Yixing

Yixing

(Nation)

Titles

Imperial Yixing
Yixing Empire

Capital

Changdo

Government

Monarchical provincial empire

Adjective

Yixing

Source: The Inner Sea World Guide, pg(s). 36 (1E)
Tian Xia World Guide, pg(s). 7–11 (2E)

Yixing was an ancient empire of central Tian Xia, styled variously as the Yixing Empire or Imperial Yixing, that was officially founded in -2499 AR (1 IC) and lasted until its collapse in 5576 IC. Yixing's founding comprises the Imperial Calendar's first year. Yixing's history is shrouded by heavy revisionism, and few beings are aware of its real history.

History

Despite being remembered as the greatest human empire of Tian Xia, Yixing was controlled by an imperial dragon for most of its history. Much was written out of the empire's history in conspiracies toward the end of its existence.

Founding

As the number of human nations in Tian Xia increased at the end of the Age of Ashes, five sworn imperial dragon siblings, one of each imperial dragon ancestry, seized the initiative in influencing the course of humanity on the continent of Tian Xia. In particular, the sovereign dragon Aolin gained direct political power in his human guise within the nation that would be retroactively called Yixing. He climbed the chain of military command until the ruler, Su, adopted him as her only son. Although official records place Yixing's founding in -2499 AR, it was only after Su's death in 88 IC that the new emperor Aolin retroactively declared Su the First Empress of Yixing, with the year of her birth becoming its founding year as well as 1 IC of the newly created Imperial Calendar.

Early expansion

Aolin and his sworn sibling advisors ruled Yixing from their thrones of jade, ivory, chalcedony, lapis lazuli, and malachite. Rumors spread across Yixing that the emperor and his advisors were immortal.

In 98 IC, those rumors of the rulers' immortality helped convince the celestials of Tianjing to leave their nation to their empyrean human offspring, who diplomatically joined the Yixing empire. Yixing continued to gradually expand across Tian Xia through opportunistic military annexations and diplomatic offers. Provincial rulers were allowed to style themselves as emperors and empresses as part of the emperor's strategy to satisfy human ego and ambition, while he secretly planned for these rulers to be overthrown by their subjects.

In 250 IC, Shizuru—through her herald Shinonome—confronted the siblings over their behavior. Although Shinonome intended to have a peaceful discussion, Aolin responded by using his draconic form to intimidate her, and declared that he would relinquish rulership only when humans proved they could surpass their shortcomings and become as great as the divine.

In 444 IC, Yixing's capital of Changdo was invaded by yaoguai and qlippoth at the Battle of the Bloodsworn. The mountain yaoguai Ougang had tricked three of the dragon siblings—Aolin and his forest and sea dragon siblings—to leave the capital before laying siege to the city.

Changdo successfully resisted the invasion, but Aolin and his siblings were ambushed by qlippoth forces as they rushed back to the capital. Aolin and his forest dragon sibling were slain. Before she died, the forest dragon gave up her own opportunity for resurrection by pleading to a Sarenite phoenix to use her remaining life force to revive Aolin instead. The phoenix gave its life in the process, permanently infusing the emperor with self-resurrecting life force.

Aolin's lone rule

After the Battle of the Bloodsworn, Aolin ruled alone and Yixing prospered and expanded. At its height, Yixing reached north and west to the edge of the Wall of Heaven, east to the coast bordering Xidao, and south to the border of Nagajor.

In 1503 IC, Yixing and Nagajor signed the Ivory Accord, establishing the first pact of peace and trade between the two nations and beginning a more peaceful relationship between humans and nagaji.

In 2105 IC, Yixing successfully helped repel an army of haunted clockworks pouring out from the Clicking Caverns that attacked Nagajor and Xa Hoi.

Puppet emperors

In 2501 IC, Aroden's ascension forced Aolin to honor his promise to Shinonome and abdicate his throne. Through a loophole, however, he implemented a puppet ruler as his successor and remained the de facto ruler. This almost provoked a direct response from the Celestial Court of gods, but Shizuru instead granted five human families in Minkai the divine right to rule.

Empress Yin of Yixing was their first ruler to grant the city of Goka its status as an independent city state in 2826 IC.

By the year 3020 IC, the Yixing Empire had officially spread across the full width of all Tian Xia.

Having its competitiveness stirred by the recently mapped Path of Aganhei, Yixing had the empire's best shipbuilders construct an enormous junk, the Resplendent Phoenix, in Goka. Its arrival to Absalom's harbor in 3808 IC represented one of the first times the people of the Inner Sea region had received visitors from that far-away land.

Conspiracies and collapse

Yixing's economy boomed after making contact with the Inner Sea region. However, this also began a series of conspiracies that would eventually spell Yixing's decline and collapse. Aolin's sky dragon sibling suddenly died, prompting her samsaran student Pu Duo to investigate her death, suspecting poison. Pu Duo eventually sought Aolin's aid, and they formed the Silk Network in 4262 IC to investigate her death as they uncovered more strange deaths and mysterious happenings. But it was Aolin himself who orchestrated his sibling's murder, a truth that his underworld dragon sibling revealed to Pu Duo in 4800 IC.

In 5164 IC, members of the Yixing court performed the first chadao tea ceremony. During this ceremony, Pu Duo and a small band of allies incapacitated and magically imprisoned Aolin in a surprise attack planned over the prior three centuries. Despite the conspiracy behind it, the custom of tea ceremonies quickly spread across the continent.

Pu Duo covered up Aolin's disappearance with lies that the imperial advisor had retired due to an old ailment. They also forged decrees that destroyed past writings, rewrote five millennia of history, overhauled writing systems, and spread belief that literacy allowed commoners to curse rulers. The intellectual decline and loss of writing caused by this conspiracy contributed to Yixing's eventual collapse in 5576 IC.

The collapse plunged the continent of Tian Xia into decades of turmoil as nations were created and territories changed hands, until Shu succeeded Yixing as the dominant empire of central Tian Xia after its founding in 5601 IC.

Legacy

An order of lethal, yellow-robed killers known as Butterfly Blades, who now serve as enforcers for the ruler of Goka, also follow a tradition that dates back to ancient Yixing.

The Gongsun family, one of the families that compose the Four Notables of Songbai, are apparently descendants of overthrown Yixing royalty.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.