Canpei: Difference between revisions

In the 15th century BCE, the plains of the north and east were home to many different tribes who shared a common culture and waged small scale wars against each others for land or over specific feuds. One of those tribes, the Paozi, settled at the foot of the mountains were they could grow rice and keep large herds of goats. Other regional groups joined their banners over the years or were conquered to acquire more pastural and agricultural land until their territory spread from the valleys of mount Zhemei to the floodplains along of the Hongse river. The Paozi were ruled by a chief elected from among their nobles and for the first 200 years or so of their existence, that system served them well, but a few families with more land started to gain more and more influence until one of them became de facto ruler of the tribe. Around 1090 BCE, we have the first documented usage of the title of king to describe the leader of the Paozi tribe found on bamboo slips discussing the exchange of five hundred heads of goats to secure the marriage of King Lioliotzu of Paozi and Fei of Qungde. The Paozi kingdom is traditionally dated from 1100 BCE to 800 BCE. Their disappearance from historic records coincide with a period of great politic instability and the rise of many states in the region.

The first undeniable proof of a unified civilization are of the Kingdom of Suizung around 750 BCE and expert generally agree that they were likely a successor state of the Paozi based on their near identical language and culture. They ruled over the eastern shores of the Emerald Grass Sea and the northern plateau. Their rule mark the beginning of the unification of the various tribes into what would be become the Liangs as we know them today. The Suizong dynasty wouldn't last long, crumbling after the death of the second king, but their kingdom would not fall and instead pass to other houses who would have various levels of success at maintaining and expending their control. Around 475 CE, the Siaodo dynasty would die out and a short civil war would see the Yuesun dynasty establishing itself has the new rulers of the Liang. Yuesun ascension would signify the beginning of a rapid rise of Tianism to the status of dominant religion of the the region and an aggressive expansion west, pushing the boundaries of Liang civilization all the way to the edge of the western plains. A series of military campaigns would be launched against the warring states of the flatlands over the centuries of their rule, none with great success, setting the borders of the Liang civilization firmly along the Dadu river in the north and the foothills of the Shengsuo in the south.  

Large fortresses would be erected along the border to protect the hard earned gains of the kingdom and the focus of succeeding rulers shifted slowly away from military matters to art, culture et religion. Many painting, sculptures, poem and other pieces of art who survived to this day are held as national treasures. Over the centuries, through the neglect of increasingly aloof kings, the Yuesun would fade into irrelevance, leaving strong regional governor to erode what little control they held away until the fracturing of their kingdom in two pieces roughly split between the north and south. This division would last from 63 BCE to 198 CE, sometime fracturing even more only to reunite.

The southern kingdom remained especially resilient, keeping mostly in one piece duting that century and a half under a revolving door of generals and nobles which earned it the nickname of ''Kingdom of a Thousand Dynastie''s. Meanwhile, the north kepy dividing into smaller pieces until the late 2nd century and war was endemic to the region. Amongst the chaos, many turned to the solace of religion and especially toward [[Ju Tianism]], a school of thought advocating for radical change and teaching that inaction when faced with chaos was tantamount to creating chaos yourself. Under the leadership of monks, peasants of the Raotuan kingdom in modern day Beifang rose in rebellion, quickly taking over and moving across the north where more and more people rose against their tyrannical king. In 195 CE, Fen Huotong was proclaimed king, founding the Neng dynasty. The north was unified under his rule quickly after. Most remaining states fearing what would happen to their leading class their peasant should rebel, bowed to the ascendant Neng Kingdom. Despite their resilience, the south lack of political stability led to an easy conquest by a deeply motivated northern army. By 198 CE, the old territories of the Yuesung were united again at long last. Under the Neng, Tianism took a central place in politic and the deeply spiritual style of rule would come to define the Liang for their entire history. Their rites and ceremonies would play a key role during the Heavenly Empire period and later during the Lunar Empire.

The very first attested instance of organized habitation of the Guangbei plains is from an Shang dynasty imperial proclamation in 520 CE; granting official town status to the city of Brink which sits at the southern mouth of the Hongse river. Imperial surveyors traveled northbound along the eastern bank of the river encountering small nomadic settlements, its people probably related to the [[Degei Confederation]] to the northwest. Imperial authorities erected five wooden forts alongside the river to serve as frontier posts, this territory would be known thereafter as the Right-Bank Frontier province with [[Bianyuan]] serving as its first seat. [[Bianyuan]] and its hinterlands were dominated by the Houxi clan, linked by marriage to the Imperial family by marriage to a second cousin of the Emperor Cao Mei. The Houxi were thus the beneficiaries of imperial patronage and their province received generous subventions that it otherwise would not be granted given its low population. From 803 CE onwards the Houxi held a monopoly on the office of Imperial Viceroy. It was Viceroy Chang Houxi who first ordered an expedition be mounted across to the other side of the Hongse into what is known as the Koron forest, where Huoxi began setting up numerous logging camps. The exploitation of forested areas became an important source of revenue for the Houxi family who built a palisade and town named Hochi across the river to serve as the logistic center of the operation.  

| caption = Religious affiliations in the XXX (20XX)

 

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