Renaming document

The Renaming Document (更名令, k-rang-mjêng-ringh) was a Themiclesian law issued in 1386 that changed the names of a number of government offices in response to Yi-dynasty Menghean demands to recant the imperial title.

Background

In the late 13th century, Menghe recovered from a period internal turmoil and entered an expansionary phase, which brought it into conflict with Themiclesia's maritime empire in Meridia. While the Yi navy, fielding gunpowder weapons, unexpectedly conquered Portcullia in the battle of 1325, Themiclesia refurbished her forces and established a new base in what is now Naseristan. A second battle in 1352 ensued in waters there resulted in yet another defeat for Themiclesia, for which many of the polities previously disposed to Themiclesia re-aligned with the Yi court. The Themiclesian fleet was rebuilt again to protect access to Maracaiboan gold, but Yi ordered Cho Myeong-won to attack Themiclesia itself in 1385, riding over the vast Dzhungestan desert and laying siege to Kien-k'ang. Her standing armies occupied in Columbia and unable to communicate with the outside world, Themiclesia was forced to surrender and negotiate terms of peace. One of the Menghean demands was for Themiclesia's ruler to abolish the title gwang-tegh, usually translated as "emperor" in Tyrannian. The court assented to these terms and issued instructions for a number of names to be changed.

Issuance

The edict that contained the Renaming Document was issued on March 5, 1386 and was the final edict using the title of emperor until the title was resumed in 1634. This edict was issued to every government department, military unit, prefecture, and county so that the entire country would perceive the change, and it may have been a measure to assure the Yi court of Themiclesia's compliance, in case spies remained in the country.

Contents

Before			After
Shinasthana	Transliteration	Translation	Shinasthana	Transliteration	Translation
皇帝	gwang-tegh	emperor	晉王	tsjinh-ghwjang	King of Tsjinh
皇后	gwang-goh	empress	王后	ghwjang-goh	queen
皇太后	gwang-ladh-goh	empress-dowager	嫡太后	tek-ladh-goh	agnate queen-dowager
皇帝室	gwang-tegh-stjit	imperial house	公室	kong-stjit	princely house
皇帝宮	gwang-tegh-kjung	imperial palace	公宮	kong-kjung	princely palace
皇帝殿	gwang-tegh-ntenh	imperial hall	中殿	trjung-ntenh	middle hall
皇帝所	gwang-tegh-skrja′	emperor's location	王在所	ghwjang-dze′-skrja′	king's present location
陛下	predh-gra′	your majesty	殿下	ntenh-gra′	your highness
制	tjaih	imperial edict	令	ringh	order
京兆	k-rjang-lrjaw′	capital region	內史	nubh-srje′	Inner Region
京兆尹	k-rjang-lrjaw′-ljun′	capital magistrate	內史	nubh-srje′	Inner Administrator

Observations

One quirk of the edict in the first statement is the declaration that "the emperor reverts to the title of 'King of Tsjinh'," which implies that such a title had always existed. Most of the changes were, indeed, reversions of the changes ordered by Emperor Ngjon of the Mrangh in 545, when the most dominant monarch in Themiclesia started using the title "emperor". Others reflect a reversion to an even earlier set of titles dating to the Hexarchy, such as tek-ladh-goh (帝太后).

Reversion

The Yi empire disintegrated in 1518 due to the Menghean Black Plague, which had already ravaged Themiclesia in the 13th century. The king ordered his court to discuss reclaiming the lost title, but the result, led by the President of Tribunes, was in the negative. Leading jurists argued that changing the sovereign's title was prejudicial to stability and juridical references, since the last title chagne resulted in years spent in editing all the laws to remove references to an emperor.  

In 1634, King Hor of the current dynasty declared that he would use the title emperor again, which met opposition from his courtiers. They said that emperor was simply a title, without which his country functioned perfectly well and made many advances. Hor responded that if recanting the title could save an invasion, then he should proclaim it first and then remove it as one of the terms of peace; if he did not use this title, he would have to give up something more substantial. Some of the courtiers were convinced by this line of thinking, but others argued that taking the title was a source of unwanted conflict in the first place, and those that he could waive simply by removing the title would not have occurred if he did not use the title anyway.

In order to reduce the trouble of editing all the laws to reflect changes in titles, only the titles "emperor" and "empress" were resurrected.

See also

• Themiclesia