Nanyang

Nanyang Republic 南洋人之國
Flag of Nanyang Flag
Capital	Republic City
Official languages	Chinese language
Demonym(s)	Lamhoa
Government	Federal democratic meritist republic
Population
• 2015 census	499,286,147
GDP (nominal)	estimate
• Per capita	326,942 N
Currency	Lamgoan (NG) (NNG)
Date format	yyyy-mm-dd
Driving side	right
Internet TLD	.ny

Nanyang (/ˈnænjæŋ/; Template:Zh), officially the Nanyang Republic (Template:Zh), is a country in Southeast Asia. It is divided into roughly three areas of land separated by water, Putni Island, Somngtaplah and the Belai Peninsula primarily, giving it one of the longest shorelines in the world. The capital and largest city of 39 million people is Republic City at the southern end of Belai, also the most populous city in the world. With a population of 189 million, it is one of the more populous countries of the world, also one of the largest economies owing to being industrialised and highly developed. The country is broadly tropical, with particularly diverse and active insular and rainforest biospheres, bordered by South China Sea and mainland Asia to the north, the Indian Ocean to the west, and various countries of the East Indian archipelago to the south and east. The official written language is Chinese, uniquely administered separately from the spoken languages.

The area of present-day Nanyang was a region of mixed Indian, Islamic, Chinese and Austronesian influence until around the 16th century, which saw marked Chinese colonial expansion and predominance. Nanyang literally means "southern ocean" in Mandarin Chinese, and it came into existence as an independent entity when the Ming Dynasty fell in 1644, and the Qing failed to conquer the region because of its maritime separation. In 1698, a lack of successors to the monarchy led to various factions putting in place meritism, essentially a bureaucratic meritocratic system of government, though with local self-governance as practical concessions. Despite interruptions by monarchy such as the Ngmng Restoration, the system lasted until 1910 when economic and social unrest broke out into the three-way Nanyang Civil War for four years. On its end, democratic meritism was established, with a proportionally elected democratic house with oversight over the bureaucratic executive. The country fought in the Second Total War on the Allied side, victoriously, growing rapidly in population and economy in the postwar period before periods of economic downturn around the turn of the millennium.

The Nanyang Republic is officially a democratic meritist republic, a constitution (only changeable by plebiscite) enshrining both local, commune-level direct democratic governance as well as the proportional representation election of the Popular Council, which appoints and disappoints the Ministerial Council, which makes substantive legislative decisions and carries them out. There is further an independent judiciary, appointed by both the Ministerial and Popular Councils. The economic system is capitalist, but has been variously described as social liberal, social democratic or Third Way, and has been in place since the Second Total War, throughout much of the growth that has left it with a modern GDP of over 6 trillion !USD. Wealth inequality is middling for a developed country at a Gini coefficient of 34.0, and a Very High HDI of 0.888 confirms Nanyang's high standard of living. Nanyang is a member of the League of Nations, among other international organisations.

Etymology

The English "Nanyang" comes from the Mandarin Chinese "南洋", meaning "southern ocean", referring to the maritime region south of China where the country is located. While the language typically used in Nanyang is Banlam, its transliteration in Mandarin is a historical exception resulting from influence from the Mandarin-dominated mainland China.

History

Pre-colonial

The region of Nanyang was inhabited by generally Austronesian peoples before Chinese settlement, albeit heavily influenced by Indian civilisation, such as through the Chola invasion of Srivijaya. Chinese influence through such avenues as trade and refugees began in the 1st century at the latest, during the Qin Dynasty, and continued on through the Tang, Song and Yuan. By the 16th century, Islam peaked in the region, and declined to Chinese influence afterwards.

Colonial

In the 1500s, the Ming launched an expedition to bring the Chinese peoples in the region under official hegemony. This was done and thus the Nanyang colonies began, albeit with significant local self-governance. Nanyang was administered as a whole by a xunfu, or provincial governor, like most other important provinces, though the Nanyang governance was often atypical compared to mainland China as a consequence of its context, and the emperor regarding it as a pet project.

Southern Ming

In 1644, after the death of the last Ming Emperor, Nanyang became part of what was considered the Southern Ming; it took many decades before the Qing united China. Many refugees from the conquest fled to Nanyang, including a number of imperial claimants, who one after the other claimed the divine mandate with less and less success. The governor, Ban Zhu (Template:Zh), held effective control, albeit not in his own name, until he appointed himself first King of Nanyang in 1650 in response to intensifying claims from Qing.

Kingdom

The Qing launched an expedition to take over Nanyang in 1651 with a hastily assembled fleet, expecting little resistance from a reportedly arrogant and vain governor. However, the admiral Zhao Ailuo (Template:Zh) easily defeated the attempt with a native conscript force. The Qing force was never intended to actually conquer the region, only to intimidate and force the local rulers to acquiesce, imagining a similar level of resistance as had been encountered in other holdout pockets in South China. On encountering organised resistance, efforts to take over the region were largely abandoned.

Ban Zhu was succeeded as king by his adopted son and chosen successor, Yi Qin (Template:Zh), with little fanfare, after his death in 1661. He in turn was succeeded by his wife as queen, unusually, at his abdication due to senility in 1679. Yi Ershu (Template:Zh) ruled until 1685 when she also died. Their son, Yi Mei (Template:Zh), ruled until 1698 when he died, and the lack of a clear successor, and tension between competing factions led to the establishment of a popular meritist republic.

Early Republic

Su Qinjin (Template:Zh), who lived from 1601 to 1698, was a philosopher who created the idea of meritism, fusing elements of Chinese legalism, Confucianism and western influences, which were increasingly present due to the European colonial presence in the Spice Islands to the east of the mainstay of Nanyang. The ideology gained traction in the era of the late Ming, which was increasingly fractured, inefficient and ailing. However, it largely remained intellectual until the actual fall of Ming, when it gained popular support in Nanyang (where Su Qinjin had been born) thanks to the newfound support of the kungsu federations and other societies and unions, as more equitable than monarchy. Employed as an advisor by Ban Zhu, Su's ideas became popular and Yi Ershu was known in particular for her receptiveness to them. The indigenous Confucian scholars were also supportive, not leastly because it helped them, especially in forming a separate and rival community to the more conservative scholars on the mainland. Yi Mei was ambivalent and did not achieve much as a monarch; on his death, the debate flared up again. There was little agreement about potential monarchs, and outlying kungsus threatened to secede, on the basis of their own grassroots structures. Eventually an agreement was reached to adopt meritism, between the powerbrokers of major factions such as the merchants and scholars. Su Qinjin, 97 years old, helped write up a constitution of the new system of government, dying only a few days after the first draft was finished. Given a state funeral, the document was polished and then implemented.

The early republic was marked by some instability in establishing the new system, including periodic attempts to restore monarchy (most significantly the Ngmng Restoration 1721-1729), but strongmen largely lacked the popular support and resources to unite the region, because of such factors as the relative influence of commercial interests, the significance of arguably direct democratic kungsus which had never submitted to traditional power structures, and the many people in Nanyang who were there primarily to flee Qing oppression, creating an ideologically diverse environment. Essentially, the scholar-official class held bureaucratic, top-level power as the king previously had, but with guarantees to local organisations which tended to replace the role of landlords or the gentry, some argue even a kind of proto-communism. Meanwhile merchants also had free rein to do what they wished, leaving the central government with diminished power, but still more than it would hold under a strong king. This system proved tolerant and resilient to technological and commercial developments, accelerating the developing complexity of financial institutions, as well as generally creating a prosperity that enticed many to migrate and integrate, mostly Chinese but also from some other regions. The major group that was dispossessed was native peoples, who had neither the leverage of the kungsus (which were primarily Chinese organisations) nor the wealth of the merchants, nor the status of the scholar-officials; they tended to be displaced from their land and either formed their own kungsu-like organisations, speeding their integration into civil society, or became itinerant labour.

Later on, as European powers threatened and x war broke out, concessions were granted at x and x to Norway and the UK, respectively.

In the late 1800s, as relations with the West had largely been normalised, imported rubber saplings started a major industry; many immigrants in the period came as workers on the plantations or in industry. This was also a period of rapidly developing mining, forestry, light industry and mechanisation of agriculture.

Civil War

Over time, the bureaucracy consolidated power, direct democratic structures remaining in place often but simply exerting less power as the guarantees for autonomy were steadily stripped away. Support for a monarch rose among the ruling class, as a traditional figurehead they felt they could control, to emphasise the subjugation of other elements in civil hierarchy, as in the system now stabilised in mainland China. The kungsus had trouble resisting this, but found allies as the merchant class jump-started industrialisation, and a proletariat was born. Despite the best efforts of the bureaucracy, the troubles of rapid urbanisation came to Nanyang along with industrialisation (which was itself seen as necessary due to xxx war). In turn, the remnant power of the kungsus was directed into one of the most organised union movements in the world, even as Nanyang could not compare to the levels of industrialisation in Europe, or even Japan.

On the one hand, conservatives pushed for a king more than even, and came to adopt "Reformed Confucianism", a nationalist ideology often identified as proto-fascism, seeking to centralise the state and eradicate disorders, instating strict Confucian hierarchy. On the other hand, "Reformed Mohists" revived the ideology of Mo, influenced heavily by Marxism, especially Austrian thinkers incidentally, pushing for labour and welfare issues. The Republicans held the balance of power, representing traditional influence in a system that had shifted to the right since its inception, rejecting a king and seeking to guarantee local autonomy while keeping most more important issues centralised and in "meritocratic" hands. The Republicans, however, were seen to represent a corrupt and stagnant system.

In 1910, a country plagued by strikes and riots broke out into open warfare as the Reformed Confucians launched a military coup. However, they overestimated their control, and large elements of the military remained loyal, or defected to the Reformed Mohists, who had also infiltrated the military with considerable success, especially the navy. The Reformed Mohists on their part also declared their intent to overthrow the old order and take over, in this period becoming their most Marxist and revolutionary. The Republicans held the capital and resisted both, almost immediately beginning negotiations with both sides to see who they could maintain the original meritist ideal the most with.

Though less popular than the Reformed Mohists, the Reformed Confucians had significant sympathy from upper elements of society, and therefore better funding and organisation. Their covert actions, at least at first, paralysed the Republicans, and they won a number of chancy military engagements. However, the Reformed Mohists controlled the sea and also had the most support in the foreign concessions (due to their industrial solidarity and anti-imperialism), and soon began breaking the Reformed Confucians into separate fronts on different islands. A falling out between the Confucians and Republicans (the two had been negotiating the most since the start) and a particularly dangerous battle that threatened to turn over the whole Belai Peninsula to the Confucians led a Republican-Mohist front to be established. The death of a particularly Marxist Mohist general in battle earnt the faction credibility, but made it more liberal and amenable to the Republicans. This alliance then quickly crushed the Confucians, while rooting them out from the government's midst.

The main element of the agreement was the establishment of an elected house which would appoint members of government (with some restrictions and guidelines), which satisfied liberal elements in both the Republicans and Mohists; this was called democratic meritism. Conservative Republicans were assured that these other elements could secure the government largely being the same composition as before, and told that without the alliance the republic would fall, while Marxist Mohists were persuaded with the understanding that this was a favourable liberal democracy, which could later be made socialist through revolution or reform. The actual manner of function of the house was in great part copied from European models, but was still ultimately a domestic contrivance.

Modern Republic

While the Mohists dropped the idea of class struggle (dissatisfying members who would secede to become the Socialists), public attention was refocused on corruption, which was arguably enabled by culture, pervasive in the disorder of civil war and massive economic expansion, related to increasingly powerful organised crime, and which many people had everyday contact with. The first elections in 1915 yielded an unexperienced and somewhat confused Popular Council, but it established the legitimacy and engagement for broadly pro-reform landslide in 1923 (elections were every 8 years), led by the Mohists. The old bureaucracy began to be torn into and reorganised, and anti-corruption measures at the top were supported by popular campaigns including protests, zero bribes (paying with paper that resembled money at cursory inspection but which actually had anti-corruption phrases written on it), and in some rare cases lynching. Egalitarian measures were also passed, making elections generally free and fair with universal adult suffrage, and fewer implied restrictions on candidacy or Popular power. However, governmental instability emerged towards the end of the Second Popular Council, and the Socialist Party that had split from the Mohists won big in 1931. The Third Popular fought fiercely against organised crime in addition to corruption, and remained fairly stable, but saw only moderate gains across the board. Public enthusiasm about the effectiveness of campaigns and action had dampened by this time, though ranks began to close against even organised crime which found itself hard pressed for recruits, business, etc. and the old guard of the bureaucracy had essentially been broken over the decade. Economic downturn hampered the government's ability to act, while the Socialist Party began to push for shorter election periods.

<WW2> <high tech stuff, some economic issues>

In the early 2010s, a notable recession hit Nanyang.

Geography

Nanyang is located in Southeast Asia, split into three main parts; the Belai Peninsula, towards the north-west and part of mainland Asia, Somntaplah, a southwestern island, and Putni Island, to the east. It is among the larger countries of the world.

Climate

Most of the country is in a tropical zone. There is diversity between higher elevations where may be found cloud forests, and lowlands, either agricultural land, peat forest or tropical rainforest.

Environment

Nanyang has some issues with pollution but is increasingly a world leader in managing environmental issues.

Administrative divisions

Nanyang is a federal country.

Politics

The political system of Nanyang is popular meritist (an ideology native to Nanyang); a dual meritocracy-democracy functioning under a republican framework, and a further independently acting but government appointed judiciary.

Government

The Nanyang Popular Council (Template:Zh) is the formal legislative body of Nanyang, and is elected by nationwide universal adult citizen suffrage according to proportional representation, with a thousand members. Its members are organised into various committees on particular issues or regions (similar to a system of responsibility for particular electorates, except more informal). However, the PC's legislative power is in fact limited, and its role is mainly to appoint and disappoint the members of the Nanyang Ministerial Council (Template:Zh). The MC drafts and enacts most legislation, and its members are appointed on the basis of being ministers for a particular portfolio. There may be more than one minister for a portfolio.

Law

The judiciary of Nanyang is jointly appointed by the PC and MC, and works with an inquisitorial civil law system. It is enforced by a police force.

Foreign relations

Nanyang generally maintains amiable relations with most other countries.

Military

Nanyang has a large professional standing military, filled by volunteers and advanced relative to the rest of the world. It focuses on the navy and air force, as well as generally defence, and has a notable budding space arm.

Economy

Nanyang has one of the largest economies in the world, and is economically healthy. It is considered to have very high development and is industrialised.

Currency

The currency of Nanyang is the Goan (Template:Zh); amounts are denoted internationally by succeeding the number with NG, or locally with the character "元" (in Banlam, "gôan"). It is one of the most traded currencies in the world, and one of the currencies with the most volume.

Transport

Most cities of Nanyang have a considerable rapid transit network with high ridership; a three tiered policy of "fractal transport networks" is officially adopted by the government of Nanyang, going from bus rapid transit, to rapid transit or commuter rail to high speed trains. Tanmasiak's rapid transit, run largely by computers, is the largest rapid transit network in the world. Nanyang also has a large network of high-speed rail throughout its territories; there are three disjointed networks in Mayi, Boni and the Malai Peninsula-Sumendala-Zhaowa region (all three regions linked by tunnels), though a tunnel link between the Boni network and Sumendala is underway and there are investigations about how to link Mayi to Boni (the water is generally too deep and too wide for conventional bridges or tunnels).

Demographics

Nanyang has a population of 456 million, making it among the most populous countries in the world. A birth rate of around two children per woman, an increasing life expectancy and immigration causes the population to slowly grow.

Ethnicity

There are varying degrees of cultural influence and ancestry from groups such as the Han, Malay, Javanese, and so on, prominently from subgroups of the Han such as the Cantonese, Hoklo, Teochew and others; the understanding of Chinese ancestry in Nanyang has largely coalesced around the four recognised languages, Mandarin, Yue, Min and Hakka, with other people of Han ancestry (from subgroups such as the Wu, Gan or Xiang) forming a smaller group combined than any of the main four, by self-identification; all of this in addition to the understanding of mixing with the natives of Nanyang who by and large no longer form any coherent group due to interbreeding. There is no clear identification of ethnicity within Nanyang for the most part.

Languages

A curious state of technical diglossia exists in Nanyang, where the spoken and written languages are regarded as separate from each other. Unified under a concept equivalent to the term "language" (Template:Zh), there is a single written language (Template:Zh) with multiple standardised dialects, each corresponding to several officially recognised, fully-fledged spoken languages (Template:Zh), in addition to a formal, universal dialect, more similar to Classical Chinese, and used in texts of higher register and import (and influencing formal registers of spoken language). The written language is "Chinese", and the spoken languages are Hakka, Mandarin, Wu, Minnan and Yue (or Hakka, Guanhua, Hhu, Banlam and Jyut, transcribed in their own languages). While Hakka is officially used for transliteration to the Latin alphabet, because of its relative predominance over other spoken languages, it has no internal special status; it is a first among equals.

This state of affairs mostly came about towards the end of the 20th century, as rising levels of education and an expanding middle class became more conscious of nationalism, and issues of particularly linguistic identity, in addition to being because of movements that sought to make public language more accessible, and economic development allowing more people to come into contact with more others, increasing the need for more connective communication.

Religion

Nanyang does not officially prohibit the involvement of religion with government, but is generally regarded as secular, despite a few smaller religious political parties. The rate of irreligiosity is quite high, at 49%, with the remaining population a roughly equal mix of Chinese traditional practitioners (Confucians, Daoists, etc.), Buddhists (roughly half half between Mahayana and Theravada) and Muslims (mostly Sunni and Ahmadiyya). The next largest group is Hindus, while in fewer numbers still are a hodgepodge of minorities including Shintoists, Catholics, Protestants and Jedis. The government is broadly permissive of religious activity, though is conservative about distinctively religious buildings.

Urbanisation

Nanyang has a fairly high rate of urbanisation at 86.3%, which continues to slowly rise. Most urbanisation occurred in the mid-late 19th and early-mid 20th centuries. There is no primate city; the largest urbanities include Tanmasiak, Silimuk and Fakhiang.

Education

Nanyang has mandatory primary and secondary education, and free optional tertiary education. Literacy of those at school age and above is close to 100%.

Health

Healthcare in Nanyang is provided free of cost by the state, including dental; the system generally functions well. A private system is also available but is

Culture

Nanyang inherits much of its culture from China, but has itself produced much.

Architecture

Nanyang's architecture began to diverge from its colonisation, as the differing climate and available resources necessitated it. However, most buildings were still wooden, and thus have not survived until the present day. Stone buildings were still present, however, and were characterised by relatively aesthetic design, which could be afforded by the more open land available compared to in densely populated China.

With Nanyang's independence and modernisation came a period of confusion and conflict within the architectural community; some turned to a grander, more monumental throwback to the architecture of China, while others enthusiastically adopted more abstract, less ornamented European forms; those who adopted the antiquated forms of Europe were fairly few. Eventually, a variant of art deco became dominant, before the arrival of International Style which threw the consensus out again.

While at first Nanyang enthusiastically adopted International Style, there was a rapid reaction; out of it emerged what is now generally termed Nanyang Modern Style, the form used by the vast majority today, which is mixed on the consideration of space versus place, but enthusiastically adopts texture, in conjunction with sparse but pertinent ornamentation (within which colour, especially light is considered) and modern shapes, which may lean towards either the organic or brutalist. The curved eaves characteristic of East Asian architecture also get some recognition.

Literature

Nanyang is notable for its novels, with both Chinese and Western influences.

Music

Music in Nanyang is noted for its intersectionality; it has pioneered the introduction of East Asian instruments and styles to the Western canon, and produced many pieces of work in its style (such as the works of Tian Zhiren); for a time it was at the forefront of new wave music.

Philosophy

Nanyang is the origin of the ideology of meritism, which the popular variant thereof has been adopted by Nanyang; it was first proposed by philosopher Su Qinjin, with heavy influence from Confucianism, Chinese legalism, but also Smithian economics and Darwinism to an extent.

Cuisine

Nanyang has a significantly different cuisine from that of China, bearing significant international influence as well as notable local innovation that has both popularised what is understood as Nanyang food internationally, as well as decentralised the gastronomic understanding of Nanyang (leading to further innovation in multiple directions and in connection with many strands across the world).