Tung Wan
Republic of Tung Wan 東灣 | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Seal
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Anthem: 願榮光歸東灣 "Glory to Tung Wan" | |
 Map of Tung Wan | |
| Capital and largest city | Kwun San |
| Official languages | Tungwanese |
| Ethnic groups (2016) | 97.5% Yuet 2.5% other |
| Demonym(s) | Tungwanese |
| Government | Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
| Chan Cheuk-wah | |
• Emperor | Hingwong |
| Legislature | Legislative Council |
| House of Councillors | |
| House of Representatives | |
| Formation | |
• First imperial dynasty | 1421 BC |
• Republic established | October 22, 1927 |
• First constitution | May 14, 1951 |
• Current constitution | April 2, 1973 |
| Area | |
• Total | 748,168 km2 (288,869 sq mi) |
• Water (%) | 5.1% |
| Population | |
• 2020 estimate |  41,758,092 |
• Density | 55.8/km2 (144.5/sq mi) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2020 estimate |
• Total | $1.65 trillion |
• Per capita | $39,514 |
| Gini (2020) |  34.3medium |
| HDI (2020) |  0.930very high |
| Currency | Tungwanese yoon (¥) |
| Time zone | UTC+6 |
| Internet TLD | .tw |
Tung Wan (東灣), officially the Republic of Tung Wan, is a country in southern Erimia, a continent of Eterrum. Tung Wan's territory is comprised of multiple islands, the largest and most populated of which is Lai Hoi Island. Its nearest neighbor is Yekhelia to the north. Tung Wan spans approximately 748,000 square kilometers, and is inhabited by 41.7 million people, almost half of which live in the Greater Kwun San area. Much of the country's interior is mountainous, and major cities are located upon coastal plains. These cities include Chun Wan, Kwong O, and Tsing Shek Tan.
Over five thousand years ago, ancestors of the Yuet people, the main ethnic group in Tung Wan, migrated to Lai Hoi Island. The establishment of the imperial system in Tung Wan saw the formation of a unified state for the first time in 1421 BC. Save for brief periods, the dynastic system would continue for another 33 centuries, until the Great Rebellion saw the overthrow of the ruling Leung dynasty in 1927. The rebel-backed Republic of Tung Wan took its place, although its weak central government led to a military junta seizing power in 1935. After the 1951 Democratic Struggle, Tung Wan gradually shifted from a one-party military dictatorship to a full multi-party democracy, with the transition culminating in the ratification of a constitution in 1973. The government's subsequent introduction of export-oriented industrialization facilitated rapid economic growth, and despite the nation's lack of natural resources, Tung Wan's swift integration into the world economy made it into one of the world's biggest exporters, as well as a financial and trading powerhouse. Despite economic stagnation in the 1990s, Tung Wan's economy remains one of the strongest in the world. Tung Wan has maintained the government outlined in the 1973 constitution, a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with a bicameral legislature, the Legislative Council.
Tung Wan is a great power on the global political stage. It is a highly developed country, and reports the highest Human Development Index score on the continent. The nation also ranks highly in terms of civil liberties, healthcare, and press freedom. Tung Wan is the world's fourth-largest economy, and specializes in machinery, electronics, and chemical manufacturing. Tung Wan has the longest life expectancy in the world, although it is witnessing an increasingly aging population and an expected decline in population over the coming decades. Its armed forces rank among the world's strongest. The country is a world leader in the automotive and electronics sectors, and the country's long tradition of innovation has seen it make numerous contributions to science and technology.
Tung Wan has become globally known for its extensive cultural exports in the 21st century, a phenomenon known as Tungmania. Its cinema, television, and music industry has consistently produced internationally-recognized entertainers and works for decades, while its cuisine is world-renowned, owing to the global Tungwanese diaspora. Tung Wan's natural beauty and manmade attractions have made it an international tourist destination, and the country attracted 28 million visitors in 2019.
Etymology
The name "Tung Wan" is a direct transliteration of the word "東灣" in Tungwanese- translated, it means "Eastern Bay", which refers to the nation's perceived eastern position in the world according to Gauist tradition. The name "東灣" became popular among Tungwanese in the 10th century AD, and its transliterated name is believed to have originated from Occidian traders who labelled the nation as "Tung Wan" on their maps in the 17th century. Prior to this, Tung Wan was often called 'Metaxios' outside of its borders, the Omorfian exonym for the nation.
"Tung Wan" was officially adopted as the nation's name upon the establishment of the Republic of Tung Wan in 1951, as per the terms of the original Constitution of Tung Wan.
History
Prehistory and antiquity
The first evidence of a human presence in Tung Wan can be traced back to around 30,000 years ago, with artifacts from an Upper Paleolithic culture being uncovered on the banks of Kwun San Lake. Evidence of subsequent cultures throughout the Neolithic era have also been found. Tung Wan was joined to the mainland of Erimia until approximately 12,000 years ago.
However, the beginnings of continuous habitation of Tung Wan can be traced back to approximately 3200 BC, when a land bridge formed between the Tungwanese archipelago and mainland Erimia, allowing thousands of people to cross into the warmer climate from present-day Yekhelia. The land bridge disappeared due to rising sea levels less than a century later. The people inhabiting the islands would later become collectively known as the Yuet people, the main ethnic group of Tung Wan.
While communities and tribes began to form on the various islands of the Tungwanese archipelago, the most prosperous Yuet tribes could be found on Lai Hoi Island, the largest and most arable island. Kwun San Lake, a large, natural fresh-water reservoir, provided wide swathes of fertile land, which was immediately converted by the Yuet tribes of Lai Hoi Island into rice paddies.
Silk, and various spices such as ginger, pepper, and garlic, were also widely cultivated in Tung Wan by 3000 BC. Tribes with villages on the coast of Lai Hoi Island, or its multiple neighboring islands- namely On Chau and Choo Kung Chau, developed sizable fishing fleets by 2500 BC. Fish such as snapper and trout, as well as seafoods like shrimp, scallops, and crab, soon became commonly consumed amongst the Tungwanese populace.
The origins of the written Tungwanese language could be found on traces of pottery dating back to 2380 BC. Recovered artifacts of silk and animal bone, which was largely used to keep records before the invention of paper, were also found to have ancient Tungwanese characters written on them in ink.
Trading routes between Tung Wan and the rest of Erimia, namely Yekhelia, Pattania, and Srivika, began in approximately 2150 BC, utilizing sampans that sailed close to the coastline of mainland Erimia.
The various Yuet tribes of Lai Hoi Island continued to vie for influence and power over rivaling families. The strongest tribes, later known as the Four Sovereigns, controlled a plot of the rice paddies, as rice could only be grown in such large quantities in the land surrounding Kwun San Lake. The adoption of rice as a staple food, consumed by the islands' people on a daily basis, and the relatively small number of tribes with the ability to cultivate and trade rice meant that the grain became the most valuable commodity on the island. Controlling the supply of rice would also become the most effective way to exert influence in Tung Wan.
Early dynastic rule
The Four Sovereigns would continue to engage in periodical skirmishes with each other, in attempts to increase the size of their controlled plots of rice. However, none would successfully do so until Lo Kong, known as Lo the Great, who became the sovereign of the Lo Clan from 1421 BC onwards. Lo Kong took advantage of the discontent of farmers belonging to rivaling clans, inciting rebellions which undermined their power. In 1407 BC, Lo Kong successfully conquered the other three major clans who cultivated rice, and seized full control over Lai Hoi Island's rice paddies. As a result, the Lo Clan quickly consolidated power over the entirety of the Tung Wan archipelago.
Lo Kong's reign over Tung Wan as its first full sovereign lasted for just over a decade, and he died in 1396 BC. His son, Lo Chung, then ascended to the role of sovereign, establishing the roots of the male-preference primogeniture which would form the backbone of the dynastic system. As a unified people for the first time, the Tungwanese began to make technological strides. The advents of glass, rubber, concrete, and iron smelting all occurred under the regime of the Lo Clan, as did the use of archery for defense.
However, occasional famines, as well as various peasant rebellions due to the restrictiveness of an autocratic regime, constantly undermined the Lo Clan's rule over the Yuet people of Tung Wan. By approximately 1120 BC, multiple breakaway states had formed independent of the Lo regime, and in 1098 BC, Lo Keung, the last sovereign of the Lo Clan, was murdered, resulting in the end of the Lo rule of Tung Wan.
In its place came the rule of the Yeung Clan, whose popularity among the rice farmers launched them into power three decades after the demise of the Lo Clan. Yeung Hei, the first Yeung leader, is accredited with being one of the first female rulers in world history, with her reign lasting from 1065 BC to 1040 BC.
The Yeung Clan remained in power over Tung Wan until 883 BC, when widespread famines struck the islands, caused by a failure of the rice crop. The subsequent resentment from the general population stemmed from their perceived unequal distribution of rice provisions to the various clans of Tung Wan. Uncovered silk records show that more rice was indeed distributed to the clans traditionally supportive of the Yeung Clan's rule. The resulting unrest and rebellion weakened the involved Clans and ousted the Yeung Clan from power entirely.
The Tungwanese archipelago descended into discordance once more, and entered a period known as the Hundred Fifty Years' War. However, the name of the period can be considered a misnomer, as conflicts between clans was not constant, and instead ebbed and flowed. From 883 BC to 729 BC, various clans made infrequent, unsuccessful attempts to seize full control of Tung Wan and claim sovereignty over all other rivaling clans.
Classical imperial period
The Hundred Fifty Years' War came to an end when the Wong Clan successfully conquered all of the clans with rice farms surrounding Kwun San Lake. After seizing a monopoly of the island's rice, all rivaling clans eventually surrendered in 729 BC, and accepted the total sovereignty of the Wong Clan's leader, Wong Lam. He would then declare himself King Lam of Wong, establishing the Wong dynasty. In doing so, Lam would become the first-ever dynastic emperor of Tung Wan. This marks the start of the classical period of imperial Tung Wan.
In founding an autocratic state, Lam would largely draw off the example of his predecessors, but leveraged the dissent of the people to his advantage, as well as the weakened state of the rivaling clans, to consolidate his power further. In 727 BC, Lam implemented the Daitung Reforms, which were responsible for nationalizing all rice farms and redistributing them equally among peasant families. This rose his popularity among the commoner class, but also stripped the surviving rival clans' main source of wealth and power.
Lam was also responsible for the expansion of the government, in order to manage trade and commerce among the Tungwanese people. He was also responsible for founding the Imperial Military, which among other things, was namely responsible for suppressing local peasant rebellions.
Lam's death in 701 BC bequeathed the throne to his firstborn son, King Ho. Ho, however, was far less popular than his father, and his reign was marred by several violent uprisings which required military intervention, killing hundreds. The most notable of these uprisings was the Sai Kok Uprising of 686 BC, in which the people of the western town of Sai Kok, a small fishing village at the time, protested a decrease in the government's payments of rice in exchange for the seafood that the region produced.
Despite the Imperial Military's suppression of the rebellions, and Ho's order to seize all civilian weapons from regions of significant strife, discontent continued to swell amongst the general population, especially in western Tung Wan. These tensions boiled over in 675 BC, just three years after Ho's death, during the reign of King Wai. The local Imperial Military garrison of the cities of Chun Wan and Ngau Sha Chai joined the mass uprising against the Wong dynasty, and the royal family, including Wai, were executed.
The Chu dynasty soon took its place, headed by one of the military commanders responsible for the coup, Emperor Lok Ming. Lok Ming was the first Tungwanese ruler to use the title of Emperor, setting a precedent for the rest of Tung Wan's dynastic history.
The Chu dynasty, which lasted from 675 BC to 410 BC, saw the implementation of the Tungwanese yoon as a currency, in the form of jade coins after the mineral was discovered on the north coast of Lai Hoi Island in 631 BC. The Chu dynasty also was responsible for the establishment of the Imperial Court in 593 BC. The Court was tasked with upholding the recently-enacted Wo Ping Tsz On, or the Tungwanese code of law, the first of its kind in the nation.
It was during this time that Tungwanese fishing boats began to come into conflict with Yekhelian vessels, resulting in territorial skirmishes. This prompted the advent of the shashuen, an early Tungwanese naval vessel with tall square sails that was manned by archers. The Tungwanese and Yekhelians would eventually come to a general agreement that the Xindian Islands would serve as the de facto maritime border between the two states, an agreement that would last for more than two millennia. Regular trading with Yekhelia would resume immediately after the agreement.
In 412 BC, a dispute over the throne resulted in the Three Princes' War, in which the personal armies of the Chu dynasty's three potential heirs engaged in a lengthy conflict that resulted in the deaths of all three princes. However, the chief advisor of Prince Yeuk Shue, Chan Siu Kwok, managed to bring the military commanders of all parties to an agreement which ended the fighting, before subsequently proclaiming himself as the first Emperor of the Chan dynasty.
Emperor Siu Kwok was renowned for his emphasis on a style of rule known as "gentle governance", or "yau tzi". Under his rule, the imperial government began to return most functions of economy and trade to merchants and commoners. Siu Kwok was also responsible for encouraging the creation of a new intellectual class, constructing numerous schools and libraries, and sponsoring the development of the arts.
Siu Kwok's policies were the main factor responsible for the start of the Tungwanese Golden Age, which began around the start of the fourth century BC, lasting until approximately 270 BC. All of the Eight Ancient Classics of Tungwanese literature were written during the Golden Age, with six written specifically during Siu Kwok's reign. Terracotta began to be used extensively by Tungwanese sculptors. Various musical instruments such as the Chan zither, the predecessor to the modern kukam, were invented. Leaps in technological development, such as the invention of the crossbow and catapult, the use of cast iron, and breakthroughs in surgical techniques, also occurred during this time.
Principles from Siu Kwok's gentle governance, combined with ancient Tungwanese traditions of ancestor worship and other common belief systems centering around the worship of certain deities and gods, were all merged to form Gauism, the standard religious practices of the Tungwanese people. The principle figure behind the standardization of the Gauist faith was philosopher Lau Hok-ming, who would come to be known as Lau the Divine. Lau was the author of the Yan Yee Ching, the chief Gauist holy text, in 375 BC. After his death, Lau himself would later become deified and worshipped. The second-largest Gauist temple in Tung Wan, located at Fooi Hom, is named in his honor.
The Chan dynasty was notable for witnessing the construction of monasteries and temples dedicated to the worship and veneration of Gauist deities, which further accelerated the spread of the religion amongst the Tungwanese people, as well as its integration into the archipelago's general culture.
Siu Kwok's reign lasted for 38 years, from 410 BC to his death in 372 BC. The Chan dynasty would last until 166 AD, coming to an end when the Kwun San Reservoir flooded, resulting in widespread chaos in the capital and the fall of the ruling family.
Man Wai Hung, the governor of Cheungpo Valley and a longtime ally of the Emperor, seized control of the throne and established the Man dynasty. He was the first Emperor in Tung Wan's history to adopt a regal name, a tradition that would continue on with the future monarchs of Tung Wan. Man would become known as the Tinyi Emperor of Man. The Tinyi Emperor enacted various reforms that standardized the Tungwanese written and spoken language, systems of measurement, and currency, aimed towards promoting trade between Tung Wan and the rest of Erimia.
A side effect of the increased trade with Erimia was the dilution of the largely homogeneous Tungwanese culture from Yekhelian and Pattanian influences. When the Man dynasty fell in 294, a priority of the new Chow dynasty was the promotion of Yuet culture and identity, with the Hokit Emperor immediately enacting a policy of "kak lei", or "righteous isolation", which effectively ended all trading or interaction with foreign states.
Under the Chow dynasty, public works and infrastructure were developed at unprecedented speeds. The Kwun San Reservoir was widened, and much of the Cheungpo Valley and eastern Pik Hoi regions were irrigated, with wheat and corn beginning to be cultivated in Tung Wan around the beginning of the fourth century. In order to facilitate such rapid development, the advent of paper, blast furnaces, and block printing all occurred.
Arguably the most notable of these projects undertaken during this period was the construction of the Mopo Palace on the slopes of Mount Tin Kung overlooking Kwun San Lake. The Palace was finished after two decades of construction in 324, and has been continuously inhabited by the royal family to the present day.
The Chow dynasty's rapid development of internal infrastructure required the conscription of men as laborers for the numerous construction projects, and this resulted in large rebellions in multiple parts of the nation. The Chow dynasty would soon succumb to these rebellions, giving up the throne in 379.
The Cheungsau Emperor of the Yu dynasty would replace the ousted Chow reign. The Cheungsau Emperor was known for his lavish, eccentric lifestyle, and reportedly kept upwards of a hundred concubines in the chambers of Mopo Palace. He was openly critical of Gauist tradition and philosophy, and ordered the destruction of all copies of Gauist texts, including the Yan Yee Ching, the principal Gauist scripture. It is estimated that nearly sixty percent of all the Gauist texts in existence at the time were destroyed.
His actions largely angered the Gauist plurality of the Tungwanese population, and multiple sections of the Imperial Military refused to comply with his orders. The Yu Dynasty would fall to a military coup in 383, which once again witnessed a commander in the Imperial Military seize the throne after deposing the Emperor.
The military commander in question was General Mak Siu-chow, who would later style himself as the Kitsat Emperor of the Mak dynasty. The Mak dynasty would witness some of the greatest population growth in Tungwanese history. This is mostly attributed to the manifestation of changes brought about in the last century. Such reasons include the adoption of corn and wheat into the Tungwanese diet, with the invention of wheat-flour seeing the addition of wheat noodles, dumplings, steamed buns, and pancakes added into Tungwanese cuisine. Additionally, a rise in the level of sanitation and hygiene brought about by continued infrastructure development in cities increased survival rates of infants and significantly reduced the spread of disease.
The Kinmei Emperor encouraged the development of traditional medicinal practices, culminating in the spread of acupuncture, moxibustion, massage, and dispensaries which stocked herbal-based medicines.
Over the course of the Mak dynasty's reign, aspects of kak lei, especially foreign trade, were scaled back, allowing regular trading relations with western Erimia to resume. Consistent trading with Sonyong would begin in 460, as Tung Wan began to import coal from the nation in southern Erimia. Gauism began to spread amongst the population of Zhoudao as a result of the resumed trade.
The Mak dynasty would eventually fall in 694, when the sudden death of the Fookloi Emperor resulted in the coronation of the his three-year-old son, the Chingwah Crown Prince as his successor. Yuen Wai-yiu, a palace eunuch who was tasked with handling imperial affairs in the infant Chingwah Emperor's stead, seized the opportunity and ordered a coup on the Emperor, asserting that the Chingwah Emperor was not the Fookloi Emperor's legitimate heir.
Yuen then declared himself the Hongban Emperor of the newly-established Yuen dynasty. However, while he had secured the throne, the population of Kwun San refused to accept his sovereignty, and a rebellion ensued just three years later.
The lack of an imperial government would see the rise of the Choi and Lau factions, two states headed by wealthy aristocrats who had secured the support of local military garrisons, effectively rendering them as warlords. This period, known as the Two Factions period, would last from 694 to 711, and would bring the classical period of Tungwanese imperial history to a close.
Middle imperial period
The Middle Imperial Period of Tungwanese history would begin with the reign of the Choi dynasty, after they defeated the Lau faction for total control over Tung Wan, returning the nation to an imperial autocratic state once more. However, the Choi dynasty would implement a large civil service and meritocratic aspects to the expanding bureaucracy, a lasting change in the evolution of dynastic government in Tung Wan.
The implementation of the imperial examination system, a locally-administered examination that determined whether one was qualified to serve in the imperial government. All adult men were eligible to receive the examination, and the founding of hundreds of schools around Tung Wan resulted in a new generation of literate, well-educated men in Tung Wan.
Likely the most notable of the Choi emperors was Kwongtsang, who oversaw a period of fervent technological growth and invention in Tung Wan. Kwongtsang himself, who ruled from 773 to 815, was an avid poet and inventor whose anthology of poetry, Verses of Kwongtsang, is now studied universally by Tungwanese children. Tungwanese fishermen began to use the first fishing reels, while the Imperial Navy developed galleys equipped with naval rams for use in battle. Naval battles during this time were also notable for the use of dragon's fire, an incendiary weapon akin to a flamethrower capable of emitting combustible, flammable compounds onto enemy vessels. The Kwongtsang Emperor was also responsible for approving the first circulation of banknotes, when Tung Wan suffered a jade shortage in 804.
The invention and spread of porcelain in the mid-9th century ushered in a new era of Tungwanese art. In addition to painted pottery and crockery becoming highly-produced items by Tungwanese artisans, many Tungwanese homes, even amongst the commoner class, began to use porcelain tiling for floors and interior walls. Porcelain would soon become one of Tung Wan's most widely traded products.
The Choi dynasty would reign over Tung Wan from 711 to 1090. Their successors would be the Auyeung dynasty, established when the Tungsee Emperor died of health complications early into his reign, leaving no apparent heir to the throne. In the subsequent confusion, the Tungsee Emperor's father-in-law, a commander in the Imperial Army of Tung Wan, proclaimed himself emperor.
Auyeung Ka-sun, or the Waitai Emperor, often expressed his frustration at his perceived inferiority of the state of the Imperial Army to the Navy. In 1099, forces from Yekhelia would attempt an invasion of the Poon Chau islands in the first engagement of the Tungwanese-Yekhelian Conflict. The battle ended in a draw when the Tungwanese successfully repelled the land-based invasion while incurring devastating casualties.
The Waitai Emperor used the events of the Battle of Poon Chau to encourage the development of army technology. Previously, gunpowder had been used for medicinal purposes by Tungwanese herbal medicine practitioners. It was not until the beginning of the 12th century that the military applications of gunpowder would be discovered. Fire lances, one-time explosive devices and the predecessor of modern firearms, were developed and utilized by the Imperial Army for the first time at the Battle of Ngan Tung Chau. Its use as part of a shock attack by the Tungwanese forces played a crucial role in tipping the battle in their favor from the start.
The Imperial Navy would then claim other comprehensive victories over the the Yekhelian fleet, with Yekhelia agreeing to cede the islands of Choo Kung Chau, Ngan Tung Chau, and the Poon Chau islands to the Tungwanese crown as part of their surrender in 1101.
The following years of the Auyeung dynasty were relatively peaceful, with the applications of gunpowder continuously explored by Tungwanese scientists and polymaths. Fireworks were invented in 1140, with the first known fireworks display taking place over Kwun San Lake in front of Mopo Palace on 9 July 1142, to celebrate the birthday of the Heiyuet Emperor. Hand cannons and explosive bombs would be invented and developed in the late 13th century, followed by the first movable type system in 1287.
The first university in Tung Wan, the University of Kwun San, would be founded in the capital in 1295 under the recommendation of the Heiyuet Emperor. The University continues to operate until this day.
The rise of capitalism in Tung Wan saw shifts in societal attitudes that were more embracing of individualism. The rise of distinct economic classes, as opposed to one commoner class, resulted in Gauist scholar-officials advocating for egalitarianism. This manifested itself in the implementation of social programs, which were to be paid for by revenue generated by a restructuring of the tax code. However, the change in taxation angered many, especially in the newly-formed middle class. Widespread tax boycotts bankrupted the imperial treasury. Further rebellions ensued, and when Kwun San was captured by rebel forces led by Law Chin-pang, the reigning emperor, Kintsung Emperor, committed suicide in 1317.
Law Chin-pang would declare himself the Hangcheung Emperor of the newly-established Law dynasty, but he would quickly lose favor with the public when he attempted to shrink the size of the Tungwanese bureaucracy, resulting in revolts incited by high-ranking public ministers fearing for their careers. The Hangcheung Emperor would swiftly be ousted after just a six-year reign, and claims made by multiple palace officials and ministers on the throne signaled the end of the Law dynasty in 1323.
Tung Wan then broke up into disunited states for the first time in over six centuries. Termed the Twenty Kingdoms Period, various local government officials and military commanders became the warlords of approximately eighteen small kingdoms. However, unlike past periods of disunity in Tung Wan, fighting among warring states was much more frequent and intense.
The largest of these states were the Kingdoms of Cheung, Yip, and Lee. Over the next fifteen years, these three kingdoms would conquer the remaining warring states. The three kingdoms would then remain at odds with one another for the next decade, when the military of the Kingdom of Cheung were able to create the first cannon in 1349, a short-ranged anti-infantry artillery weapon. The cannon is largely credited with enabling the Kingdom of Cheung to gain ground in its wars against the Yip and Lee.
Late imperial period
The Kingdom of Cheung would eventually conquer the Yip in 1351 and the Lee in 1354. With this, the Cheung dynasty would be established in late 1354. Because Tung Wan had just exited a period of intense strife, the first Cheung ruler, the Yanchee Emperor, quickly consolidated power within noble Cheung families in Kwun San, and deweaponized members of the former Yip and Lee kingdoms.
In July 1357, monsoon-triggered landslides in western Lai Hoi Island devastated the city of Chun Wan. The government's slow response time to the disaster and subsequent mishandling of the rescue and rebuilding efforts once again ignited public opinion on giving local governments more power. Widespread rebellions, especially in parts of Tung Wan far from the capital, and a failed assassination attempt pressured the Yanchee Emperor to reconsider, and he would finally cede to public demands in November of that year.
The Tan Kung Lik Reforms delegated significant power to provincial administrators and governors. It also allowed governors to appoint judges to provincial courts, enact separate tax codes, and mobilize the military independently. The changes brought about by these reforms would largely remain in place for the duration of the dynastic system, and some concepts would contribute to the unitary government system of the modern-day Republic of Tung Wan.
In 1431, the Hotung Emperor began to scale back the nation's demilitarization implemented in the wake of the violent Twenty Kingdoms Period. Cannons were further developed and perfected with the Imperial Army, as did the use of hand cannons, which later evolved into the first rifles in 1445. Further innovation with naval technology would lead to the perfection of the fanshuen, more commonly known as the junk. It would soon be fitted for military use, and the combat junk was first utilized by the Imperial Navy in 1464, fitted with ramparts and cannons.
The Cheung dynasty would succumb to peasant rebellion when the Grand Priest of Fooi Hom, Fong Man-wai, denounced the Lingtung Emperor, claiming that he had lost tinming, or the divine right to rule bestowed by heaven, commonly known as the mandate of heaven. It is believed that Fong did so in retaliation when the Lingtung Emperor refused to commission the repair of various aging Gauist temples in Tung Wan. Extensive uprisings ensued, and the Cheung dynasty fell in 1477.
Fong would personally select Fu Chun-yip, a prominent Gauist scholar at the time, to take the throne. Fu would do so as the Fungwong Emperor of Fu, establishing the short-lived Fu dynasty. After just nine years, his lack of leadership skills became apparent, and his attempt to convert Tung Wan into a complete Gauist theocracy proved controversial to the point where he would agree to abdicate after growing pressure from the government.
One of Fu's most prominent government critics, Leung Tin-lok, had received significant backing from fellow ministers and officials, and in the wake of Fu's abdication, he seized the opportunity to claim the throne. The Leung dynasty would be established on September 10, 1486 under the reign of the Tokam Emperor.
Tungwanese explorers began direct trade with Mahava in the 16th century. Exploration fleets reached the shores of Selaria and Daghreb, but did not establish trading relations due to the lasting aspects of the policies of kak lei, which endowed a certain sense of mistrust and xenophobia within Tungwanese society.
As Tung Wan began to broaden its relations with the rest of Erimia, its culture bloomed. Narrative painting and painted stoneware sculptures, typically of Gauist holy figures, were produced at a rapid rate. Additionally, Tungwanese ceramics became popular and mass-produced due to their ease of production and demand amongst the public. Many vases and crockery sets produced during the 17th and 18th centuries, later known as Leung ceramics, have since become valuable collector's items.
An increased rate of piracy in the 18th century, especially around the eastern islands of Tung Wan and the Xindian Islands, led to an increased rate of shipbuilding and the founding of Mei Long Fort on Mei Long Reef in 1720. The largest pirate fleets posed challenges to the Imperial Navy, and this was soon compounded by the formation of the first triads in Tung Wan. Lung Yip Yung was formed to protect the cultivation and distribution of opium after the drug was banned by the government in 1794, and the organization quickly branched out to encompass multiple aspects of organized crime, including gambling and prostitution. At its peak, Lung Yip Yung essentially controlled the local governments of Choo Kung Chau and Ngan Tung Chau, the locations of its main poppy fields.
The triads and pirates would begin to collaborate against the Imperial Military in a partnership termed as the tsui luen mung, or 'partnership of illicit dealings'. This, in addition to the Industrial Revolution rapidly expanding the economies of the west, and their colonies in Erimia, led to the stagnation of the Tungwanese economy through the early and mid-19th century. The spread of the use of rifles among the Imperial Military and crime organizations made clashes between the pair into increasingly violent affairs.
By the turn of the 20th century, Tung Wan's government was ailed with crippling corruption and a bloated bureaucracy. Poverty amongst the peasantry reached a historical high, exacerbated by the Great Tungwanese Famine, which struck the nation in 1915. The cash crops of Lai Hoi Island failed after insufficient snowfall on Mount Tin Kung led Kwun San Lake to shrink drastically. The famine and the resulting Rice Uprising, in which enraged peasants caused unprecedented civil unrest, claimed approximately 400,000 lives.
Public discontent led to violent rebellions against regional governments, many of them aided by local chapters of the triads. In June 1925, rebel leader Cheung Wo-ping led the Liberators of Pik Shek, an insurgent faction of approximately 40,000 men, to a victory against the Imperial Military at Tsim Kap Mei, doing the same at Ping Chung months later. Cheung soon set his sights on the capital, and announced his intentions to overthrow the royal family, marking the start of the Great Rebellion. By this point, the Liberators had doubled the size of their forces, and they engaged in continuous battles against the Imperial Military as they marched towards Kwun San.
By September of 1927, Cheung and his men had reached the outskirts of Kwun San, where the bloody Battle of Tin Wan resulted in approximately eight thousand combined casualties and a narrow rebel victory. After breaching the city walls, Kwun San fell within weeks, and on October 3, negotiations began between Cheung and the Sintzi Emperor. Cheung, who had been inspired by the new Omorfian republic, wished to create a parliamentary system in Tung Wan. The two could not come to terms over the role of the monarchy in the proposed system, and on October 19, the Emperor and other elite members of the palace were exiled to Pattania.
Modern history
Early republicanism
The fall of the Leung dynasty marked the end of the dynastic system and Emperor as the source of power in Tung Wan. On October 22, 1927, Cheung declared the establishment of the Republic of Tung Wan, along with a democratically-elected unicameral Senate.