Mishiwase

Mishiwase, formally Mishihase or Sukuzhin, officially the Great Kangon Sukuzhin Empire (: 泰罕琿肅愼帝國; 夳罕琿粛眘帝国 Tai Kangon Sukuzhin Teikoku; Oho-Mareake-no-Mishihase-no-Mikado-no-kuni; Ovo-Mariagi-n-Misuvashi-n-Migando-n-guni) or simply the Empire of Mishiwase, is a  located in far-western Uju, although it is considered by some to be part of eastern Sinju. It consists of a mainland encompassing a large portion of the west Kwaitou peninsula and the Wiwata Islands, an archipelago chain located west of the mainland in the Grand Sea.

Etymology
The origin of the name Mishiwase (肅愼), also read Mishihase or Sukuzhin, or Musuvashi in Sukuzhinese, is unclear due to its ad-hoc adoption during the settling of Mishiwase. It was first used in the Returning Chronicle from the Great Sea by Amanji, describing a people living along north-central coast of Mishiwase. Due to similarity of the names, the name Sukuzhin is commonly identified with the Hichire-speaking Chokten people. The name could also be descriptive, meaning "reverent and prudent", which may refer to the the social attitudes of a developed culture within Mishiwase. This may suggest that early settlers to Mishiwase encountered a civilized culture, in which case it is likely that the term refers to the highly-developed Gsangyur cultures along the western coast. Regardless, the origin of the reading Mishihase remains unclear, not appearing to relate directly to the characters.

Ancient Mishiwase
The earliest settlements in Mishiwase were established along the Yagiru and Uruhe rivers in 2nd millenium BCE, with the vast, sparsely-populated steppes of the interior being home to various tribes and clans of nomads and pastoralists. The Bronze Age Usshuri culture, distinctive for its ashen grey pottery and ringed staffs, thrived from the mid-2nd millenium BC until its eventual decline and replacement by the Sappyou culture in the 6th century BC. The Sappyou culture is identified with the Gsangyur peoples, whose traditional attribution of the introductions of the yak and dog can be dated to c. 610 - 550 BC, and whose ancestral language possesses loanwords from but appears to lack many terms for Iron Age technology. It is during this period that the domestication of grey sika deer and the spread of technology from Yaushiu and continental Jungju occurred.

Settling and Formation of Mishiwase
During the 4th to 11th centuries, a series of large-scale migrations and invasions from Yaushiu occurred, many of which were from losing nations and clans during the various wars and skirmishes for dominance over the Imperial Court. Much of what is known about pre-migration period Mishiwase comes from a transcription of oral Gsangyur history found in the 8th century work written by the southern Fusenese traveller Amanji, the Returning Chronicle from the Great Sea, which attempted to document the histories and societies of both native and settler Mishiwase polities.

Following this period of migration was the Hanarenari period. Despite the competition between trade and discrepancy in military technique, fighting appears to have died down between the various nations, whether due to cautious mistrust or increased tolerance, and an intercourse of language and technology began. Although some Yaushiunese lords attempted to invade Mishiwase during its perceived stagnation, the rise of Fusen and Jeongmi ultimately ended these attempts.

Unification of Mishiwase
This period of tranquility would be interrupted by the Conquest for Unification in 1248 by Phemnga, a warlord and shaman born of the Gsangyur Tsengrup clan to a mother. While fearsome on the battlefield, Phemnga was also renowned for his benevolence towards his prisoners and his tolerance and encouragement of regional cultures and religions. The Tsengrup dynasty's rule over Mishiwase gradually weakened due to several failed wars, before descending into civil war in 1478-1501, starting what is known as the Low Tide period.

Kangon Dynasty
Ultimately proving victorious was Takuma Nagimori (託摩和守), leader of the Takuma clan and of mixed Fusenese-Hichire ancestry, who united Mishiwase in 1565 after defeating both Saha Morokata (佐波師賢) and Ladsnhal Khonphug. Although he controlled nearly the entirety of today's Mishiwase, he declared himself as Great King (大王) of a new Kangon dynasty (罕琿) which lasts to this day, himself later becoming known as Kangon Taiso (罕琿太祖). While Kangon Taiso tried to establish Neo-Tianqian as the official language of his new kingdom, it is under his and his descendants' rule that the Yaushiunese culture and language made significant influences, spreading inland and displacing Classical Gsangyur as the lingua franca.

Modern Era
In 1803, Kangon Eihou (永豐) declared himself the Tokkwau Emperor (徳光高帝) of Mishiwase, and established the Imperial Secretariat, part of which has evolved into the modern state executive and legislative body, the Grand National Council, with the other half becoming the State Censorate. It is during his reign that the Mishiwase cultural identity established itself as separate from that of Fusen. Partially in reaction to Fusenese nationalism during the 18th century as well as dissatisfaction from the middle class, a sociopolitical movement known as Mutsumuism created by progressive moralist thinker Mikami Tsunenori spread across Mishiwase, shaping the course of modern Mishiwase history. Today, Mishiwase is well known for, and has been both praised and criticized for, its strict but unenforceable "moral edicts" and the survival of the censorate-bureaucrat system.

Languages
is the official national standard language, spoken by the vast majority of people in Mishiwase. Over 80 percent of the population speaks Yaushiunese as one of their first languages. Sukuzhin Yaushiunese is considered a standard variety of the Yaushiunese language, alongside Fusenese. Unlike Fusenese, Sukuzhin Yaushiunese contains vocabulary and grammatical forms not found in Fusen, mostly from influences from the Gsangyur and Hichire languages. It is the primary language of instruction in schools across Mishiwase.

Many people on the mainland, especially those belonging to the Mishiwase ethnic group, also speak Sukuzhinese, a dialect within the Southern Yaushiu-Fusenic language family, as their mother tongue. The Wiwata people of the Wiwata Islands instead primarily speak the Wiwata dialect. Despite the heavily varied characteristics between Standard Yaushiunese, Sukuzhinese, and Wiwata, the three more or less share a unified orthography, with two separate forms of kanzhi systems in use: the formal Seizhitai, used in education, formal publications, and government and legal records, and the common Kenzhitai, used in literature, media, and daily life. Both forms employ, a kana orthography which preserves historical distinctions in order to avoid ambiguity and facilitate utility across dialects.

The Neo-Tianqian language is also used by some organizations and religious groups, as well as government agencies tasked in preserving traditional values like the State Censorate. The distantly related Gsangyur languages are spoken primarily by the Gsangyur peoples, but is also used as a lingua franca among the less developed inland regions.

The peoples indigenous to Mishiwase speak a variety of languages, including the Hichire dialects, the, , and. These regional lannguages are for the most part spoken only by their respective peoples.