Monarchy of Themiclesia
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 and pictorial 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.
Portraits of the monarch were historically deemed taboo, albeit to a lesser degree, for reasons similar to his name. Artists frequently employed drapery, furniture, other persons, animals, or natural phoenomena to obscure or veil the monarch's face. Doing so without creating a jarring result on the artwork is deemed a skill. However, the taboo on portraits rapidly abated after the 15th century for reasons which are still poorly understood. Still, in 1696 an artist was punished for depicting the monarch in a profane context—falling into a privy—even though the artist had clearly never seen the emperor and was not able to produce his likeness.
Lèse-majesté
Gestures
In modern practice, there are no mandatory gestures before the monarch for the general public.
Nevertheless, most etiquette guides still prescribes guideline for greeting and interacting with the monarch. Investigations suggest most of these prescriptions are derived from pre-PSW rules of social behaviour, which are in turn heavily influenced by Casaterran courts. Individuals are advised to stand briefly when the monarch or his coach passes, and men to remove their hats. When the monarch enters or leaves a room or defined space, individuals in it are to remain standing until the monarch is seated. If called to the monarch's attention, men are expected to bow, and women to curtsey, before and after speaking to the monarch. This practice is frequently exemplified by a 1950 film of Emperor Sk′ên visiting a factory: the factory owner and manager, who were guiding his tour, bowed to greet him, while the workers simply stood in place and did not bow or curtsey.
Certain rules govern the behaviour of some military units, but not all. The Consolidated Army provides that "excepting historic practice sanctioned by statutory or appropriate regimental authority, officers are to stand within the royal presence, unless commanded by the monarch or his minister to be seated. When called to the royal attention, officers may salute the monarch if wearing a hat, or render courtesy to him in an appropriate manner." This rule leaves undefined the "appropriate manner", with the implicit, if arcane, understanding that officers have adequate exposure to elite socialization and will know what is appropriate to the royal presence. Similar regulations are found in the navy and air force, but some ethnic units maintain particular gestures of respect or adoration, such as the palm or fist over heart or mounting sword over shoulder.
Officers of the royal household maintain the most traditional set of gestures, as they participate in traditional ceremonies the monarch is obliged to attend. When in traditional garb, individuals claspe their hands and bow towards their hands. If in a seated position, they lower their hands to the ground and bow their heads to their hands; called prodh-kji-l′ju′ (拜稽首), it is considered the highest form of obeisance. This is now an uncommon occurence, as state ceremonies have diminished in frequency after the PSW.
Address and 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.
Most etiquette guides consider it the monarch's prerogative, in formal writing and speech, to refer to himself in the nominative by means of the emphatic pronoun lrjem′ (朕), sometimes called the "emphatic I" and analogized with the majestic plural or "royal we" in Casaterran states. lrjem′ is sometimes translated as "I myself" and is used by any speaker to identify himself as the focus of the sentence, but the pronoun also possesses genitive value as "my". It is not considered improper to use lrjem′ when it translates to "my" before the monarch. The ordinary pronoun lja (余) is preferred in other cases. When first introduced to the monarch, it is considered appropriate to address onself by personal name.
The monarch typically addresses his visitors as kjur (君), which means "lord" or "lady".
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.