Difference between revisions of "Mor'os"

Revision as of 18:22, 11 February 2007

Mor'os is a sovereign state located in the east of the Central Continent of Taijitu. Isolated for many years, it has only relatively recently opened itself up, and not without upheaval internally. Stretching from the Sēmor Mountains in the west to the Da’os Sea in the east, the country envelopes a vast area of land and many different types of terrain, climates and ethnic groups.

History

Archeological records provide evidence that people have lived within the territories that the country encompasses since as early as 65,000 BC. The country did not exist as a single unified political entity though until 202 B.C., when the multiple warring states that Mor’os had until then been divided into were forcibly united by Andel Dalēn, who became the first Mor’osi emperor. Since then the country has seen a total 118 emperors over a period of 2208 years, the longest surviving hereditary dynasty in the Lexicon. For much of this period however the actual power of the government has not lain in the hands of the emperor, but with the powerful Ar, nobility, and has only recently been returned.

The Wamsun Period

Evidence from archeological records indicate that the area that compromises the modern nation of Mor’os was populated by true homo sapiens as early as the year 65,000 B.C., most likely having migrated from the south west. This migration saw a sharp increase circa 60,000 B.C., it being popularly theorized that a particularly harsh season of typhoons was the driving factor. Initially, the predominant if not only way of life for these people was a nomadic one as hunter-gatherers, with social and political organizations limited in size to the clans of these wanderers. Artifacts which have been found from this period are relatively simple, but provide evidence of the civilizations earliest development. The most conspicuous of these artifacts were made from clay, especially pots, and it is from this fact that the period is named “Wamsun”, literally “Clayer”. There are also indications that the Mor’osi of the time may have possessed some rudimentary knowledge of agriculture.

The No‘ur Period

With the advent of truly advanced agricultural practices in roughly 4,500 B.C., it became possible to establish long term settlements, and it is around this time that evidence of such permanent villages becomes widespread. The most successful of these early settlements were capable of producing healthy agricultural surpluses, opening the way not only for population growth but also for the development of a complex social structure by freeing up those who would have otherwise had to produce food to perform pursue other crafts. In time, many villages grew into powerful city states. True to the developments of the period, the word "No'ur" literally translates to "Farm City".

Another important development seen alongside these others, and closely connected, is the development of both the structure of government, and social attitudes towards it. The prominent place which government in afforded in the Mor'osi psych is one of the prominent features of the culture. These theories and philosophies would in time come to be not only the model on which city states ran themselves, but the subsequent kingdoms and ultimately empire.

The No'ur Period was, compared to much of the history that was too follow, a peaceful time. Population was still low, resources plentiful. Common orgins ensured ethnic homogeneity, and trade and frequent interaction between the city states and early kingdoms ensured a shared culture and religion which has survived until today.

The Daral Period

Inevitably, as the population grew, resources scarcer by the day. At the same time, the surpluses of grain, effective government, and technologies at the disposal of those successful powers had made it possible to conscript, support, and mobilize sizable military forces. Competition for resources, land and power resulted in violent conflict, ushering in the Daral Period.

Initially, the amount of powers who had laided their stakes in the conflict were innumerable, and number of actual wars also as numerous. In this initial flurry of belligerency states were swallowed up by their stronger enemies, only to fall into the hands of yet another power. Borders for all effective purposes became formless as they at times literally changed from day to day. Eventually though this chaotic trend stabilized, as a relative few, the strongest of the lot, managed to firmly establish themselves. The ruling nobility of these Kingdoms are now the "Hītkaz'ash", First Families, among the Mor'osi nobility. Numbering nine in total, the lot of them seemed set for further all out war. Circumstance beyond their control, namely the imminent threat of barbarian attack, forced a peace between the families.

On the less militant side of things, most of the traditions and practices that for centuries been praticed during the No'ur period were formally codified in various texts. These covered nearly everything that the scholars could find, but by far those which are most recognizable by the Mor'osi today are those treatise on government structure and conduct, religion and philosophy, and on music and the theater. One particularly notable text is the Gundau, which appropriately for the era that spawned it is considered by many to be the premier text on military strategy.

Government

Since the country's formation in 208 B.C., Mor'os has existed as a unitary state. The specific nature of this state though has changed vastly with time. Unification initially established as a hereditary monarchy in which the emperor wielded absolute power over the affairs of the country. Following Andel Dalēn's death though the imperial throne weakened and the emperor was reduced to a mere figurehead. In the oligarchy that resulted power instead lay with the nobility and senior members of the imperial bureaucracy, notably the Prime Minister, Imperial Inspector and Imperial Censor, all of whom vied with one another to establish themselves as the power behind the throne. Now though recent reforms by the 118th emperor, Osmar Dalēn, have shifted the government towards a constitutional monarchy. Though this reformed model of government has given new power to the Ol, the commoner class of Mor'osi society, it has also reduced the power of the Ar and in doing so renewed the viability of the throne.

Theory

The pure native Mor'osi theory of government differs greatly from the more commonly known and accepted three branch model of the Executive, Legislative and the Judicial. Rather, it expands on the the Executive with the addition of the Bureaucracy and Examination branches of government, the Legislative and Judicial as part of the Executive, and it had been on this theory that the governments of the Kingdoms and later the Empire as a whole had operated on until the reforms of the Shinchi Period. Today, the Shinchi Constitution encodes a system of government which draws on both traditional Mor'osi concepts and foreign ones. While the Legislative and the Judicial are fully recognized as seperate branches, the Consitution also legally establishes the Exmination and Bureaucratic branches of government as their own distinct entities.

The Emperor

The emperor of Mor'os, Damas in the native tongue, is theoretically the supreme power in government, and as of 2006 may actually be so. The emperor, alongside the Prime Minister, serves as the executive of the country's government.

Unlike many other constitutional monarchies, in which the monarch's power is severly limited, the emperor in Mor'os still maintains a significant degree of power. Though the Emperor has, following the adoption of the Shinchi constitution, no power to formally legislate, he none the less retains absolute veto power by stint of his ability to deny imperial consent to any petition put forward by the Riksos. The constitution is also often interpretted as giving the Emperor the power to, so long as it complies with the laws of the constitution itself and those passed by the legislature, exert his will by means of imperial decrees.

The Emperor is also the Commander in Chief of the armed forces of Mor'os.

It is also important to note that the first Emperor, Andel Dalēn, was eventually elevated to the position of deity following his death, and as a result those emperors who have filled the throne since are considered to have been semi-divine themselves, and are entitled by the direct mandate of Heaven to rule. Not only does this mean that the Emperor must be addressed using the honorific "dav", often translated as "[your] divinity", but this perception has been used and is still used to legitimize the Emperor's power.

The National Assembly

The National Assembly, Riksos formally or alternatively Yhessos in Mor'osi, is the legislative body of Mor'os. The concept of a formal legislative body, or for that matter a the legislature as its own seperate branch of government, is not a native invention. Instead, the idea was one of the many borrowed from foreign powers and adapted for the peculiarities of Mor'osi culture during the Restoration.

Though the model of government itself may be foreign, the rational for the Riksos is Mor'osi in its orgins. Though, nominally at least, an absolute monarchy with the Emperor ruling by the will of Heaven, there has always been regardless the belief in Mor'os that the Emperor must in order to satisfy his divine mandate rule for the good of his subjects. As a result, it has been perfectly legal since Unification for any citizen, be they commoner or noble, to petition their rulers on matters of concern. Needless to say, the system fast broke down as corrupt ministers kept petitions from ever reaching their intended audience, but the concept remained regardless. The Riksos is merely viewed as a formally instituted version of the system, in where a constituency's petitions are brought forward by their representative. Indeed, members of the Riksos are often called "yhessun", petitioners, and legislation "yhesmon", petitions.

The National Assembly is unicameral, with all members elected in elections held at the national level every five years using a proportional representation. Originally a potential bicameral system had been considered during the reforms of the Shinchi Period, but ultimately the Ar's revolt and their subsequent crushing defeat shifted the structure to the current unicameral one.

The Prime Minister

The office of the Prime Minister, Hēshimsar in Mor'osi, can be traced back to the Daral period, when standards of government were codified. Appointed by the king and later the Emperor or ministers acting ostenibly in his stead, the Prime Minister's role is that of a supreme advisor and consultant to the sovereign. By its very nature the office has always presented an excellent way to manipulate and control governance. Not surprisingly, the office is seen as one of the premier achievements by the noble families who had consistantly filled the position until the Shinchi Period.

Previously appointed by the Emperor directly, the Prime Minister is now selected by a majority vote of both houses of the Riksos, and is responsible for heading up and directing the legislative body.The Prime Minister also shares executive power with the Emperor, and possesses a say in the formation of ministries and appointment of ministers. In most matters though the Emperor's wishes take precedence over those of the Prime Minister.

The Bureaucracy

Though some political scientists have proposed Bureaucracy as a virtual fourth branch of government, the Shinchi Constitution of Mor'os goes so far as to legally encode the Bureaucracy as its own seperate branch, headed by the Imperial Censor.

The role of Bureaucracy is as presented in the Shinchi Constitution the same as any other: implimenting and putting laws into effect at progressively lower levels of government at the behest of the Executive. The Bureaucracy is also responsible for relaying paperwork, information and orders between the other branches of government, and keeping accurate and up do date records of the government's activities.

The Imperial Censor

The Bureaucracy is headed by the Imperial Censor, a position appointed directly by the Emperor. Traditionally the absolute control over the flow of all information made this office of Imperial Censor a very powerful and influential one. As a result of the Shinchi Restoration though the office has been relegated back to that of a glorified bureaucrat.

The Examination

This branch of government is in theory charged with keeping an eye on all other branches, and ensuring that they are performing as they should. The Examination Branch as such is responsible for directing and organizing the efforts of the government inspectors so prevalent in traditional Mor'osi government. Nominally, these inspectors endeveour to seek out and punish corrupt or incompetant officials, while rewarding and recommending to higher office competant and able ones. However, with no institutions than good will and weak imperial decrees to keep the Examination Branch in check it has for most of its existance ironically has been by far the most corrupt branch of the government, something which is not to be scoffed at when the general corrupt nature of the government as a whole is taken into consideration. The sale of favorable reports, and blackmail with poor ones, have been the prefered methods of corruption. Though recent efforts under the Shinchi Constitution have gone great lengths in combating it, problems still remail.

The other notable task of the Examination Branch is issuing and processing the civil service exams, first put into practice during the Daral period and carried on ever since. Needless to say, the civil service exams system has also suffered from rampant corruption.

The Imperial Inspector

The Imperial Inspector, appointed by the Emperor, is the foremost authority of the Examinations Branch. Another prized position along with the Prime Minister and Imperial Censor, Imperial Inspectors once stood to reap a tremendous profit as they took for themselves a portion of the bribes and extortions collected by those inspectors beneath them. The more entrepreneuring of them at times went so far as to even attempt to sway the actions of lower level official by the same mechanisms which they collected material wealth. Such efforts were less successful though than the collection of money, the unitary nature of the government giving these officials little room within which to move.

The Judiciary

The concept of an independent judiciary is a concept which for many years did not exist in any way within Mor'os. Wielded by the executive instead, the abuse of power was a common fact of life, and corruption meant that at no time soon would the inspectors do anything to put an end to it. The Sweeping reforms of the Shinchi Restoration though finally brought an indepedent judiciary into existance, at least in existance.

Administrative Divisions

Mor'os is subdivided into thirty-two zhoh, most commonly translated as "province".

Demographics

Language

The native and and premier official language of Mor'os is Mor'osi, spoken by an overwhelming 96% of the population by some estimates. The sheer size of the Empire means though that many of these speakers are fluent in dialects of the language which, though mutually intelligable to one another, differ greatly from the official version of the language laid down by the Mor'osvurgakkai in Kē'ur.

The government also recognizes no less than 41 other minor languages, spoken by the countries many ethnics groups. These languages, though they do not enjoy nationwide status as the official tongue, do so in specific localities.

Religion

The native religion of Mor'os is Tendau, which literally translates to "Heaven's Way" or "Way of Heaven". The religion is an animistic one, and revolves to a great degree around ancestor worship. Mor'osi tradition holds that the spirit freed from an individual holds power over their descendents, and that whether or not one endears themselves to them will determine the outcome of many things. Though polytheistic, these numerous gods are collectively grouped under the label of Ten, generally translated as Heaven. This incorporeal concept represents the ultimate incorperal power of the universe, and stands in oppostion to the mundane of Jī, Earth. Humans and all other livings things present the sum of the two.