the Qing Yeren, also known as the Kingdom of the Suksuhu Yeren, the Wanggiyan Yeren, or the Nan Yeren was the first major organised Tanggu power in Tangkuo, consisting of Yeren tribes which had been united under the warlord of the Wanggiyan clan, Šolontu. The Yen name for it, Qing, came from the Tanggu word "daicing", meaning "valiant" or "unbeaten", and was usually a title given to warriors of tribes that performed well in battle. The Qing Yeren had been instrumental to the growth of the Yeren people, and had started the path that led to them to dominate Tangkuo and northern Yidao.

Wanggiyan Šolontu, of the Wanggiyan clan had united four of the Southern Yeren tribes under his rule in the 580s, thus establishing the Qing Yeren. These tribes were listed the Punuli, Yuelidu, Aolimi and the Huligai. When Šolontu died in 600, his son Giocangga embarked on several more wars of subjugation, subjugating four northern tribes under his rule, before turning southwards to Yidao. He planned to raid the heartlands of the Yi Dynasty in 609 but on the way he was captured and killed. His brother Soocangga was appointed as King in 610 as Giocangga's eldest son, Boosi was only three. Boosi moved his capital to a large town and trading post on the site of modern-day Tukdan. There he began to build the fortifications that would be the precursor to the later Dabkūri Dorgi Hoton, the royal residence of the Jin dynasty. Boosi also became receptive to Yen customs, adopting some Yen architects to build mansions, schools, and temples across his realm. Due to this, he gained the nickname Mergen, or "wise", and was given the rank of duke on behalf of the Yi Dynasty. Over the next few generations the Southern Yeren of the ..., would adopt more Yen traditions, including once moving the capital closer to Yen lands, but later conflicts between the Yeren and the Yi, as well as the presence of a conservative faction within the Qing court, meant that little Yenicization took place. Following the example of the Wanggiyan clan, the Yeren groups in the south started to organise themselves as an independent power and joined the Qing Yeren.

Up in the north however, the Black Head Yeren had expanded themselves into the Sahaliyan river valleys. These Yeren were seen as much more uncivilized, although they were a larger tribal, kin-based entity rather than nomadic. The Qing Yeren under Wanggiyan Tulergi and his son Sotki attempted to invade the Black Head Yeren in the 740s, but had suffered many losses. Eventually, seeing nothing of value, the Qing retreated.

Over the next few centuries, the Qing Yeren had several rebellions over the distribution of power in the Yeren state. Some of the nobles, both nomadic and sedentary, were opposed to the centralisation 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 Qing, but long running dissent for the ruling family still remained, and was unable to be fixed. The Qing slowly expanded east and south, 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 Yeren. Climate changes had interrupted and stopped harvests, making the already nervous nobles restless. By 940, the Qing Yeren 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 Qing, creating a breakaway state of the Yi Dynasty, 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 the Yi dynasty promised the transfer of northern arable lands to the Qing Yeren if they helped fight against the Qidan. The Qidan defeated the Yeren in several battles. In 986, they besieged and burnt down the Qing Yeren capital, and the remaining Southern Yeren clans loyal to the Qing, led by their last ruler Wanggiyan 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 Qing Yeren in 986 led them to establish the Hei dynasty.

Middle Ages

Hei Dynasty

The Hei dynasty (known in Old Qidan as Mos Holud; or the Qidan State, Mos Diaud Hola Kitai Gur) was one of several empires and imperial dynasties to emerge within Tangkuo during the Medieval Ages that were not of Yeren origin, instead arising from a nomadic grouping known as the Qidan. The Qidan were first mentioned as a group around ..., as they were recorded as having split off from other proto-... 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 the Qidan 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 ... and then the Yeren. The Yen also came from the south and regularly subjugated them, setting them up as tributaries, which led to Yenicization among the Qidan.

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 ... loosening their control over the Qidan, and the civil unrest in the Qing Yeren, the Qidan established the Hei dynasty in 985. The origin of the name is disputed. It is believed that the Qidan name for the Hei Dynasty, "Hola" originated from the Qidan name for the Hei ("Black") River, that it was the Old Qidan word for "Black" itself, or that it was an old prestigious term, the original meaning of which has been long since lost.

The Hei dynasty proved to be a significant power north of the Yen plain as they gained control over former Yen, ..., and even some Yeren 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 in the form of the Hara/Khara Qidans and the Xra/Sha Qidans.

A Qidan Pagoda in downtown Huntun. Pagodas like these were erected across southern and central Tangkuo during the Hei Dynasty.

The first ruler of the Hei dynasty was Suogu, later Taizu of the Hei Dynasty, 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 Qing Yeren, 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 Qing Yeren.

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 Qing Yeren groups. By 975, Suogu became a general under the Yaolian khan, distinguishing himself in raids against the Qing Yeren 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. In 986, Aišïngašan fell to the Qidan, and Suogu chose this moment to install himself as Emperor Taizu of the Hei 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 Qing kings, he recognized certain reforms and adaptations that would allow the Qidan to emerge as a power. By the year 1130, dynastic infighting in the Hei 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 Hara Caliphate in the early 17th century.

Early Modern Period

Hara Caliphate

The Hara Caliphate was an Irsadic Qidan empire centered around the city of Gobali, lasting from 1628 to 1707. Led by preacher and Naiad (Noyan) Burak Hajib Urtu Sgali, 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 Hara Caliphate turned to stricter religious rule during the reign of Hasan Buran (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 Hara Caliphate reached its height, but his aggressiveness turned the attention of the Jin dynasty towards him. Hasan Buran's son Masuhud and his brother were both killed fighting against the Jin dynasty in 1700. When he heard this news, Hasan Buran 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 Hara Caliphate, completed by 1707.

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 and prevent assimilation, like so many other nomadic and tribal groups of the time. Revolts like those of Said Hasan Mangu in 1830, who called himself Hasan Buran II, often led to the Jin to actively suppress Qidan culture by flooding their lands with Yen settlers, who were seen as more loyal and more placid. This suppression sometimes gave way to attempts to outright eliminate Qidan culture at times. This was evident especially during the rule of the warlord Nahu Tugesu in the 1920s, whose attempts to make the Qidan a minority backfired with the outbreak of the Great Qidan Revolt.

Unification of the Yeren

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 Yeren region and to keep the Yeren pacified. After many wars won by the Hubošu, vastly increasing their size at the expense of the other Yeren tribes, the leader of the Aišïn Jahudai clan, Šurgaci, united the Jurchen clans into a unified entity, which he renamed as the Tanggu. In 1631, 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 meant "gold" in Tanggu. 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.

Jin Dynasty

White Lotus Rebellion

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 Wehiyehe Emperor in Ceremonial Armour on Horseback, by Pagolo Barbachollo and Fiorentino Garzoni.

However in 1717, some eighty years after Šurgaci, the Jin hold on the far south came under heavy stress. Droughts and starvation induced by a ballooning population and not enough arable land, swept the country. Soon all available land was used up, forcing Yen peasants to work ever-smaller and more intensely worked plots. The only remaining part of the empire that had arable farmland was the heartland of Tangkuo, where the provinces of ..., ..., ... and ... had been walled off as a Tanggu homeland, unable to be entered by Yen. The Jin ruling classes feared that Yen would flood their heartland, and assimilate the Tanggu. In 1718, the ... Emperor made a proclamation, declaring that for the first time, Yen civilians and families were not allowed to settle north of the Liao river. Violent demonstrations and riots quickly grew into a wider, anti-Tanggu rebellion in 1720. This rebellion, known as the White Lotus Rebellion, quickly spread all across the Jin Empire's south, seizing the cities of Without any clear enemies to combat, Jin brutality against Yen civilians became more common. Due to the brutality of Jin troops, however, the troops were nicknamed the "Red Lotus" Society.

Despite these victories, the situation in the south quickly became untenable. The Emperor's council, including his advisers and top generals, recommended that the Jin abandon the south, else the revolution fully spread northwards and end the Jin. In April 1733 the Jin decided to pull out of their southernmost provinces, consolidating themselves to their lands in Qyred and Tangkuo. Many of the advisers who helped the Emperor make the decision were forced to resign, as the Emperor needed to have someone to blame. The decision to pull out of the south had both positive and negative consequences; it helped consolidate the Jin, protect Tanggu culture, and prevent the spread of anti-Tanggu riots northwards, but it made the Jin more vulnerable, and inspired their decision to become isolationist. The end of the White Lotus Rebellion in 1733 also brought an end to the myth of the military invincibility of the Tanggu, perhaps contributing to the greater frequency of rebellions in the 19th century.

The Gunggar Braves

Gunggar Braves fighting against Qidan in the Revolt of Hoja Buranidun Gaasan

The Gunggar (or Gungk’ar) Braves, were elite infantry units of the Hara Caliphate and later the Jin Dynasty. Initially Qidan in origin (Gunggar originating from the Turuk "Hunkar" or "Sovereign") the Gunggar Braves began as an elite corps of slaves made up of kidnapped and castrated young boys, typically religious or cultural minorities, and became famed for their strict discipline, cemented internal cohesion, and order. Unlike typical soldier-slaves, they were paid regular salaries by the government. As they were forbidden to marry or become mercenaries or merchants, they were expected to harbour complete loyalty to the Caliph or Emperor. In times of civil strife, it was estimated that tens of millions of young boys were castrated in order to serve in the Banners of the Gunggar Braves. The Gunggar Braves were originally formed by Burak Hasan, second Caliph of the Hara Caliphate, inspired by western and Sifharan armies. They performed a great many victories against the Jin under Hasan Burhan, but were ultimately defeated in the Battle of Chileb Ghadani. The Elhetaifin Emperor, recognising the discipline and bravery of these troops, restored the Braves as a fighting force and recruited many of their officers and commanders. By 1715, they had become the household guard of the Emperor. The White Lotus Rebellion in 1720 represented the first test for the Gunggar Braves. A great many victories were won by the Braves, such as the Siege of Seukoan, and the Battle of Dayong, but it was not enough to save the situation in the south when the Jin withdrew.

By the late 1700s, due to a dramatic increase in the size of the Jin standing army as a result of Jin defeats and consolidation in the aftermath of the White Lotus Rebellion, the Gunggar Braves' initially strict recruitment policy was relaxed. Civilians, typically Yen, bought their way into it in order to benefit from the high wages and increased social status. Consequently, the Braves gradually lost their military character. The Braves were a highly formidable military unit in the early years of the Jin, but as the rest of the world modernised its military organisation technology, the Braves became a reactionary force that resisted all change. Steadily Jin military power became outdated, but when the Braves felt their privileges were being threatened, or when officials and Emperors wanted to modernise them, they rose in rebellion. Examples include the ... Incident, where they overthrew the ... Emperor in favour of his reactionary brother, the ... Emperor. The rebellions were often highly violent on both sides, but by the time they were suppressed and eliminated in the 1880s, it was far too late for the Jin to catch up with the West.

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 1903.

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. The confiscation of the stocks of opium without compensation led to Midrasia sending a military expedition in 1840. 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, led by Admiral Felix Pleimelding, and Lieutenant General Almaricus Dubos, 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-Tanggu 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. 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.

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 instil good values. After such a large and bloody rebellion however, the minority Tanggu 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

The Warlord Era

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

Having lost parts of the south, the Jin Empire quickly became unpopular. Despite successful modernisation in the army and in parts of the government administration, the Jin dynasty had to rely more and more on the allegiance of capable military officers. In 1903, a rebellion led by the influential and republican Tanggu Reform Party, (Tangg'o Halandang), was followed by a coup in Tukdan by generals Liao Bahai, Chen Yi, and Bujan Alin, who had pledged their allegiance to the republican cause in the hopes it would give them power. The Tanggu Reform Party, led by Ce Yangan, made the necessary decision of giving many of these generals offices and titles within the fledgling republic, as these generals had the support of the army, and could easily conduct their own coup. In the 1904 elections, Liao Bahai and Chen Yi organised the assassination of the Tanggu Reform Party candidate Jang Fuguzhi, and installed themselves as President and Vice-President. Liao and Chen ruled as a diarchy, and set about centralising the country, which resulted in revolts from many of the provincial governors and generals, beginning the Warlord Period of Tangkuo.

Ce Yangan and many of his fellow reformers fled south, managing to cement control around ... with the help of warlords in 1906 and 1910, and set up successive rival governments to the diarchy in government in Tukdan, re-establishing the Tangg'o Halandang and declaring themselves the restored Republic of Tangkuo in October 1910. However, the international community saw the Tukdan Diarchy as the legitimate government. As such, the Reform Party's rule in ... is known as the Reform Government. Ce's dream was to unify Tangkuo by launching an expedition against the diarchy in the north. However, Ce lacked the military support and funding to turn it into a reality. So Ce began to reform ... into a "model province", improving the province's infrastructure and creating local assemblies. Ce was inspired by western governments and other revolutionaries across Yidao when formulating his own political theories, such as the People's Four Principles; National Unity, Revolution/Reform, Democracy, and Redistribution. The People's Four Principles would shape the ideologies of all parties of the Reform Government, as well as democracy in Tangkuo as a whole.

Ce died in 1919, after years of poor health. Over the next few years, the Reform Government juggled leaders, struggling to cement a new President, until the ascension of General Kay Mingshu. Kay, despite coming from a military background, managed to unite the majority of the Reform Government into an united front in preparations for an expedition north. Despite this, there were tensions. Kay, despite being a member of the right-wing of the Halandang himself, executed the right-wing politician, Shen Songyao, in a bid to maintain the united front, as Shen was rumoured to be behind the assassination of Su Qing, one of the leaders of the Halandang's left wing. By 1922, the Reform Government in the south had managed to gather enough military support and funding, aided by socialist revolutionaries and theorists from Asura, to engage in an expedition north.

At this time the northern warlords had been engaging with each other in intermittent warfare. The Tukdan Diarchy of the Bodin Clique had collapsed in 1908, with the deposition of Liao at the hands of a coup led by military genius Cai Hesun. Chen Yi fled to start his own clique in ... , while the governor of ..., Ning Hasuran, reformed his government to be one of the most powerful in the country. Ning, backed by ..., had ambitions to control all of Tangkuo. The aftermath of all this fighting sapped all legitimacy from what remained of the central government in Tukdan. In March 1922, the forces of the Halandang’s National Revolutionary Army surged northwards toward the cities of Šangji, Dandong, and Huludao, aiming from there to take Daijuhu, Šangrao, and eventually Tukdan.

Foreign powers, who intermittently supported various sides in Tangkuo’s internal conflicts, looked on nervously. The Halandang and their National Revolutionary Army were something new, unifying two otherwise opposed political factions: A nationalist right wing, under Kay Mingshu, and a socialist wing, under Sen Kunuma. The Halandang, at least partially funded by socialist organisations in Asura, was seen as a dire threat to foreign interests in the region by many, including ... .

Soldiers of the Halandang's NRA

... eventually began to intervene in the conflict during the Siege of Huludao, a thorn in Kay Mingshu's side. ... instead of obeying Kay's threat to leave, began supplying the garrison at Huludao with badly needed food under the pretense of delivering "postage". Kay gambled that this pretence was the extent of foreign intervention, and that a true victory lay elsewhere nearby. Kay left the siege to his subordinates, and proceeded northwards from Huludao towards Daijuhu in October 1922, aiming to acquire his essential victory there. ... decided to act decisively and dispatched two forces from their concession at ..., the first invading the Halandang's provisional capital at ..., and the second moving south from ... into Zangwu Province. A major battle broke out in the vicinity of ... in early 1923, pitching the core of the National Revolutionary Army against the forces of warlord Bujan Alin, supported by ... reinforcements from ... . Kay suffered a decisive defeat.

With the capture of the Halandang's provisional capital, and denied any major propaganda victory, talk of desertion begins to spread throughout the ranks of Halandang forces in ..., ..., and ... . Once scattered reports begin to arrive from Kay's retreating forces in the east, this only worsened, and chaos ensued as various units defected, deserted, or were outright disintegrated. Kay Mingshu was held personally responsible for the army's failures, and on the 9th of March 1923 was assassinated by a subordinate in revenge for his earlier elimination of competing conservative ideologue Shen Songyao. Much of the left-wing leadership under Sen Kunuma fled abroad as warlord armies marched south, either to Asura or to newly established socialist regimes nearby. Some units scatter, with a number making their way to ..., while other forces stubbornly hold out, but the last major NRA force in the East surrenders in April. Halandang activists retreated into communes in the mountains and countryside, where they continued for the next decade to ferment rebellion. Kay's death dealt a mortal blow to the Halandang's right wing, which fractured and broke apart not long after. Its left wing entered the Northern Expedition strong thanks to Kay's purge, and exited as the organization's sole politically coherent component. The Halandang left wing would go on to reform themselves in exile, declaring themselves the Communist Party of Tangkuo, with Sen Kunuma beginning to define his ideology of Sen Kunuma Thought during the exile.

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.

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 whoever controlled Tukdan, and sometimes sent representatives to other governments in order to ease tensions. However, the Hojis family made it clear that they would not give up executive power unless a much greater reward was given to them, such as key government positions or vast estates, that many warlord cliques and governments, fractured and unstable, were 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.

The Second Republic

(WIP)

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

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 giving a broadcast during the 1940s.

Sen Kunuma ultimately imposed one-party rule over leftist officials and politicians in Tangkuo, in theory achieving Ce Yangan'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 writing, 1950.

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 inhabitants of villages and small towns would have their chance to vote on issues pertaining to the entire village. That way, according to Sen Kunuma Thought, democracy had been restored to peasants and regional leaders from whence it came, purified from its use 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 Hešeri Plot of 1957, Sen acted rashly and brazenly, dismissing and prosecuting innocent officials and ignoring the advice of party members aligned with him in favour of those in other camps.

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 wing of the party. 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 in the party, 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 headquarters of the Communist Party. 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 almost collapse from a coughing fit. He was escorted to his desk 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 August 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 - Kodai Šentumen (1960 - 1977)

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 Hasuran, becoming Chairman in his wake. Wa Hasuran 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 formally a multi-party representative democracy, and the federal government is orchestrated into three seperate branches:

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

The bicameral Federal Assembly of Tangkuo, made up of the 380-member State Yamun and the 100-member Federation Council, acts as the legislative arm of the government. It has the power to adopt federal laws, declare war, approve treaties, has the power of the treasury and the power of impeachment of the President. The executive power is concentrated in the President. The President is the leader of the armed forces, can veto bills before they become law, and appoints the Cabinet of Tangkuo (Cabinet) and other officers, who in turn administer and enforce federal laws and policies. The executive branch of the Tanggu government is concentrated in three courts, the Rights Court, Supreme Court and other federal courts, whose judges are appointed by the Council on the advice of the President. They can interpret laws and can overturn laws they deem unconstitutional.

Leading political parties in Tangkuo include the Tangg'oi Gubcigurundang (Tanggu National Party), Mafagurun (Motherland), Tanggu Asita (Young Tanggus), and the Gidandang (Qidan Party).

Culture

Music

Traditional Tanggu music includes combinations of the folk, religious and ritual music styles of the Tanggu people. Traditional music has been practised in relative areas since prehistoric times, and due to interactions with Yen states, traditional Tanggu music after the Qing Yeren became heavily influenced by Yen music. Traditional Tanggu music, such as operas, ballads, and epics, bloomed during the time of the Jin Dynasty, and music became ever more increasingly varied and complex, oftentimes put under the patronage of certain emperors.

The arrival of Western influences in the late 1800s went on to have a massive impact on music in Tangkuo and the Jin Empire. Some emperors assembled Western-trained orchestras to play for them. Despite the collapse of the Jin Empire and the political turmoil that resulted, organisations like the Halandang sponsored Western-styled adaptations of traditional Tanggu and Yen ballads. Symphony orchestras were formed in most major Tanggu cities and performed to a wide audience in the concert halls and on radio. Music in particular was used by many of the factions during Tangkuo's warlord period and the civil war for support. The Communist Party of Tangkuo in particular used nationalist hymns to drum up support, and adapted many old folksongs to have revolutionary meanings. Such songs would continue to be sponsored throughout the rule of the party. However, after the 1998 Revolution, Western-styles such as pop and rock music quickly became popular and mainstream, setting the foundation for a Tanggu cultural bloom in music.

With the emergence of bands such as Hoošan Tasha, Ujui Gebu, and Terkimbi in the late 90s, Tanggu-Pop grew into a subculture that amassed enormous fandoms of teenagers and young adults. With the advent of online social networking services and Tanggu TV shows, the current spread of Tanggu-Pop and Tanggu entertainment, known as the Tanggu Wave, quickly grew to be seen not only in Yidao and Savai, but also in Majula, Rennekka, Arabekh, Sifhar, and throughout the Western Asuran-cultured world, gaining a widespread global audience.

Sports

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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