Royal Guards (Themiclesia)
The Royal Guards (衛士, gwrjaih-sdrje) are military units of Themiclesia stationed in palaces and charged with their defence. Historically, the Royal Guards were selected from regional militias in one or more regiments in each palace, though the only surviving units today are the Left Guards and Right Guards. Since most active palaces today are in Kien-k'ang, the capital city, the Royal Guards are often confused with the Capital Defence Force. While they are now integrated with the Themiclesian Army, their ceremonial commander is the Marshal of the Guards, usually a retired minister.
History
In the military policy of the early Meng dynasty, after which a large part of the Themiclesian establishment appeared to have been derived, each prefecture was responsible for keeping its own militia, which possessed specializations such as infantry, crossbowmen, cavalry, and chariotry. These militias were locally stationed unless summoned away for duties on the border or abroad. The palaces were, however, not defended through the local militia; rather, they possessed their own defence forces, which answered to a specific minister in the central government. This system was inherited by early Themiclesian governments, which actively emulated the Meng state's organizational principles. The Sje-mra Clan (司馬氏), which nominally unified Themiclesia in 265 under the Tsjins dynasty, maintained the separate defence structure for palaces, and subsequent Themiclesian dynasties have generally upheld the same. After the arrival of the Meng monarchy in 542, the Royal Guards were viewed as part of the heritage and legitimacy derived from the Meng dynasty and therefore exempt from intensive reforms.
The Royal Guards have been viewed by historians as an institution that has very little character or history. Their placement as defensive troops in palaces have very effectively shielded them from active conflicts, which have generally occurred on border regions. Since the capital city, Rak-lang, and Drjang-'an, where most palaces were located, were a considerable distance away from sources of hostility, the Royal Guards as an institution, for the most part, have been inactive in Themiclesia's wars. However, during crises, exceptions have occurred. When Maverican nomads incurred in the 6th century with cavalry, regional militias could not be summoned in time to marshal at the capital city, and thus the Royal Guards were ordered to defend the city. In the Siege of Kien-k'ang in 1385, the Royal Guards also took to battlements, against Menghean forces laying siege. During the Pan-Septentrion War, they were deployed to the front, in a time when general strikes and politial uncertainty undermined the Army's recruitment campaigns. Despite these facts, the Royal Guards were wholly absent from pivotal conflicts such as the Battle of Sgrjem-tju (1198), which heralded the recession of Themiclesian power in Columbia, and the Maverican Wars (1765–67; 91–96). These facts "support its characterization as a purely defensive institution", in the words of B. Larter (1904).
In view of its absence from major conflicts, historians have tended to take the "institution chronology" approach, studying its relationship with the broader Themiclesian government and military, its expected role, and external commentators' views of it.
List of former and current units
This list covers the fate of units active in 1800.
- Hian-lang Left Guards
- Hian-lang Right Guards
- East Foot Guards (renamed South Guards 1916)
- East Horse Guards (disbanded 1881)
- Middle Left Guards (now the 134th Middle Brigade)
- Middle Right Guards (now the
- Gweng-hljuns Left Guards
- Gweng-hljuns Right Guards (merged with Gweng-hljuns Left Guards in 1872)
- Gwreng-ngjars Left Guards (disbanded 1904, refounded 1916)
- Gwreng-ngjars Right Guards (disbanded 1881)
- Dzrjung-tek Guards (disbanded 1854)
- Dais-'an Guards (disbanded 1912)
- Gwrjiang-gar Guards (disbanded 1804, refounded 1936, disbanded 1942)
- Blem-hme' Guards (disbanded 1821, refounded 1936, disbanded 1945)
- Mjeis-lang Guards (disbanded 1803)
- Drjang-nglakw Guards (disbanded 1814)
- Drjang-snjings Guards (disbanded 1855)
- Brjiang-'an Guards (disbanded 1807)