The Liǎng Tiáo Lóng Faith
The Two Dragon Faith
The Liǎng Tiáo Lóng faith, translated into English as The Two Dragon Faith, is the predominant religion in the Majestic Empire. It is thought to have close to 100% following in the Empire and has not spread much beyond the borders of Lijiang. The faith places emphasis on the worship of Two Dragons, Fucanglong (Male) and Qinglong (Female), who created humanity in addition to placing a duty on respecting ancestors.
HISTORY OF THE FAITHThere have been traces of pottery featuring the symbol of the Two Dragons going back some 17,000 or 18,000 years however it is not until around 3,000 BCE that any mention of the Dragons as Gods begins to appear. In the Province of Shèngdiàn an engraving found on a stone tablet tells of people making offerings to Two Dragons and this was dated to 2,987 BCE making it the oldest known reference to the religion explicitly. In all 13 of the current Imperial Provinces the religion seems to have found a foothold by 2,500 BCE as inscriptions have been found in every province dating to around these times. The heartland of the faith though appears to be the more southern provinces. It was in the South that a Priestess known as Qing codified much of the faith of the Two Dragons in the Province of Hézhun during the 8th Century BCE. Her burial mound is an often visited place by pilgrims. Her teachings spread to many of the neighbouring provinces and copies of her texts were found even in Lóngzui which is the most Northern Province.
It appears however that there were a large number of variations in the way that the faith was practiced and that this continued until the Imperial Era under King Ah Hsu in the 500's BCE. As Ah Hsu moved North through the modern day Empire he took large numbers of Priestesses with him and these took the Qing version of the faith with them. There are many accounts of during this time period of Ah Hsu allowing the Priesthood to harshly deal with anyone who refused to accept the Qing version of the faith. When Ah Hsu's army reached Rizhao in c.570 he had reached the location where Qing had written that the Two Dragons had created the first human, Yifeng, and here he ordered a Shrine to built. It is also at this shrine that Ah Hsu was buried in 561BCE when he died of illness while conquering Huācodiàn.
Following the death of Ah Hsu his eldest son Jike continued his father's conquest and was responsible for the construction of the first Temple on the site of the Sanctury of the Two Dragon's in Shèngdiàn in 509BCE. Jike died two days after work began on the Temple at the age of 87. His Dragon Priestess was Yingchao who believed the spot marked a meeting point between the Dragon's world and the human world. She claimed that the Dragons were so pleased with the recognition that Jike had given them by constructing a temple there that they had summoned him to their world. It is for this reason Jike is considered the first Dragon Emperor rather than using the title of Emperor like his father had.
The conquest of the rest of the Empire took around 200 years and was completed by a mixture of military conquest and intermarriage between royal families. It was however in 379 BCE that Emperor Ah Wu Xinghan added the final Province to the Empire when he symbolically marched into the Krimeon Sea to show they had nothing left to conquer. It was at this point he had the
Sea Dragon Temple constructed.
Since the time of Dragon Emperor Ah Wu Xinghan the Empire has focused on ensuring the Qing version of the faith has been enforced across the Empire however the method of this enforcement has changed radically. In the early days there was a period of time known as the Zhífǎ (Enforcement) during this time period the Imperial Guard would travel around the nation and herd locals into temples to take part in rituals lead by an Imperially appointed Priestess. Anyone discovered trying to leave these forced rituals or deemed to be subverting them was executed. In addition to this members of the Imperial Guard would travel the Empire in the guise of a travelling merchant and record the location of groups not following the Qing version of the faith. This period of the Zhífǎ lasted roughly from 370BCE - 200BCE during which time all other variations of the faith were all but eradicated.
Following the Zhífǎ the faith entered a period known as the Xuéxí (The Learning) where the faith began encouraging great steps forward in scholarship. The Priesthood in 196BCE came under the command of Jingyan and actively encouraged questioning of the faith where as under the Zhífǎ period this would have been meet with the Priesthood sending the Imperial Guard to carry out executions Jingyan would dispatch scholars who would formulate philosophical, scientific and sometimes even medical responses to show the truth of the Qing version of the faith. While much of this work was naturally bias and often not fully accurate it marked a period where the faith began to the Empire make great advances. This approach and period also saw a great emphasis placed on education and created a class of female Priestess alongside these male scholars who were extremely well educated. The Sanctury of the Two Dragons became a great library as knowledge from across Ardia and even further afield was sought out.
The Zhífǎ period continued until the 4th Century AD when Dragon Priestess Noujin assumed the leadership of the faith. She started a practice known as Jiāméng (加盟) which translates as "Joining" where she promoted the idea that the Dragon Emperor and Dragon Priestess marked the pure bloodlines of Dragons and thus by producing children they could strengthen the Empire. This approach saw a number of Emperors father children with the Dragon Priestess with the male offspring entering the Imperial Guard while the female entered the Priesthood. This time period cemented the idea of social hierarchy and bloodlines being very important and while the process of Jiāméng is not practiced much today it is still respected. The Dragon Priestess Noujin also began a process of placing a greater emphasis on the rituals dedicated to ancestors than her predecessors.
In the 10th Century Dragon Priestess Dali saw what some historians have called a civil war within the faith as she began to move away from the Qing teachings. This angered several young Priestesses lead by Yanmu who took off to the Shrine of Yifeng in Huācodiàn and refused to use the new rituals Dali had authorised. Dali dispatched the Imperial Guard to execute Yanmu and her followers however upon reaching Huācodiàn the young Priestess managed to persuade them to support her. Despite Dali raising a new army and having the support of the Dragon Emperor, whom she had a son with, Yanmu was able to prevent the Dragon Priestess taking control of the province of Huācodiàn. When the then Dragon Emperor died his son was concerned that Dali had corrupted his father and withdrew support for Dali. This quickly brought the conflict to an end and the Imperial Guard removed Dali from power by throwing her into the Dragon Spine River along with her son who was the Emperors step-brother and in the eyes of many a rival for the throne. Yanmu took over as Dragon Priestess and while she enforced the Qing variation of the faith she took no action against those who followed variations of the faith so long as they fulfilled two criteria. The first of those criteria were that they made offerings to the Dragon Emperor and the second was that they made an annual offering at an Imperial Temple. This process therefore ensured the loyalty of the people while ensuring the Imperial backed Qing variation of the faith was protected.
In the 15th Century Dragon Emperor Longxu actually turned his back on the Qing variation of the faith however made no orders to change the nations faith. This period of time saw Longxu and the Dragon Priestess, Xiao Zhen formalise separation of duties and powers between the Dragon Emperor and Dragon Priestess. The faith of Longxu had minimal impact on the Empire as his conversion to a variant of the faith known as Wen happened in the middle part of his thirty year reign and his children and wives were all followers of the Qing variation. Upon Longxu's death the right of following variations of the Two Dragons faith became more acceptable as his son Longxu II and Dragon Priestess Xiao Zhen allowed his cremation where as followers of Qing practice burial. This more tolerant approach to the faith has continued until this day however still less than 5million of the population of modern Lijiang state they believe in something other than the Qing variation of the Two Dragons faith.
WHAT DO THEY BELIEVE? Fucanglong and his mate Qinglong were dragons who have always existed. These Dragons created everything in existence today in the cosmos. The Two Dragons gave life to two humans Yifeng and Liying who are the descendants of all humans. To allow Yifeng and Liying to survive the Two Dragons ensured Mundus would give them everything they need. A summary of what the faith believes is given below
1. Nothing can survive without the consent of the Two Dragons.
2. The Two Dragons control life and death.
3. The Two Dragons must be thanked daily for permitting life to exist.
4. Humanity must share with the Two Dragons everything we are given.
5. The Two Dragons do not make mistakes however humans who fail to respect the Two Dragons can and this leads to evil and other problems
6. To ensure order in the world the Two Dragons have left us with a hierarchy. Those at the top have a duty to care for and look after those below them with kindess and mercy.
7. It is the duty of all to ensure that the creations of the Two Dragons are well looked after.
8. When we die one of two things happen to use. Those who have lived good lives are given new bodies in the heavens where we join the Two Dragons in their cosmic dance. Those who have lived bad lives are destroyed by the Two Dragons with their life-force being back onto Mundus to help the planet grow.
9. Those permitted to join the Two Dragons are expected to still serve them and may at times be returned to Mundus either with a physical form or as a spiritual power.
HOW DO THEY WORSHIP?Offerings and rituals play a huge part in the faith. It is expected that a person visit a Temple at least once a week however there is no set date for prayers and no single day deemed Holy like a Christian sabbath. At arriving at the Temple it is expected that an offering be given most people from the peasantry take offerings of food they have grown while nobles will often take goods they have purchased. Temples usually offer daily prayers with small Temples doing so at sunset everyday while larger Temples will offer multiple services a day. Those attending a service will listen to the prayers offered by the Priestess who will also include the congregation on the service. Those attending when their is no service will first attract the attention of the Dragons by passing incense sticks through a flame which is kept burning in the Temple at all times. They will then conduct their own prayers giving thanks to the Two Dragons.
At home people are expected to maintain a small shrine which is dedicated to the family spirits. This shrine is expected to contain two significant items, the first is a scroll telling the family history. It is expected that this is updated at least annually and may be replaced when deemed necessary. Some of these from the noble families have become significant historical documents charting the histories of the nation. Some families have also digitalised their scroll and others have obviously lost and replaced or restarted scrolls the importance is that the prescience of the document is a way of showing the ancestors that they are going to be remembered and should they return they can find out what has happened to their family. The second item is a bowl of rice so that the ancestors are nourished in families the rice is replaced every day. On special occasions the rice is made more significant by adding fish, meat or vegetables.
During the year there are several key dates which mark festivals of certain events. These each have their own rituals and ceremonies.
TBC