Menghe-Themiclesian relations

Menghe-Themiclesian relations originate in the prehistoric settlement of what is now Themiclesia by Meng people, whose cultural urheimat is within the territories of modern-day Menghe, following the fall of the Achahan Empire in the 12th century BCE. For many centuries

Antiquity

Around 1200 BCE, the powerful Achahan Empire situated in modern-day Dzhungestan collapsed. Achahadian merchants had been present in Themiclesia to trade bronze tools with aboriginal populations for lapis lazuli, a mineral prized in Achahan but even more so in Meng culture, owing to its symbolic association with the deified sky, Chŏnjo (Menghean: 천조/天祖). After the collapse of their civilization, the lapis lazuli trade crossing the desert ceased, leading to a shortage of that mineral in Menghe. In response, several Meng states sent parties to locate a viable source for the mineral, though the results of such exploration are not recorded. Due to difficulties in chemical dating and the generally-conservative tendencies in lapis art, it is difficult to tell when a given stock of lapis was actually crafted into finished objects. However, this effort in exploring for the mineral is accepted to have some important role in the Meng settlement of Themiclesia, which can be provisionally dated to the middle of the 8th century BCE.

It is key to note, however, the date the Meng people explored Themiclesia is likely earlier by some margin; this is inferred from the fact that lapis and turquoise jewellery are consistently found in Meng tombs even during the time of the shortage—not likely if the mineral was key to the Chonsa cult and its supply has dried up to the point of crisis. A relatively fast re-establishment of the mineral's supply can therefore be assumed. Meng people at this time also did not form a political unit but lived in independent city states, and the settlement is also difficult to ascribe to the action of any particular one of them, even as the lapis shortage must have cascaded through Meng states over some years and altered the economic relations between them (and particularly their ruling houses, who are known to have stockpiled resources in expectation of profit). The Meng settlement of Themiclesia may thus be located within the context of the lapis shortage and the collapse of the Achahan Empire, but not necessarily caused by the same in a very direct manner.

Despite the convergent genetic, linguistic, and archaeological evidence that the primary population of modern Themiclesia originate in Menghe, early Themiclesians wrote nothing about a historical migration or colonization, and mythologies that started predate the 2nd century CE treat them as aboriginal to their land. This is the case despite their being no more than a few centuries removed from the time of settlement, though admittedly to the first generation of Themiclesian historians, who wrote in the early 300s CE, "history was no more than 200 years long". There are some theories that seek to explain this apparent disconnect, and the most widely-accepted is that the early settlers never considered their current settlement to be outside of any kind of defined territory, and so they have not "departed from any particular place to come to Themiclesia." This would be particularly persuasive if those Meng people who migrated to Themiclesia were of a habitually migratory or mercantile kind, rendering their movement more or less normal. On the archaeological side, the Dark Ages in Themiclesia demonstrate clear Meng affinity but cannot be more specifically connected with any particular regional culture in what is now Menghe.

The fact that ancient states sent trading parties to the city of Sin (辛) with particular frequency has been presented as a clue that may attest to the relationships between the kindred societies. Later historians explain this habit with Sin's geographic centrality (in reality not very central in the political geography of Antiquity), but modern scholars have pointed out that the Lapis Road, which saw the trade of the mineral since the time of the Achahadians, terminates at an ancient trading site, near which the city of Sin is built. The relevant archaeological record, on the other hand, does not lend uncontrovertible support to the idea that Sin was the entrepôt where Meng traders met settlers who came out to trade the mineral. The city of Sin was considered the most ancient of all cities in Themiclesia, though upon what grounds is not given by historians.

Meng dynasty restoration

The deposition of the final Rang monarch, Kwrang, in favour of another deposed monarch rumoured to be pursued by a powerful foe is an event that has been mysterious.

The canonical narrative provided by the Antiquities of Themiclesians (震旦故事記), written in 582, asserts that the Themiclesian nobles were weary of a tyrannical ruler and gladly embraced the holder of the Mandate of Heaven, that is, Emperor Wŏn of Chŏllo; this occurred despite the knowledge that he was recently expelled from the country he ruled. The Antiquities further asserts that his restoration in Themiclesia provided ample evidence that he was rightful Emperor as appointed by God and needed no human assistance, which even to medieval historians appeared a very weak argument.

There is as yet no firm information wow well-recognized the concept of the Mandate of Heaven was in Themiclesia. If the concept was known, then it is quite possible it was understood as a philosophy peculiar to the succession of imperial dynasties in Menghe at the time. The Tsinh and Sungh hegemons of the 4th and 5th centuries are not associated with an appeal to divine appointment vis-à-vis their positions as hegemon of the cities, though the same cannot necessarily be held with reference to their positions as lords of their own cities. Instead, their positions as hegemon is theoretically justified by the allegiance of the lords of other cities.

A recent argument that has gained credence amongst historians is that Wŏn's claim to divine appointment was an asset levied by the faction of nobles who opposed Kwrang but lacked an excuse to remove him from power. The divine appointment was, in this view, the excuse these individuals searched for. On the flip side, this would imply that Kwrang still enjoyed a considerable support base in the nobility, perhaps simply more distant than those who opposed him, and it would not be possible to remove him except by the introduction of a different basis for kingship. This is contrary to the conventional idea that Kwrang was so unpopular that the mere appearance of an alternative was enough to topple him, even one as unlikely and unseemly as a failed ruler arriving as a refugee from the enemy.

If the claim to divine appointment was actually desired by Wŏn's supporters in Themiclesia, the wide dissemination of the Antiquities of Themiclesians would also be explained. To this time, there was no state-sponsored historical work except the Springs and Autumns of Six Cities, which has also been cast in the light of a propagandistic work (though not for its content).

New Empire

After Wŏn's accession in Themiclesia, he oversaw what has been described as a campaign of cultural merger between Menghe and Themiclesia

See also

• Menghe
• Themiclesia