Qonklaks
Union of Democratic Revolutionary Qonklaks yàn yawnkày kãju kwaykwan Yàn Yaunkài Kãju kwaiKwan | |
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 Flag
 Emblem
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| Motto: m1àyn ŋeyˀ ŋa liˀ Mhàin ngeiq nga liq "Millions of people as one heart" | |
| Anthem: Okwai Yàn Yaunkài Kãju kwaiKwan "State Anthem of the Union of Democratic Revolutionary Qonklaks" | |
National seal | |
 Qonklaks' territorial extent | |
| Capital and largest city | Jikhein |
| Official languages | Standard Kwang |
| Recognized regional languages | Kufa, Öwi, Karduvic, Ru, Tselsanthe |
| Ethnic groups (1995) | |
| Religion (1995) | 55.3% Non-religious 31.6% Hanctheist |
| Demonym(s) | Qonklese |
| Government | One-party cenonist federal union |
| Jiq Zàw | |
• Premier | Dai Chì |
| Legislature | All-Union National Assembly |
| Population | |
• Estimate | 962,445,000 (1st) |
| GDP (nominal) | 1995 estimate |
• Total | $9.125 trillion |
• Per capita | $9,481 |
| HDI (1995) | 0.712 high |
| Currency | Qonklese chih ($) (QKC) |
| Driving side | right |
| Calling code | +01 |
Qonklaks (IPA: /ˈkɑŋklæks/; KONG-clacks; Standard Kwang: kwaykwan kwaiKwan /kwɛ́kwã́/, lit. 'Nation of the Kwang'), officially the Union of Democratic Revolutionary Qonklaks, is a country located in Southern Tammuz. It shares a border with Ö, Zaizung, Karduv, Rongyo, Mai Thi, and Riyana. With a population of 962.4 million and an area of over 7 million square kilometers, it is the most populous and second largest country on Abzû.
As one of Abzû's cradles of civilization, it enjoyed its status as a high culture. Its influence traditionally encompassing the entirety of Southern Tammuz, with many surrounding countries within the Quoncosphere adopting its language, culture, food, and dress habits. For over four millenia, Qonklaks' political system was ruled over by dynasties. Since the Kingdom of Wa, the controversial political entity traditionally considered to be the first Qonklese dynasty, Qonklaks has undergone periods of varying degrees of political unity, with long periods alternating between regional warlordism and unified rule under one supreme monarch.
Under the Byàn Dynasty, Qonklaks officially adopted Hanctheism, an organized, monotheistic interpretation of Haomism that had been in practice for the past millenium. Qonklaks became a constitutional monarchy in 1732 after of the Jiqjõ Reforms, adopting a tricameral parliamentary system.
The country fractured and fell to petty warlordism in 1903 after a brief period of military junta rule by Grand Marshal Lyĩ Bain, only uniting in 1928 under Dain Pain's new Qonklese Empire. The country would experience a mild economic boom and various military reforms to unite the warlord armies into the Qonklese Imperial Army.
The nation participated in the Great War as a principal member of the Mandate powers, embarking on an aggressive territorial expansion in Southern Tammuz. Its war efforts were mostly halted by the Yellow Turban Revolution, led by the cenonist Ngonku 88th Division in 1942, which led to the start of the Qonklese Civil War with the establishment of the People's Republic of Qonklaks, officially joining the Accord powers in 1944.
The Ngonku, led by Mheiq Ku, abolished the four-millenia-old dynastic monarchist system, replacing it with its current political structure in 1950. The Qonklese Civil War officially ended on May 10th, 1950, but several imperial rump states continued to fight on until 1962 despite the capture and subsequent death of Dain Pain.
The country was a participating member of the space race, where it successfully sent their first ipanaut into space in 1964. It also launched a manned mission, the Hayai 7, to the moon in 1967.
The disappointing results of the Ainbaipaw communal living experiment and ideological tensions with the rest of world led to a soft coup in 1975 to initiate reforms to strategically privatize the economy, led by Jiq Zàw, who replaced Mheiq Ku as Supreme Overseer. The country experienced a period of economic prosperity and loosening of political and religious expression under the New Spring Initiative, colloquially known as Jiqzawnomics, during the 80s, known as the Golden Age of Commerce. The decade was also known for its political instability, stemming from the state's draconic response to the 1985 SARS epidemic that started in Yiu Province that eventually culminated with the 1986 Downtown Stadium Incident. As a direct response to the turmoil, the Golden Kwang clamped down on various freedoms previously guaranteed by the state as a preventative measure against mass protests and gatherings.
Today, Qonklaks is a one-party cenonist federal union, which de jure claims allegiance to cenonist ideals despite being a market economy. It has one of the world's most powerful economies, though ranking poorly in basic freedoms. Qonklaks is one of several Abzû nuclear powers, and, as a credit to the Ngonku's efforts in stalling the Qonklese war machine, remains a founding member of the Alliance of World Nations.
Etymology
The demonym Kwan can refer to both the ethno-linguistic Kwankyaiq people (where one would use the adjective 'Kwang'), or to the nation of Qonklaks regardless of ethnic or linguistic specification (the adjective 'Qonklese'). The word can be traced back to the Proto-Macro-Kwang root *kʷaːŋ 'sun'.
Names of Qonklaks
Qonklaks bears several other names, usually used poetically or as epithets.
Four Realms
The term Four Realms (Standard Kwang: Hài Lhain /hɛ̀ ɬaɪ̃́/) has been used to describe the territories controlled by various Qonklese polities over several millenia. The term first arose during the Lya Dynasty as a way to contrast themselves with their non-Kwang neighbours, who were collectively referred to as the Four Barbarians. In its current usage, the Four Realms refers to Qonklaks' four first-level subnational administrative divisions: Central Realm, Northeastern Realm, Northwestern Realm, and the Southwestern Realm. In practice, provinces are treated as the first-level administration division, as the sheer size of these realms has little practical use in daily administration. This fact can be seen by the fact that only Qonklese provinces have flags.
History
Prehistory
Neolithic Qonklaks
The Ithawai culture settled in the Central Ji River Valley around 5000 BCE, near the modern-day city of Pholai, Ngwemai Province. The Ithawai people were the first organized agrarian society to appear in Southern Tammuz, having domesticated millet, buckwheat, and wheat. Rudimentary decorated ceramics began to appear during this stage, with distinct painted ceremonial patterns in black or red that is suspected to have been religious in nature. Jade artifacts also begin to appear, though simple in shape and design compared to its later counterparts.
The Ithawai culture, like many contemporary cultures active in the region at the time, were likely matriarchical and matrilineal, based on illustrations found on pottery and jade carvings, and the fact that the Sithai-Wa polity later one retains this matriarchical society.
Early Kingdoms
Sithai-Wa
The Sithai-Wa, a collection of loosely confederated tribes ruled over by a shaman-king, was traditionally dated to have been founded in 2520 BCE by Shaman-king Jein of Wa, who, according to later sources, reigned for 400 years. Contemporary scholars overwhelmingly reject this claim as implausible due to the unnaturally long lifespan it implies.
Modern researchers instead attribute the early Kingdom of Wa to the Sithai culture, a late Neolithic to early Bronze Age, pre-literate regional power active in the central Ji River Valley. The earliest archaeological evidence referencing the Kingdom of Wa is a bone divination inscription dated to around 1550 BCE. It is likely that the Sithai culture evolved organically into the Kingdom of Wa through a combination of diplomacy and warfare, blurring the boundary between the late Neolithic period and the emergence of Wa. Consequently, most archaeologists refer to the polity as Sithai-Wa, acknowledging its Neolithic origins, while traditional historians prefer Kingdom of Wa or Wa Dynasty.
Sithai-Wa shaman-monarchs were not held exclusively by men, unlike later dynasties. Sithai-Wa royal succession laws seems to primogeniture regardless of gender, with the royal line of succession being traced down whoever is the shaman-monarch.
Kingdom of Hiang
The Kingdom of Hiang was founded by the Toun clan, who rebelled against the Wa in 893 BCE. Despite lasting only 116 years, the Hiang implemented sumptuary control over their subjects through the Rites of Hiang, a detailed text that aimed to resolve the perceived cultural decadence that occured during the Wa. The Rites of Hiang is arguably the most important cultural text in Kwang culture, serving as the basis of dress, etiquette, morality, rites and ceremonies, and other cultural practices throughout the later imperial age.
Warring States
Realm mismanagement, ineffective disaster relief, and widespread corruption among the ruling class allowed opportunistic vassals to entrench themselves in the widening cracks of the Hiang bureaucracy. By 770 BCE—the traditional start of the Warring States period—the Hiang kings had been reduced to mere puppets. Members of the noble Si family, whose daughters had been married into the royal house of Toun for decades, occupied most positions at court and had served as regents to the Hiang kings since 822 BCE. In the winter of 770 BCE, Regent Si We issued a royal decree on behalf of King O of Hiang, proclaiming the official merger of the houses of Youn and Si. In response, long-discontented Hiang vassals, already resentful of Si dominance in governance, began refusing to recognize any edicts from the capital.
As royal authority waned across the realm, vassals vied for control of the peripheries, culminating in the fragmentation of the realm into eleven major states in 766 BCE.
Amidst the chaos of a disunited realm, the relaxation of cultural restrictioned imposed by the Rites of Hiang have
Imperial Dynasties
Lya, Pàn, and the Twin Dynasties
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Yain, Shèin, and the Tripartite Period
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Hi, Bi, and Twã
The Hi dynasty, ruling from 768 to 970, brought two centuries of relatively stable peace after the century of disunity during the Tripartite period. The Later Hi, a splinter state that emerged from the chaos of Tripartite warfare, successfully positioned itself as the unlikely victor, using its status as an unimportant backwater to its advantage. As the three bigger states battled and tired each other out, the Later Hi was allowed to slowly amass its own military strength unhindered by the need of warfare. In 756, it rebelled against its liege state, the Later Chaw, and toppled its ruling house in 759. A series of unlikely success allowed the Later Hi to conquer the Later Gan in 768, and secure the territories of the Later Lya through strongman diplomacy the same year.
This era was marked by audacious exploration of colour and pigment, reflected in the era's dress, paintings, and pottery. The imperial court de-emphasized the necessity for a literal interpretation of the Rites of Hiang, and pioneered a more expressive approach to artistic expression in imperially-sanctioned commissions. During this period, the ceramics that defined Six Hi Wares began to appear, highly sought after by the ruling class, nobility, and literati alike.
Two-Hundred-Year Unrest
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Byàn and the Celestial Kingdom
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Warlord Era
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Qonklese Empire and the Qonklese Civil War
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Union of Democratic Revolutionary Qonklaks
Qonklaks was in no rush to organize the economy into a cenonist agrarian utopia, as Mheiq Ku's focus post-war was to jump start the national economy from its war-torn state. He proclaimed the "Stability Now, True Cenonism Later" Initiative, which would last from 1950 to 1970. The state would run a twenty year trial in Anbaipaw to determine whether or not true communal living was indeed possible.
Operation Songbird was the campaign against imperial holdouts in Qonklaks. Launched in October 1950, the operation aimed at dismantling the remaining pockets of imperial resistance and consolidating the power of the regime. The Revolutionary Grand Army engaged in multiple battles and skirmishes across the nation as part of this operation until August 5th, 1962, when the last remaining imperial holdout forces finally surrendered. With the successful conclusion of these campaigns, the Golden Kwang was able to consolidate its power, paving the way for the nation's reconstruction and development.
Despite these challenges, Qonklaks continued to strive for progress. In 1956, the Golden Kwang began mass-producing cheap ice cream, turning it into a symbol of cenonist success. The country also became a nuclear power in the same year, successfully detonating a thermonuclear weapon in the X Desert. In 1961, the Third Five Year Plan began, focusing on scientific advancement and space exploration. The Fourth Five Year Plan placed the first ipanauts on the moon in 1967.
At the conclusion of the Anbaipaw experiment in 1970, the Golden Kwang determined that, under the current quality of life and technological level of the nation, successful implementation of cenonism was not yet possible. The disappointing results would inspire Jiq Zàw, then Minister of Finance, to pursue market reforms to encourage competition, thus driving technological innovation.
Mheiq Ku's mental and physical health had been detereorating since 1962, with early onset dementia. Leadership at this point had de facto passed to several Standing Members of the Politburo, including Jiq Zàw, and several other high ranking Golden Kwang members. At the 25th Plenum of the Golden Kwang Congress of Representatives in 1975, after Jiq Zàw was officially confirmed to be the successor of Mheiq Ku, he unveiled his intention to reform the control economy into a state-guided market economy to address the issues found during the Anbaipaw experiment, which was received with overwhelming protest from the old guards.
Culture
Etiquette
Cuisine
Economy
Despite being a de jure cenonist state, Qonklaks' economy has been largely liberalized since 1975, and is singlehandedly the fastest growing economies in the world by GDP.
The Qonklese economy is dominated by the Seven Noble Companies, a group of Qonklaks-based megacorporations controlling over 82% of the national GDP in 1995. Experts in the Economic University of Jikhein has consistently warned since 1988 that should one of the Seven fail or experience a downturn, it has the potential to trigger a global economic crisis if these corporations are allowed to grow unchecked.
Work culture
Qonklaks is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Consequently, it also has the fastest growing wealth gap.
Employees generally work a total of 40 demas (9h 36m) in a typical work day, but it is not uncommon for employers to demand longer work hours under the table. Due to the Act to Address Congestion during Commuting Hours (1991), major urban centers are required to enforce staggered work hours to prevent rush hour congestion on public transport and roadways. Depending on the sector, a Qonklese work day either starts at 36 dema (08:38), 38 dema (09:07), or 40 dema (09:36), and ends either at 76 dema (18:14), 78 dema (18:43), or 80 dema (19:12). By law, employees are required to have one hour paid lunch breaks.
Politics
Political freedoms
In the period since the Jiqjõ Reforms in 1732, Qonklaks enshrined many political freedoms into its constitution. However, the advent of the Qonklese Empire revoked several constitutional rights and freedoms in order to bolster the ultranationalist ideology of its ruling party.
The Union, despite having incompatible ideologies with the Empire, continued its suppression of basic rights following its founding in 1950, to ensure a smooth transition of ideology. As Qonklese citizens under the Empire soon grew disillusioned with the constant militarism of the 1930s and 1940s, a regime change that promised a proletarian utopia for all was seen as highly attractive. However, as the Golden Kwang initiated its own ideological purges against potential critics, this illusion was soon shattered as the common folk realized that their situation merely received new branding, and the suppression basic rights were never intended to be lifted by the state. The State Security and Investigation Service (SSIS), the Qonklese secret police under the Union, grew into a well-oiled machine, surpassing its previous incarnation, the Empire's Imperial Bureau of Control. As such, the 1950s to the mid-1970s was characterized by a constant state of surveillance.
At some point in the 1970s, the SSIS implemented lyanwhìlhàlhi (lit. 'tormenting life from the shadows'), characterized by removing its previously overarching presence in public life, as the Golden Kwang rightfully decided that a constant climate of fear was not-conductive to attracting foreign market participation and growing the national economy. Instead of maintaining public order and allegiance to the party line by the presence of physical SSIS officers in public spheres and harsh punishments to discourage subversion, the motivation behind lyanwhìlhàlhi was that if a potential political opponent could be overwhelmed by a multitude of stressors in their lives, they would be too distracted or tired to act against state interests. It entailed the systematic destruction of normalcy in a target's life to ensure that they no longer have the mental or physical capacity to subvert the state. This was done in such secrecy that targets would have no clue why this was happening to them.