Naikanghi Ashang
| Ashang | |
|---|---|
| Axâng | |
 | |
| Dates of operation | 17 July 1928 – 27 August 1971 |
| Ideology | Anti-imperialism Naikanghi nationalism |
| Political position | Centre-right to far-left |
| Allies |  Salamat (diplomatic support) |
| Opponents |  / Naikang Riamese Empire |
| Battles and wars | Naikangese independence struggle Naikangese Civil War |
The Naikanghi Ashang (Naichinese: 击盟, Axâng [ā.ɕâŋ]), sometimes referred to as the Anti-State Faction (反對國派, Qaẽ-Ge̤ Pê [t͡ɕae᷉.kɛ̄ pʰê]) or erroneously as the Union Faction (盟派, Ngẽ̤ Pê [ŋɛ᷉ pʰê]) was the main united organisation representing Naikanghi interests during the Naikangese independence struggle, and later as a military organisation in the Naikangese Civil War, fighting against the State of Naikang and the Riamese Empire at various points, as well as others in the Pro-State faction. While "Ashang" (Chengshengese: 阿傷, Áshang [á.ɕāŋ]) was the officially recognised name for the organisation, many Chengshengese use a direct pronunciation of the characters "击盟", yielding Ge̤q Nèng. Also, some of their opponents referred to them as Sàenlen (Chengshengese: 山人), or "mountain men" due to a conception of Naikanghi people as mountain-dwellers, and also for the rugged highlands which were never able to be captured by the State of Naikang during the Civil War.
The Ashang comprised various political groups throughout its 43-year life, with political groups joining and leaving the faction at different points. It is this flexibility that led both to the group's wide appeal, but also its propensity for infighting. The constituent groups of the Ashang can roughly be divided into "nationalists", those who advocate for Naikanghi independence from the Chengshengese, "leftists", including communists, socialists and anarchists, and "unionists", those who advocated for further rights within an independent and unified Naikang. For most of the group's history, the unionist subfaction, led by the Union Party, was dominant, with the nationalist and leftist subfactions sometimes opting to leave the Ashang. During the majority of the independence struggle and Civil War, however, the aims of the Ashang were unified enough to ensure the group's cohesion, with only minor disagreements between leadership in the faction.
Etymology
The Naichinese term Axâng (击盟) comes from the words axâ, meaning "to strike", and ngẽ̤, meaning "union" or "group". A direct translation, in that sense, might be "Strike Group", though a better translation to the Naichinese might be "group that intends to strike". Given that many Chengshengese characters do not match phonetically with their Naichinese counterparts, the words "击盟" and "阿傷" are both official terms for the organisation.
The term "Union Faction" came about as a political nickname, since most of the political weight that the Ashang wielded in Naikangese elections was vested in the Union Party for the six years between the founding of the State of Naikang in 1950 and the beginning of the Naikangese Civil War in 1956. The term "Anti-State Faction" came about during the Civil War for the Ashang's status as a combatant force against the Naikangese state in Tachusi.
History
The Ashang was founded on 17 July 1928, a merger of eight political organisations who initially had the common aim of engaging in small-scale insurrection against the Riamese Empire, though whose aims and methods increased to larger acts of disruption, verging on open rebellion at some points. As the organisation began to associate more with traditional Naikanghi culture, the leftist subfaction, led by the Communist Party of Naikang, split from the organisation, while the nationalists remained with the faction. However, during the Lotus Revolution and the subsequent Tatchossey Conference of 1949, the unionist and nationalist subfactions came to blows on what stance to take on the upcoming independence of Naikang, being negotiated by the Nai Kang Independence Front (NKIF). The unionist subfaction regarded an independent Naikangese state as a reason to cease hostile action, however the nationalists wished to continue armed conflict until an independent Naikanghi state was obtained. An overall vote in the Ashang saw the unionist cause win out, and the nationalist subfaction largely left the Ashang. However, the Ashang almost immediately came up against opposition from the NKIF, as well as its successor organisation, the Blue Lotus Party, who declared that the Ashang was a militant organisation, and thus prohibited from running as a unified organisation in Naikangese elections. In the 1950 general election, many Ashang members ran successfully as independents, though in a move often seen as having been a corrupt act by the Blue Lotus Party, the presidential election three months later barred Ashang members from running for the role of President. This move was later repealed, but the damage was done, with the only Naikanghi candidate, Xu Ti Na, who had never been associated with the Ashang, only winning 4% of the vote, as opposed to 96% vote swing for Chengshengese candidates.
The Ashang immediately formed a party and campaigned for the right to participate in elections. The Union Party became the party most associated with the Ashang, though even among unionists its support was not ubiquitous. Moreover, some members who had previously been associated with the leftist subfaction but who remained in the Ashang supported the Communist Party, with a smattering of other minor leftist and centrist parties winning small-scale electoral victories. The electoral period of the Ashang saw a real legitimisation of the movement, with its membership actually swelling despite its radical factions having disassociated with the organisation. However, the Blue Lotus Party, who held a tight grip on power in Naikang, continually tried to undermine efforts by the Union Party to win seats. Historians of the time period regard this as the Blue Lotus Party's largest set of mistakes in the leadup to the Civil War, as not only did they act in an anti-democratic manner to attempt to quell the influence of the country's second-largest ethnicity, and not only was this attempt unsuccessful (in fact only leading to discontent), but they critically underestimated the Ashang's willingness to engage in conflict once it became clear that resolution was impossible.