Zaizung

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Republic of Zaizung
Flag
Official languages Standard Zaizung
Area
 -  109,319.3 km2
42,208 sq mi
Population
 -  estimate 24,742,129

Zaizung (Language: Country [IPA]), officially the Republic of Zaizung, is a country located south of Qonklaks and east of Quaxin Xun. Together with Xynderland, it forms the straits separating the Amiyant Sea from the Gulf of Sharkunen, leading to its strategic trade and naval importance. It has a multiethnic population, and from various foreign occupations, has large influences from all over Sahar.

Etymology

History

The area that makes up modern Zaizung, because of its strategic location on the Amiyant Sea, spent a lot of its history under foreign occupation or as a puppet to a foreign power. The most frequent occupier is Qonklaks, which frequently sees Zaizung as part of the Qonk heartland, especially because of its large Qonk minority.

Prehistory

Up until the 8th C BCE, what is now Zaizung was probably inhabited by speakers of the Xuni substrate language without any large centralized state, similar to Quaxin Xun. The Timeline of Qonklese history captured the northern half of Zaizung in the 8th C BCE, including establishing the traditional (until the GEW) capital.

In the 7th C BCE, during the Timeline of Qonklese history, many breakaway Qonklese states were also founded in the south of Zaizung. One of these was the Jã state, which would eventually be the first to unify the area into one state.

The Jã Dynasty invited in Mañi-speaking peoples in during the Xuni Migration Period, to bolster its army, farming capacity, and trade. With this Special Relation (as certain bits of Zaizung nationalism call it) of a Mañi middle-class loyal to a Qonklese ruling class, the Jã were able to unify the area, and even resist the Timeline of Qonklese history.

Eventually, the Gain Dynasty did take over both the Lya and Jã states.

PLACEHOLDER Uprising

The first major event cementing a specific Zaizung identity, as opposed to being members of a Qonklese state, a pan-Mañi identity, or individual settlements, was the Uprising (which is not the Trung sisters of Vietnam, which doesn't exist in Sahar) against the Gain Dynasty in PLACEHOLDER YEARS.

While the Gain were able to take control of the north again, the south would remain as independant Mañic states, some being a bit more Qonkified than others. Two of these would see themselves as successors to the Jã and Thãw dynasties of the first warring states period, and especially with an influx of Qonklese during the second warring states period.

Letsatia takes over Jã in around 50 CE, loses control around 100 CE.

Middle Ages

In the late 9th C, the Qonklese Mheiq Dynasty takes control of the Zaizung mainland again, but not the various islands in the archipelago that were owned by various powers. To solidify their rule, the Mheiq bring in lots of Middle Kwang language-speaking people, who the remaining Qonklese intermarry with.

Fordas

As the Qonk Hàin Dynasty fell in the 1660s, leading to the Fourth Warring States period, the Forian Kingdom started conquering most of the islands and large portions of southern Zaizung, and by the turn of the 18th C, all the way to the traditional northern capital. Part of Forian rule was to subvert the hold Kwang had over the political and cultural sphere, leading to them promoting the official use of the mesolect between Southern Zaizung Mañi and Zaizung Kwang that would become Standard Zaizung, as well as commissioning new plays containing the use of Standard Kwang. Unlike earlier rule, which either saw the Zaizung Kwang as the true heirs of the country or foreign invaders, it invited them in to a united identity with the Zaizung Mañi.

Olboros Era

1772 - seeing their chance to protect Qonks, Olboros/Bãw Qonklaks starts a war and annexes it

In 1897, the Qonklese Olboros dynasty mandates that all international imports and exports must pass through Paseinse, Meinbaipaw, or Jikhein, in response to opium smuggling and to try and assert more imperial power. Especially since the journey to Paseinse would greatly increase the amount of time for any ship going to or from Zaizung, this causes a massive strike of Zaizung dockworkers, which only gets worse as an early frost destroys various crops throughout Soltenna. With imported grain much more expensive, this leads to bread riots, which imperial forces shut down by shooting into a large crowd and killing 10. Similar small scale revolts happen in Qonklaks proper, but are a bit quieter during the good harvest of 1898, unlike the Zaizung protests which just get louder and louder.

In 1899, cities in southern Zaizung and the highlands declared an independent republic in response to another crops failed again. This independence was using the organization developed by the now-Zaizung-wide dock worker solidarity movement that was building up since 1897 to delay Qonklese ships from the southern cities. Northern cities still have a large troop presence, so are initially not part of the revolt. This crop failure, as well as the army being distracted in Zaizung, also leads to the Qonklese civil war.

In 1902, with the Qonklese Olboros troops stretched thin, northern Zaizung is also able to join the Republic.

1902 Republic

1902 - with all of Zaizung in the revolution, and Qonklaks distracted, the Zaizung Republic is declared

1903 - Thaboun declares Qonklese Republic, and because of the lack of manpower to try to reclaim Zaizung, along with acknowledgement of Zaizung's revolution's help in securing supplies through the Amiyant while blocking Olborosi shipments and troop movements, there is an unspoken agreement that Zaizung is independent, but not Official

1917 - republican qonk tries to invade zaizung and fail and then sign an armistice in 1918

After Zaizung's success in the 1917 war, and to bolster the chances of them surviving a remilirized Qonklaks, Zaizung and Quaxin Xun signed a mutual defense pact. Because Imperial Qonklaks feared the same result would happen again, even though it declared war on both nations in 1939, Qonklaks only turned its attention to Zaizung after it conquered enough of Quaxin Xun to invade on a large land front.

Fascist Qonk occupation and the GEW

Modern Zaizung

After the GEW, Zaizung became a puppet state of the Helsonian Union. Some portion of the Qonklese population moved to Qonklaks proper. Helsonia changed the capital from historic Northern Capital to a new Southern Capital (before one of the larger ports in the south), to lower Qonk influence. Helsonia mostly withdrew from Zaizung militarily in the mid-60s, and return of almost all of the islands, except the few held by their GEW ally of Lugida, but still kept a few military and naval bases. Helsonia's interest in Zaizung included keeping control of the sea lanes between Terminia Proper and their holdings in Myaichoun and Yeinti, so it kept a naval presence until the mid 1970s.

After the Qonk-Helsonian split, Zaizung was firmly in the Helsonian side of the divide. This meant that it had a parallel opening up as the one Jáán Vexut initiated in Helsonia in 1977. Because of its proximity, neutrality, and use of the Terminian language, Zaizung started a manufacturing sector to sell cheap products, which it quickly also expanded to export to the newly-formed Fordas. Because of its is increasing reliance on exporting to Fordas in the 1980s and 1990s, and a Helsonian navy stretched very thin, it didn't close its trade with the east after the coup in the Helsonian Union by Vrije Ghagor in 1999, and didn't experience the same chaos as other Kúúlist states when the Helsonian Union fell apart in 2005. Because of this, its modern government still has some roles put aside for the Kúúlist party.

To support an official start of a new era, Lugida returned its Zaizung islands to the country, unifying it once and for all, with an agreement signed in 2001 that the islands would be integrated into the country in 2016.

Geography

Spine of mountains parallel to northern shore, making it distinct from the southern shore. Its history was greatly influenced by its having access to one of the few sea lanes between the Gulf of Sharkunen and the Amiyant Sea, especially due to them having different wind patterns.

Geology

Climate

Biodiversity

Politics

Government

The Zaizung government is structured into the 8 traditional ministries of the pre-Olboros Qonklese system. These are the Ministries of Control, Examination, Justice, War, Finance, Rites, Works, and Personnel. The Central Committee is made up of the 8 heads of the ministries along with a "first among equals" chancellor elected on a 5? year term. The chancellor is mostly there to break ties and greet foreign dignitaries, but retains few powers outside of presiding over the Central Committee. The ministries of Control and Examination are explicity kúúlist, but the other 6 are all open to every citizen, and the ones that are democratic allow all parties to run candidates.

Zaizung did not adopt the 5 Mè system of modern Qonklaks. The 1902 Zaizung Republic was setting up a government before the 1903 Qonklese Republic, and the post-GEW government was set up by the Helsonians, and with memories of fascist Qonk occupation in everyone's minds.

Administrative divisions

Foreign relations

Military

Economy

Historically, the economy of Zaizung was based off of trade along the coasts, cash crops in the highlands (think of what they are, tea is one of them, maybe a narcotic is another), lots of agriculture in the fertile coastal plain, and tourism on the islands. Starting in the 1980s, it started exporting cheap goods to Fordas and by the mid-2000s had a growing tech sector.

Transport

The coast of Zaizung is important for its role in the harbor, and contains many important centers of trade. The intercity train system in most of the east coast goes into the Northern Capital, and then into Qonlaks, and some trains from the highlands went directly to Qonlaks, but were remade to snake into the Northern Capital during Helsonian times. Before the GEW, most intercity train systems were just leading to the nearest port city, and southern cities were not connected until Helsonian times.

Urban transport includes metro lines, light rail, funiculars, and aerial tramways, depending on the varied needs of the various geographies of the cities.

Fascist Qonklaks laid a few highways to make for easier troop transport and tanks, include some that razed parts of the Northern Capital. Post-war of the Coastal Highway did not go through any cities (but, if Helsonia wanted to show might, they would make wide boulevards).

Traditionally, there were a number of different sailboat types, for different uses. Even though they have been replaced by different types of powered boats, they still are in many ways used as a national symbol.

Energy

Science and technology

Tourism

Due to its mediterranean climate and close historical ties to Qonklaks, Zaizung, especially the islands, has a bunch of very fancy resorts. Some play up historical Zaizung forms of showing wealth, like the Table dance.

Demographics

Due to its strategic location, Zaizung is a very multi-ethnic state, held together by an Iovist State Church

Ethnic groups

The two largest ethnic groups are the Zaizung Mañi and "Pure Zaizung" at each about 40% of the population. "Pure Zaizung" refers to people who claim both Mañi and Qonk heritige, with the pure being based on a nationalistic response to how they were mixed. - some nation building decided to have people marry into different groups to homogenize the population

The next largest population at around 15% of the population are the Zaizung Qonks, a distinct subethnic group of Qonks. While many Zaizung might try to tell you about a distinction between "Zaizung Qonks" and "Northern Qonks," with the latter speaking Standard Kwang and having family that came during fascist times, there is plenty of fluidity, basing more on how much a family is seen as part of or foreign to the Zaizung state, including how most Zaizung see the very old <not Quizling?> family as "northern Qonks" even though their anscestors came over in the 13th C. On the north part of the Amiyanat Coast, Kwang people can make almost 40% of the population in some districts. the Qonk population of Zaizung peaked at 40% in 19XX, just before a lot of the population was drafted for the Great Ekuosian War, and many Qonks fled after the Helsonian Union granted Zaizung independence from Qonklaks (as a client state). Most modern scholars point out that many of the people who put Qonk down in Fascist Qonklaks occupied Zaizung had mixed-Mañic/Qonk ancestry and so would have put "Pure Zaizung" in later censuses. - academia, high arts, etc., dominated by them - think of themselves as the "dual indigeneity myth" - that they are 100% of Zaizung but also 100% Qonk - maybe Taiwanese-like or Hong Kong-like - for various reasons, very actively tried to prove themselves as "loyal to Zaizung" - maybe a bit paternalistic - more likely to be urban, middle class, etc.

Ethnicity is not directly tied to ancestry, with it more being "which groups of your ancestors can you claim to your identity, social and political ties, cultural expression, etc. For example, the "Pure Zaizung" Prime Minister <NAME>'s sister <NAME> went by her Kwang name when writing plays, and their cousin <NAME> claimed to be Mañi when he <think of something that fits>. Which of the languages you treat as your first language is more important than ancestry for ethnic identification.

Various Rietic peoples live in the cities, and are usually lumped as "Lugidan" (maybe choose a different ethnicity as the main group).

Names

Zaizung tend to have a lot of thigns going into names. Many have the traditional Mañic system of using the month and date you were born, but instead of the Mañi calendar, it uses dates from the Kwang Calendar.

Many Zaizung in addition will have a "Kwang name," either in Zaizung Kwang or Standard Kwang.

Urbanisation

Historically, the north was more industrialized and had a higher population, while the south had a few major ports but farmland in between. After the Great Ekuosian War, Zaizung became a puppet state of the Helsonian Union, and moved its capital from the traditional capital in the north to the south.

Language

Most Zaizung are multilingual in a variety of languages. The National Language of Standard Zaizung is a creole formed out of a mesolect of Southern Zaizung Mañi and Zaizung Kwang, with significant influence from the Northern Zaizung Mañi that was spoken in the historical capital and most populous area.

Zaizung Kwang diverged from Middle Kwang around the 9th C.

There are three main Zaizung Mañi dialects, with Northern and Southern along the coast, and River being spoken in the highlands.

Some scholars claim that Zaizachi (not its real name) was real, based on a few plays with use of it, but because it seems to me a mesolect with Kwang as the basolect and Mañi as the acrolect, instead of the Standard Zaizung which is the opposite, most scholars think that it was more a trope in literature and collective language game than a real langauge of a real group of people.

Education

Healthcare

Religion

Part of the national Zaizung Identity is that since it is so ethnically divided, the national state Iovist church fill part of that role as a unifier.

The National Iovist Church of Zaizung is a part of the government, as one of the 8 ministries. All Zaizung citizens are members of the Church, and can vote on their local clergy. It is not an exclusive religion, as citizens can be a part of a second religion as well.

Culture

The most prestigious art has historically been produced by the Kwang minority, or with heavy influences from them. though in more modern times, some more Mañic art styles have been hailed as High Art. A lot of national symbols are Mañic in origin.

Heritage

Architecture

Literature

Art

Music

The most prestigious music uses Kwang instrumentation and scales, but sometimes has influence from more Mañic beats (is this Jazz?)

In more recent years, Mañic Zaizung music has been gaining in national prominence, due to a new pan-Zaizung identity. The scale usually used for Mañic Zaizung music consists of two parts - one fixed five note scale to produce drones, usually stopping at the 5th, and a pentatonic scale relative to the current drone, played on a specific type of instrument which is not unlike a hurdy gurdy. There are multiple fixed scales and pentatonics that you can choose, but a common one is a fixed similar to the first half of the Phrygian dominant mode and the major pentatonic. In more modern art, it is seen as cool to use this and other traditional Mañic instrumentation fit into a more Kwang orchestra.

One more traditional Mañic tempo resembles the 7/8 Yàłurał, in beats of 2+2+3, but after the GEW, Zaizung music with an innovative 2+3+2 beat got popular, especially with the flowering of Social Dances in post-war Zaizung.

Another traditional Mañic tempo is a 13/8 3+3+3+2+2

Theatre

Some of the most iconic pieces of Zaizung's art are the long theatrical tradition. The earliest ones we have evidence of in the 14th C (maybe?) are purely in Kwang, but pretty soon, it became common to have characters speak in a Mañi langauge as well. They tend to use Mañi for characters who are poorer, more rural, more emotional, or evil.

In the 17th and 18th C, we start seeing Standard Zaizung added to the mix, as well as Zaizachi. Standard Zaizung then got associated with main characters, Kwang with noble or poëtic characters, Mañi with simpler characters or those with wisdom, and Zaizachi with dreams and prophecy.

Because the Zaizung use of the Mañi naming convention with Kwang months only goes up to 5 or 6 in the intercalenary Snake month, it is common to name spirits at 7 Snake - 30 snake, to clue the watchers in.

Because of nautical influence, a lot of the pulley systems for backdrops look like those used for sailboats, and a lot of words for talking about stories are derived from sailing words.

Film

Cuisine

Zaizung has strong influences from around Sahar, predominantly Qonklaks, other parts of the Ngeruposphere, areas in what is now Fordas particularly Xynderland, and Cerman.

Meals tend to have multiple smaller dishes, in a banchan like style, with some dishes that are best eaten with chopsticks (usually on Soltennan rice) and some that are eaten on corn arepas with the hands. Seafood makes a large part of the protein.

While Zaizung Mañi people have a high lactose intolerance rate, because haute cuisine tends to be Qonklese, it is still fairly ubiquitous in certain food items.

Sport

Flags

Both the older and newer flags of Zaizung are based on the junk sails of ships. The older flag also included the Wheel of Iovi. Since the old flag was not rectangular, looked dated, and had the battens parallelized even thought many junks in Zaizung had much more diagonal battens on their sails, under Kúúlist leadership adopted a new flag.

The older flag was adopted as a state flag by the old northern capital when Zaizung adopted its modern national flag.

Symbols

See also