Monarchy of Themiclesia: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 07:07, 20 October 2020
The monarchy of Themiclesia serves as the constitutional head of state of Themiclesia. The current monarch is La of the Slje-mra′, Inner Region (內史司馬涂), who ascended the throne on Dec. 12th, 2016. He succeeded the late sovereign Emperor Sk'en'.
The monarch and the royal family undertake political, legal, cultural, and ritualistic duties as provided by law and custom. As the monarchy is politically neutral, it is bound to the constitution and precedents when appointing ministers and officials, to confirm the Government's decisions, and to award honours and titles. Unlike most monarchies, the Emperor is not commander-in-chief of the nation's armed forces, which are led by the government under legislation. The monarchy retains de jure unlimited power, though this is in practice never exercised personally by the monarch.
The institution of kingship amongst Meng settlers can be traced to the Hexarchy and earlier, though its precise cultic, political, and social roles and rules of succession are still not conclusively described. Though six major kings emerged, the high kingship or hegemony was established by the Tsjinh in 256 and developed into the modern monarch. The power of kings depended on a network of nobles bearing varying duties, military and civil, towards the royal administration.
History
In the activist political reformism during early 19th century, treatises proliferated on the "Themiclesian constitution question" to find out not only about the future form of the state, but also what kind of state Themiclesia was. Gjong J., writing in 1834 and with obvious influence from Casaterran traditions, said the King of Tsjinh (晉王), bearing the title Emperor (皇帝, gwang-têgh), is head of state and suzerain of "the associated states", possessing unlimited power over the former and treaty-based powers over the latter. He called Themiclesia a "complex" state due to this compound character, contrasting it with "simple" states such as the Sieuxerrian Empire, which in modern terms might be called a unitary state. Gjong's arguments, though influential, are criticized for a heavy focus on the letter of the law and omission of material forces that "have altered the substance of the state, but not the form".
In the following decade, Reformists sought to establish a codified constitution for Themiclesia, which the crown supported opportunistically to recover some of its lost powers. This plan the Conservative leaders opposed, believing granting the crown any unilateral authority, particularly in questions of war and peace, was a prelude to politically active monarchs. Royal politics was cited as a source of discord amongst the aristocracy and much misery for the entire country. The Reformists and Conservatives reached an agreement in 1844 to maintain the principle of consensus between the hereditary peers and elected representatives, which left the crown powerless despite Emperor Ng'jarh's intrigues.
Constitutional role
The accepted role of the Emperor is Themiclesia's politically-neutral head of state. Even though the crown is a part of the executive, legislative, judicial branches of government, it is in all cases expected to follow the advice of ministers or other officials that take responsibility for the royal actions that they advise. Royal actions without the endorsement of ministers or officials, as may be appropriate, are regarded as legally void.
Themiclesian statutes, which date from antiquity to the modern age, reserve a large number of powers to the crown. Such powers are part of the executive function of the crown and might be held personally or delegated to ministers he appoints. After the Great Settlement of 1801, these powers are exercised by the Cabinet, which is responsible to the legislative, with the crown's nominal approval.
Etiquette
Nominal Taboo
In Themiclesian culture, personal names are considered taboo due its connection to personhood or identity. It was held that a curse could be cast upon a person via his name, and thus names are not easily written or spoken. Individuals of lower status frequently observed the taboos on superiors' names as a gesture of respect, and those of higher stations indicated affection towards inferiors by the same gesture. The name of the reigning monarch is called the national taboo (邦諱) that would once have been observed by all subjects under the same paradigm, and breach of the taboo in a profane context could be criminal. This tradition was broken by Emperor Grui, who recorded his voice onto a record stating what his name was. However, even today, it is more usual to refer to emperors by their epithets than their persoanl names, which are often obscure, meaningless, or neologisms, so as not to impose a taboo on a frequently-used word.
Lèse-majesté
Depictions
Previously, illustrative depictions of the Emperor (and the aforementioned personages) are also deemed taboo. If the Emperor is depicted in a painting, it is customary to have him seated in a canopy, with drapery slighly obscuring his complexion. Other common methods used to avoid depicting his person include having other persons, animals, objects, or natural phoenomena blocking his visage. Doing so without creating a jarring result on the artwork is deemed a skill. In the same vein, photogrpahy or videography of the Emperor is likewise taboo; whenever formal films are made featuring the Emperor, filming crews were instructed to capture only his profile or back and avoid his face.
After the PSW, it became increasingly common for uninvited journalists to capture images of the Emperor and publish them on tabloids; due to the awkward circumstances under which the Emperor is pictured, stories often showed the Emperor in an indecorous state. To remedy this problem, an official portrait of the Emperor was made, and it is a non-copyrightable image under Themiclesian law. The official portrait was made in 1952, when the Emperor was 37, but it has not been updated subsequently; as a result, the aging Emperor was perinnially depicted as a 37-year-old in official media, causing much confusion in foreign states.
In person
Staring at the Emperor directly, especially for a prolonged period, was deemed disrespectful to the sovereign in the first half of the 20th century. Those close in his presence usually looked at the Emperor's hands when speaking to him, though occasionally looking at the Emperor's face is not prohibited, especially for a justifiable reason, such as inspecting his health or comfort. While these rules may seem restrictive, the Emperor spends most of his time in a canopy, with the drapery loose; his sillhouette is visible, but looking at him through the canopy is sufficiently removed from the affront of staring and is not avoided.
Style
When addressing the Emperor in speech, the accepted appelation is "great king" (大王, ladh-gw′jang). In writing, the style Your Majesty (陛下, prêdh-gra′); the word prêdh refers to the staircase before the palace hall, meaning the writer situated himself beneath the monarch's residence. In the third person, he is simply referred to as "the Emperor" (皇帝, gw′ang-têgh), not "His Majesty" as in some Casaterran states. The pronouns "you" (女, nja′) and "your" (乃, neng) are considered impolite in formal occasions, but they are understood to be common when interacting with the monarch privately.
Motorcade
Themiclesian culture places emphasis on the Emperor's procession or motorcade (駕) as a symbol of his status. There are three motorcades that the Monarch uses in different occasions. In some works the word "procession" means the part of the motorcade that emphasizes the monarch's status, while the "motorcade" extends beyond the procession and includes security officials meant to protect the entire procession.
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Protection
At the most intimate distnace, the protection of the emperor is the responsibility of two separate organizations, the Gentlemen of the Enclosure and the Ushers of the Enclosure. The Gentlement perform guard duties around the building complex in which the emperor is present, while the Ushers ensure that individuals coming into the complex are unarmed and escort them to the royal presence. The law strictly requires the building where the emperor is to be clear of weapons of any sort, and it is strictly prohibited to come into the physical presence of the monarch under arms. These laws apply to the emperor's guards as much as his other courtiers and visitors. There is a slight exception to this rule for civil servants to bring eraser-knives (similar to letter knives) to make corrections to inscriptions on wooden or bamboo slips, which served as writing media before the Middle Ages; however, these knives are usually not sharpened to a blade, since a blunt edge was sufficient to scrape off unwanted writing marks. By law, these blades cannot be longer than three inches (c. 7.2 cm). Both the Gentlemen and Ushers are under the portfolio of the Under-Secretary of State for Palace Affairs (殿中郎), who in turn reports to the Cabinet Office. The
Privilege of audience
In many periods, the right to see the monarch was legally restricted to individuals who held offices or titles of nobility. During the later part of the Tsjinh, only household officials, the royal family, nobles, and commoners who held office above the 600-bushel rank, or that of a county magistrate, may have a personal audience with the monarch. This may not have been as restrictive as it sounded, since the restriction was frequently breached in informal meetings that were apparently not considered audiences, and the sovereign frequently awarded honourary household positions to prominent individuals that did not fall into any of the brackets above. The latter measure had the effect of widening channels of information in an age when social hierarchies were rigid and broadly accepted.