Credential (Themiclesia)
A credential (符節, bja-gik) is a physical object used to authenticate authority, usually in a military or diplomatic context.
Military use
The military credential (符, bja) had two primary functions:
- To summon and arm a militia unit of any size and place them under a commander
- To move a militia unit over 50 individuals outside of its home prefecture
The military crediential has been used in Menghe since the Warring States period as a authenticator to summon and arm militias. Then, militias were composed of all military-age males (23 to 60), organized according to their home counties. A credential existed for each militia formation. It was split in half, like a Tyrannian tally stick; one half was kept by the ruler, while the other half was kept with the county's marshal that oversaw the militia's peacetime mustering and training activities. When it was to be mobilized, the ruler would send his half to be matched with the one kept by the magistrate; if they matched, the marshal would issue the necessary documents to summon the militia and open the armoury to arm the militiamen. This was one of several safeguards to prevent unauthorized individuals from taking charge of a militia unit.
Themiclesia's militia system appears to have been largely an imitation of the Menghean system at first. Yet due to the small scale of early states, they functioned more as household troops, and each state had its peculiar system. These states may not have any sort of security forces outside of their militias, and it is unclear if credentials were used during this period. During the Hexarchy (1st c. BCE to 226), the household troops of ruling houses began to differentiate from militias mustered from peasants on newly-conquered lands. Nominally united in 266 by the Tsjins state, the six states de facto continued to exist, while recognizing the suzerainty of the Tsjins state. While it governed the largest and most productive territories, large clans still dominated localities, and it seems a larger number of militias mustered to their households' calls under normal circumstances. Nevertheless, when the clan leaders, who populated the central civil service, agreed to commit troops to military action, their militias were placed under state control, along with the state's militia consisting of free peasants. In 420, the Sungs state overthrew the Tsjins and followed an expansionist policy that required troops be mustered frequently. The process of summoning and discharging militiamen to and from border regions, where war was waged almost continuously for a century, necessitated the general application of the credential system for ease of control.
By the Rjang dynasty (478 – 542), only the most prominent of clans, backed by their massive lands and aristocratic positions, continued to establish sizeable militias; most others have surrendered the administration of theirs to the state for concessions, including land and aristocratic positions. The court policy at the time rewarded clans that have surrendered their militias with more land and tenancies so that they eclipse politically and financially those who have not and pay for their militias' upkeep. As under the Sungs, even private militias must be granted to the state when called upon; a credential is still used for this purpose, though with limitations on the length of each muster. When the Meng dynasty came to power in 543, the state controlled mostly county militias and a scattering of private militias; efforts were undertaken to reduce the latter group, accomplished by the 570s. This left