Age of Ascendancy

For the Absalom Reckoning analogue to the Age of Ascendancy, start with the Age of Destiny from -2499 AR, and continue through to the end of the Age of Enthronement.

Update needed This article should be updated to reflect canon changes noted in Tian Xia World Guide. Please help improve it if you can; the talk page might contain suggestions.

The current flag of Nagajor.

The Age of Ascendancy marks more than 7,000 years of civilization in the Imperial Calendar of Tian Xia, starting with the establishment of Yixing in 1 IC, the Imperial Calendar's epoch year.

The age's name is derived from the rapid expansion of Yixing as a continent-spanning empire, and ends with Aroden's death in 7106 IC and the disintegration of Lung Wa into the Successor States, leading to the Age of Succession.

Central Tian Xia

For much of Tian Xia, the Age of Ascendancy was largely defined by the rise and fall of three massive human empires. These empires each expanded to encompass most of the continent north of Nagajor.

The first was Yixing (1–5576 IC), whose reign was by far the longest and is remembered as the greatest human empire of Tian Xia. The succeeding Shu Empire (5601–6536 IC) fostered the namesake and much of the identity of Tian-Shu humans on the continent before its collapse. After over a century of short-lived kingdoms, the notoriously tyrannical empire of Lung Wa (6642–7106 IC) gained control until its collapse marking the end of the Age of Ascendancy.

Minkaian Peninsula

The religious symbol of the goddess Shizuru.

The humans separated from the main continent by the Forest of Spirits and Xidao Gulf remained apart from the empires inland, and were instead marked by two empires of their own during the Age of Ascendancy.

In the land that would become Minkai, 2600 IC, the goddess Shizuru blessed five human families with divine right to rule. From there, the Teikoku Shogunate (2612–6116 IC) formed and dominated the entire peninsula south of the Forest of Spirits. After lasting over three millennia, the Shogunate was overthrown by rebels who then founded the empire of Minkai in 6119 IC.

South Tian Xia

The expansion of human civilizations hit a wall in the form of the naga kingdoms of the south, with the violent conflicts of the Age of Ashes continuing into the Age of Ascendancy. The signing of the Ivory Accord in 1503 IC between warring naga kingdoms and Yixing formed the kingdom of Nagajor, which remained stable ever since. The Ivory Accord also created lasting peace between humans and nagas, though it was tested by Lung Wa's aggression.

Imperial dragons

Shizuru's decree made during the Age of Dragons to have dragons watch over humans reached the end of its second 10,000-year mark during the Age of Ascendancy. Before its end, imperial dragons heavily influenced the first two great human empires of the age, with the dragons Aolin and Que Yan Helian involved directly in the rule of Yixing and Shu respectively.