Difference between revisions of "Nuzhen"

Revision as of 13:40, 10 November 2005

The Grand Duchy of Nuzhen (Chinese: 大女真王國, Pinyin: Dà Nǚzhēn Wángguó) is a large developed country in Northeast Asia and the second largest member of the Confederation of Chinese Republics. At the moment, it also holds the seat of UN Delegate for the Confederation. Nuzhen comprises a landmass covering most of the Northern part of the Manchurian plain, as well as some parts of the Gobi desert, bordered by Federal Republic of Yakutia on the north, the Yalu River and Chaoxian Colony to the East, Menggu (Chinese Socialist Republic of Mongolia) in the West, and the rest of the Chinese Republics to the south.

Nomenclature

The formal Beifanghua name for Nuzhen is "Dà Nǚzhēn Wángguó", which directly translated means "The Great Kingdom of Nuzhen", although in an old manuscript dated to 1730, the ruler of Nuzhen was indeed refered to by the Chinese word "gong" (公), roughly corresponding to the English word for Duke. The Chinese title was conferred upon Giocangga I, by the Chinese Emperor after Giocangga set out to unite the various Jurchen tribes. Later on, when Nuzhen became a protectorate of the Chinese Empire, Nuzhen was allowed to keep its name to show that it posessed de jure autonomy. It should be noted that the English-language classification of Nuzhen as a "Grand Duchy" does not appear in its Chinese equivalent in any of Nuzhen's historical manuscripts.

In the modern Era, the designation of "Kingdom" in Chinese is still used, although this is simply a matter of tradition, and holds little political reality. Nuzhen is only a monarchy in name, with the Duke having few powers. Its status as a Constitutional Monarchy, as well as the presence of a strongly Republican-style government allowed it entry into the Confederation of Chinese Republics in 2011. The Chancellery of Nuzhen voted 19-1 on May 12, 2015 against changing the formal name of Nuzhen.

People and Culture

Race and ethnicity

The majority of Nuzhen's population belongs to the Nordsinid cluster of the Mongoloid race. Though originally founded as a homeland for the Jurchen (later the Manchu) people, the long history of interaction of Nuzhen and China has effectively Sinicized the region in both ethnic and cultural regards. The latest National Census showed that over 84.6% of the Nuzhen's citizenry is of Han Chinese ethnicity. Ethnic minorities compose the rest of the population, and are distributed as follows:

The census also reported 452,000 permanent residents of foriegn extraction, living in Nuzhen. Since these permanent residents are not citizens of Nuzhen, they are not included in the National Census, but have a seperate census, conducted by the Permanent Resident Affairs Office. The majority of these permanent residents are expatriates from North America or the former Baltic states in Europe.

Language

The official language of the government in Nuzhen is Beifanghua Mandarin, which is essentially identical to Standard Mandarin used throughout the Confederation of Chinese Republics, although a heavy regional accent is evidently in some places. In addition, Manchu, Russian, and Mongol are spoken by the respective minorities in certain areas of Nuzhen. Korean is also spoken by a few thousand people in settlements along the Yalu River. In certain Autonomous Districts, local laws require that signage be written in both Chinese and the local minority language. This is especially true in the northernmost regions where Russians are almost the minority.

Also spoken in Nuzhen is the Han'er language. Han'er is a highly colloquialized form of the Chinese language. Though predominantly Mandarin, it contains many loan words and grammatical features from the Manchu and Mongol languages. Russian has also contributed many words to the vocabulary of Han'er, especially in the field of politics.

Culture

For the most part, Nuzhen is culturally Han Chinese, although there are Manchu elements that have been retained from the Qing dynasty of China. The Cultural Reformation of 2022 created an increased awareness of Nuzhen's national heritage, as well as a resurgence in "Cultural Conservatism". Arts such as poetry, painting and calligraphy are widely practiced among the conservative gentry of Nuzhen, and classes in these subjects are widely offered (and often required) as part of Nuzhen's secondary school education. Tradtional Beijing Opera and Chinese classical music have recently had a resurgence in their popularity. Chinese martial arts including wushu are considered a popular form of exercize for persons of all ages. Archery, played with a traditional recurve bow, as well as horseback riding are two of Nuzhen's favorite traditional sports. Popular games include weiqi (Chinese: 圍棋, Korean ba-duk 바둑) and European chess, which is especially popular among the Russian ethnic minority.

A nomadic culture still exists to a degree in the backwaters of Nuzhen, practiced by the descendants of the Mongol and Manchu tribesmen of the 18th century, however, in recent years many young people from the countryside have given up the nomadic lifestyle to settle down in small towns or look for work in larger cities.

Holidays

All holidays in Nuzhen are celebrated on the Chinese Lunisolar Calendar. The following is a list of holidays.