Dark state
The dark state (Yen: 陰國), or yin state, is a term used to refer to the expansive system of secret societies, outlawed organizations, and general non-state actors that appeared in East Cataian history, whose influence were far-reaching enough to constitute a parallel society to mainstream, legal, and 'light' society. The dark state is considered to be an evolution of the jianghu, but is distinguished more by its constituents being generally opposed to the contemporary government for one reason or another, however chivalric codes that the jianghu professed were generally conventions of the dark state as well. Dark state activity was later often tied with poys.
After the establishment of the preceptor-emperor in Maengtau, huge numbers of Cotric scholars were condemned and branded as heretical for their opposition to the act, sending these clerics underground into illegal and opposition activities. The massive influx of formerly powerful, and indeed rather competent, people of society into the jianghu transformed it from disorganized criminal syndicates to large and influential organizations dedicated to rebellion and opposition. The early dark state was dominated by anti-Imperial heretical groups, but after their suppression their position was lost as a new range of groups superseded their prominence, including general political conspirators and merchants. The heretical movements transformed into martial arts sects and retained an important role in dark state politics.
The dark state's influence on the 'light state' is hard to overstate. Many officials both at the imperial court and at local observatories had connections to and dealings with the dark state, often hopefully to their own favor. Various dark state groups were recorded as major backers of religious and political movements of the period. The secret currencies the dark state used to circumvent state financial monitoring also gave them influence in the economic dimension. The dark state also exerted social influence through legitimate fronts such as businesses. In these respects they influenced society similarly to how jianghu previously did.
The dark state continued to exist after Maengtau's collapse in a transnational manner, and dark state dealings could easily disregard the borders of the new states formed. The writer Ngou Lou described the dark state of the 18th century as a 'clear and unobstructed plain spanning every empire'. In industrial East Catai, the dark state became dominated more by crime syndicates and illegal enterprise, but soon by revolutionary secret societies as well, all while being one of the many theaters poys operated in. The continued existence of the dark state in the 20th century and beyond is often subject to debate, many arguing that they were generally crushed as a result of heightened state power during the 1920s and 1930s as an effect of the ?? heresy, but others claim that they have persisted, remaining substantial today as a theatre of operations and pillar of support for various organizations and movements in East Catai.