Ninshen
| Ninshen | |
|---|---|
 Statue of Ninshen in Arra | |
| Goddess of Peace | |
| Transliterations | 寧神 (Ventzi) Ниншен (Shintzi) |
| Religion | Namorese folk religion (Txoism) |
| Parents | Songte Murong |
| Siblings | Sikun (brother) Kashen (brother) Hoshen (brother) Rishen (sister) Nushen (stepsister) Vanho (stepsister) Yenfang (stepsister) |
| Children | Lutzi Katelan |
| Height | 6 chi (2.33 meters, 6.56 feet) |
Ninshen (Ниншен, 寧神) is the Txoist goddess of peace and mercy. She is the youngest of the Songte and Murong's five children.
In Namorese mythology, Ninshen is prominent for her role in making peace and protecting innocents from war and natural calamities. According to Namorese tradition, Ninshen helped Riro, the brother of the last Nozamic king Movang, escape the takeover of Nozama by the Nan peoples and seek refuge in the land of Txotai. The ancient Namorese associated Txotai with territories situated north of the Nozama River Valley, leading many cultures in present-day northern Namor and Katranjiev to worship Ninshen as their patron deity.
Mythology
Mediator between the gods
Many myths involving Ninshen portray her as a mediator in disputes between the gods.
After Ninshen's mother Murong had sexual intercourse with Harashen and gave birth to Na, the first woman, Songte sentenced Murong to death. However, Ninshen asked Songte to spare Murong's life and let Murong live with Harashen instead. Songte heeded Ninshen's plea and banished Murong and Harashen to the underworld. He also allowed Na to live, on the condition that she and her descendants would die and stay on Earth for the rest of their lives.
When Nushen sentenced Vanho to death for abandoning her and resorting to banditry, Ninshen intervened and persuaded Nushen to give Vanho an opportunity to redeem herself, arguing that the murder of one's kin was immoral and unbecoming of a god.
Exodus of Riro
Nineteen generations after the founding of Nozama, Nan peoples from the southern Nozama River Valley invaded the kingdom, killing Movang, the last monarch. Movang's younger brother, Riro, managed to flee Nozama, bringing 1,260 people with him.
One night, Ninshen appeared in Riro's tent and offered to help him escape if he slept with her, allowing her to give birth to a child. Riro obliged, and Ninshen gave birth to two sons, Lutzi and Katelan. Afterwards, Ninshen promised Riro that his descendants would live in a land where "all four surroundings are at peace" (肆塞周泰, Zesai Txotai), hence Txotai, Ninshen's name for the promised land.
The journey lasted a total of 35 years before Riro and his followers crossed the Northern Sea and reached Txotai. Riro died after performing a ritual to Ninshen on the peak of the tallest mountain in Txotai; he is said to have joined Ninshen in heaven. His followers were divided between Lutzi and Katelan, who became chieftains of the tribe of Riro.
Worship
Ninshen plays a significant role in Txoist altar worship, where she represents the maintenance of peace in the family and in the afterlife; for that reason, it is common for an idol of Ninshen to be placed on altars honoring the deceased ancestors of a family.
Temples dedicated to Ninshen are not as numerous compared to temples dedicated to other gods. But in parts of Katranjiev and northern Namor, the popularity of Ninshen's cult enabled the presence of many Ninshen temples, most notably the Great Ninshen Temple in Arra City, Arra. Across this region, Ninshen is widely venerated as a patron deity.
Among ethnic Namorese in Katranjiev and modern-day Riro, Ninshen is traditionally recognized as an ancestor of the Riroese — descendants of Nozamic people who supposedly followed Riro, Lutzi, and Katelan to the land of Txotai. Some Txoist scholars have claimed that the "Northern Sea" described in the Ninshen-Riro myth is the Gulf of Gelyevich, and the tallest mountain in Txotai is either Mount Kovdor in modern-day Txotai or Mount Nashtoinik in Katranjiev.
In recent years, Ninshen has become a symbol of reconciliation between long-estranged peoples. Following the mainland Namorese invasion of Peitoa in 2006, the Namorese government launched the Ninshen Project, an initiative aimed at promoting coexistence and understanding between Peitoans and mainlanders. In 2011, Namor opened the Borean Peace Park in Vetpei, Shanpei to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Third Namo-Luziycan War. The tallest statue of Ninshen was erected in the park; officials hailed the statue as a precursor to a future where the Gulf becomes a connector between East and West Borea, not a divider.
National personification
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In the 19th century, during the era of romantic nationalism, Ninshen was appropriated by Katranjian nationalists as a folk hero, alongside Saint George (Katranjiev's patron saint), and Vaclav I (the first Katranjian monarch after the end of Namorese rule). Many compared Ninshen to the Argilian goddess of peace, Eirene, with some claiming that the Katranjians appropriated Ninshen not from Namor, but from the Argilian peoples.
Thus, Katranjians view Ninshen as a symbolic protector of Katranjiev from foreign incursions onto Katranjian soil. Apocrypha claim that Vaclav I received the blessing of both Saint George and Ninshen herself to take Krasimir in AD 723 from the Namorese who were ruling over the area and make himself the King of Katranjiev.
She was also used in patriotic songs, such as Subudi se, Katranski, where she was seen as one of the ancestors of the Katranjian people (it was believed that Saint George was from Luziyca, and Vaclav I from Katranjiev).
Ninshen's popularity ebbed and waned through the 20th century on, especially as some Katranjian nationalists sought to assimilate the Namorese into the Katranjian identity.
However, during the People's Republic of Katranjiev, opposition figures used Ninshen so much that during the Little Green Fever, while most Txoist temples remained open, temples dedicated to Ninshen were secularized out of fear that counter-revolutionaries would use her as a symbol. As well, Ninshen's imagery was forbidden to be displayed at all within Katranjiev. As a consequence of this, Ninshen became extensively used in samizdat.
Since the restoration of the Katranjian monarchy in 1976, Ninshen's role in Katranjian nationalism has somewhat declined in popularity, although many nationalists still revere her for her guidance of Riro and their children to Riro.