Myeong Commonwealth
Myeong Commonwealth 명연방 (明聯邦) Myeong Yeonbang | |
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 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: 광명천지 光明天地 "Illuminate Heaven and Earth" | |
| Anthem: 애국가 愛國歌 Patriotic Anthem | |
| Status | Active |
| Capital | Gyeongsa (mobile) |
| Official languages | Hangul (de jure) Hanmun (de jure) English (de facto) |
| Ethnic groups (2024) | Myeongean (100%) |
| Religion | Confucianism (state religion) |
| Demonym(s) | Myeongean |
| Government | Confederal parliamentary crowned republic |
• Emperor of the Myeong Commonwealth | Seongchi Emperor |
• Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief | Baek Byeong-heon |
| Legislature | Commonwealth Assembly |
| Confederal Council | |
| House of the Peoples | |
| Restoration of the Daehan Empire | |
• Daehan Empire established | 13 October 1897 |
• Constitution of the Daehan Empire promulgated | 17 August 1899 |
• Daehan Empire annexed by Japan | 29 August 1910 |
• Constituent Assembly of the Myeong Commomwealth established | 1 June 2023 |
• Accession of the Seongchi Emperor and formation of His Majesty's Government | 12 August 2023 |
• Promulgation of the Constitution of the Myeong Commonwealth | 17 August 2023 |
| Population | |
• Estimate | 11 (2024) |
| Currency | Myeong Won (de jure), United States dollar (de facto) (USD) |
| Date format | dd/mm/yyyy |
Website http://myeong.world | |
The Myeong Commonwealth (Hangul: 명연방; Hanja: 明聯邦), unofficially Myeongea and formerly translated into English as the Myeonghan Realm, is an East Asian micronation that adopts Confucianism as its official religion in the context of a confederal constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth is freely formed by confederal subjects, namely Provinces, Protected States and Associated States, made up of people who identify with the history, culture, language, customs, and traditions of the Daemyeong Kingdom of Joseon Kingdom and its successor, the Daehan Empire (1392-1910), whom they believe to be the last true Confucian macronation in the "Sojunghwa" ideological tradition. Officials of the Myeong Commonwealth, not without controversy, consider their micronation to be "a global model of sagely and virtuous governance".
Etymology
“명연방”, the name of "Myeong Commonwealth" in Hangul, literally means "Union of States of Illumination”. "Myeong"(명) is the name of the Daemyeong Empire, the Joseon Kingdom's closest ally and suzerain. In contradistinction to the Daemyeong and Daehan Empires, whose Hangul names literally begin with the character “Great” ("대”), the Constituent Assembly unequivocally decided to remove the character "great" (대) from the Commonwealth’s official name in reflection of its status as a humble micronation.
Citizens of the Commonwealth’s constituent confederal subjects are known as "Myeongeans". Invoking Confucian classics, the Myeong Commonwealth asserts for itself such honorifics as “Realm of Humaneness and Righteousness” (인의지방), “Realm of Propriety and Etiquette” (예의지방) and “Micronation of Noble Character” (군자지국).
History
Citizens of the Myeong Commonwealth generally do not consider their Commonwealth to be a new entity; rather, they claim it to be the micronational continuation of the inactive Daehan Empire, founded by the Gwangmu Emperor, which was considered by the Myeongean peoples to be unlawfully occupied by Japanese colonial rule in 1910, but whose succession to the orthodox Way of Confucianism and imperial lineage of the Far East had remained intact, and yet become dormant.
Founder of the Daehan Empire
The authorities of the Myeong Commonwealth hold that, following Japan’s defeat in the Second World War, territory it annexed from the Daehan Empire should have been returned to that Empire first. Whether the Confucian imperial monarchy should be revived, and in what form, or abolished, should have been decided by the people of Korea. Yet, the Empire was ignored by the United States and Soviet Union outright, which proceeded to impose secularised forms of republican governments onto the two parts of the Korean Peninsula, in complete disregard of centuries of Confucian religious and monarchical traditions of Korea.
Given the practical impossibility of restoring a Confucian macronational confessional state, individuals who identified themselves as spiritual remnants of the Daehan Empire gathered between June and August 2023 in a Constituent Assembly that resolved to resurrect that Empire—the model Confucian state—as a micronation in order to continue the monarchical lineage and orthodox succession to the Way. The new micronation would conserve the Empire’s history, culture, tradition, and customs, within the framework of a modern confederal constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. Citizens of the Commonwealth hail from all across the world, coalescing into a new "Myeongean" ethnic group.
The Commonwealth pursues a pragmatic policy towards the Korean Peninsula. It lays no claim over territory controlled by North Korea and South Korea and recognizes these member-states of the United Nations as legitimate states whose sovereignty should be respected, notwithstanding the fact that they govern much of the territory ruled previously by the Daehan Empire.
Myeongeans mainly see their Commonwealth as a spiritual refuge for all whose creed is orthodox Confucianism or traditional moral values, and as a beacon for the future propagation and restoration of a humane social order. The establishment of the Commonwealth has also been seen by some of its members as a project of experimental political science to generate practical insights on how Confucianism, one of the oldest and most influential philosophical, political, and religious traditions of the world, but also one that has been unduly under-rated since the 20th century, can be of any relevance to rectifying the problems of, and improving on, modern models of liberal democracy, nowadays characterized by populism, excessive individualism, consumerism, environmental degradation, the disintegration of marriages and families, the rapid drop of birth rates, and the rise of intrusive nanny states. The Myeong Commonwealth considers its civilizing mission as encompassing the promotion of a culture supportive of filial piety and parental rights, the inculcation of virtues and discouragement of vices through custom and law, open and fair elections, limited government through an "effortless" governing style, an the sanctity of life.
The Constituent Assembly of the Myeong Commonwealth was officially established on June 1, 2023, and was charged with adopting a new Constitution to replace the over-centralizing Constitution of the Daehan Empire of 1899. The new Constitution draws on diverse sources including Confucian, Neo-Confucian, and Korean Confucian moral texts, international human rights law, the Constitution of Imperial Korea, the Collected Statutes of the Ming Dynasty (대명회전), the 1476 Gyeongguk Daejeon (경국대전), and the Grand Plan (홍범) of Gija, a sage monarch believed to be a forerunner of Confucianism and thought to have lorded over Ancient Joseon in the 11th Century BC.
On August 12, 2023, the Constituent Assembly proclaimed by public acclamation its convenor Ju Sung-jun (주숭준) of the House of Ju (주 왕가) as Emperor, and Ju's spouse, fellow Constituent Assembly member, Won So-yong (원소용), as Empress Consort. Ju chose "Seongchi" (성치), taken from the chapter bearing the same name from the Confucian Classic of Filial Piety, as his regnal name; Seongchi means "He Who Reigns Like A Sage".
The reigning House of Ju, though not biologically related to the House of Yi that reigned the Daehan Empire, unilaterally considers the latter as its dynastic predecessor and confers on it special respect and ritual precedence. The Constituent Assembly also elected Members of the House of the Peoples of the Interim Commonwealth Assembly, which in turn elected one of their own, Constituent Assembly Chair Baek Byeong-heon (백병헌), as Interim Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief. Baek officially took office on 17 August 2023, on which the Constitution was promulgated.
Government and Politics
The Constitution describes the Myeong Commonwealth as a crowned republic founded on the sagely doctrines of Confucianism, harmonised with contemporary universal principles of democracy, liberty, the rule of law, and constitutionalism. The Commonwealth adopts a confederal structure, under which its Provinces, Protectorates, and Associated States pool their sovereignties, to varying degrees, into Commonwealth authorities, namely, the Emperor-in-Assembly, His Majesty's Government, the Supreme Court of Justice, the Commonwealth Prosecutorate, and the Commonwealth Inspectorate, which are charged with the duty to maintain a common market, common security, and common foreign policy across the Commonwealth.
The Emperor, whose full title is "By the Grace of God, the Emperor of the Myeong Commonwealth, Defender of the Way" (황천상제의 은총으로의, 명연방황제, 왕도 수호자), is a ceremonial head of state. He is deprived of all powers to veto legislative bills, Cabinet decisions, judicial rulings, and appointments to the courts, prosecutorate, and inspectorate.
Rather, the Emperor's role is to foster unity among the peoples of the confederation through being a role model in virtuous behavior for the populace, performing charitable works and Confucian rituals; and promoting the history, culture, traditions, and customs of the Commonwealth to an international audience. The Emperor is advised by a Privy Council consisting of the heads of Commonwealth authorities, which gathers to discuss all matters relating to the imperial household and the monarch’s discharge of his constitutional duties. The Seongchi Emperor (성치제) (r. 2023-) has thus far maintained impartiality and non-partisanship in the public sphere.
The Phoenix Throne, a physical chair sat upon by the Emperor during ceremonies, is sometimes used rhetorically to denote the monarchy in a metonymic sense. The publicly anticipated enthronement ceremony, also understood by some as the coronation of Emperor Seongchi and Empress Soyong, rich in traditional vestments and Confucian rituals, took place in late August 2024.
Sovereign legislative authority is vested in the Emperor-in-Assembly (연방의회의에 있어서의 명황), a technical term referring to the Emperor promulgating laws with the advice and consent of the Commonwealth Assembly. Because the Emperor has no power to veto bills and resolutions passed by the Commonwealth Assembly, this effectively means that supreme law-making power is being placed in the hands of the Commonwealth Assembly, which consists of two chambers, the upper chamber being the Confederal Council (만방원), which has no meaningful power over bills not affecting relations between confederal subjects or that between confederal subjects and the Commonwealth, and a far more powerful lower chamber, the popularly-elected House of the Peoples (민민원).
Effective executive power is vested in a Chief Counselor of the Cabinet of the Myeong Commonwealth (내각수보대신), commonly known as the Prime Minister (수상), who commands a majority in the House of the Peoples, heads the confederal government, known officially as His Majesty's Government, and serves as commander-in-chief of the security forces of the Commonwealth. The Prime Minister can appoint and dismiss Cabinet Secretaries at will. However, in principle, it is possible for backbenchers, not only the Opposition, to pass a vote of no-confidence against the Prime Minister or any Cabinet Secretary, which will automatically result in the latter's lost of office.
Despite noticeable similarities between the Myeong political system and the Westminster model, the Hangul and Hanja names of Myeong confederal institutions evince significant continuity with those of Imperial Korea, which, in turn, were heavily inspired by those of the Ming Empire, the last Han Chinese dynasty of China. In line with Neo-Confucian doctrine, literati-officials in the public service within His Majesty's Government (어좌정부), literati-judges within the Supreme Court of Justice (대리재판소), literati-procurators within the Commonwealth Prosecutorate (도찰원), and literati-censors within the Commonwealth Inspectorate (통정원) are tasked with the responsibility to check and balance excesses of the Commonwealth Assembly and the indirectly elected His Majesty's Government, so that the latter two institutions would not deviate from the Constitution, as well as the constitutionalised Confucian doctrine of the mean.
However, one non-partisan, independently selected, senior official, the Lord Chancellor (한림원 대승지), transcends several branches of government by concurrently serving as Lord President of the Privy Council, Lord President of the Confederal Council of the Commonwealth Assembly, Secretary of Justice, Lord President of the Court of Appeals, and Lord President of several divisions within the High Court, such as the Court of Chancery, in order to serve as a mediator and facilitator of mutual understanding between these organs of the Commonwealth, and defend the rule of law and judicial independence against all attacks. In January 2024, Muk Yi-lak (목이락), The Duke of Yeongguk (영국공), was appointed to this position for a renewable five-year duration.
Following the example of the Daehan Empire, the Myeong Commonwealth considers itself to be a spiritual successor of the Ming Empire's Confucian etiquette during ceremonies, attire, learning and orthodoxy, which in turn could ultimately be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty, under which Confucius and Mencius lived.
There exists within the Commonwealth a constitutional body known as the Supreme Council for the Doctrine of the Sages (유교 최고 평의회), consisting of all Confucian clerics across the Commonwealth, which elects its leader in a conclave, known as the Supreme Patriarch (대종백) following ancient practice, to serve as the spiritual leader of the Council, to provide ritual assistance to the Imperial House, to propagate Confucianism across confederal subjects, and to ensure that all laws and policies are at least minimally compatible with Confucian ethics. In January 2024, Kong Li-man (공리만), The Duke of Yeonseong (연성공), was elected as Supreme Patriarch Jumang Polok (대종백 유망보록) for life, with his seat known as the See of Sage Paul, sometimes abbreviated as the Sagely See, located within Seonggyungwan Basilica (성균관 대성전). The See was named in honour of Paul Hsu (서광계), a polymath who served as one of the last Supreme Patriarchs of the Ming Dynasty, and who was a defender of Joseon's interests, before the Manchu invasion in the mid-seventeenth century.
Political parties
Following the 2023 General Election held on 15 December 2023, Baek Byeong-heon, a Founding Father of the Myeong Commonwealth, the incumbent Prime Minister, and leader of the centre-right Constitutionalists, commands the entire voting segment of the House of the Peoples of the Central Assembly, in the aftermath of a landslide victory. The non-voting segment consists only of the Lord Speaker, Yang Mun (양문), who has pledged not to vote ordinarily, and even when asked to break a tie, would adhere to the world renowned Speaker Denison's Rule. The other major party in the Commonwealth, the Confucian Social Union, takes a more populist position, but has yet gained substantial electoral support. In reality, therefore, the Commonwealth is run by a dominant party.
| Logo | Name | Ideology | Spectrum | Leader | House of the Peoples | Confederal Council | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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The Constitutionalists
입헌당 (立憲黨) |
IHD | Libertarianism, Militant democracy, Crowned republicanism, Anti-corruption, Fiscal conservatism | Centre-right | Baek Byeong-heon | 3 / 4
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0 / 1
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Confucian Social Union
유교사회연합 (儒教社會聯盟) |
CSU | Social conservatism, Korean Confucianism, Right-wing populism, Myeongean nationalism, Constitutional monarchism | Right-wing | vacant | 0 / 4
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0 / 1
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Administrative Divisions
The Myeong Commonwealth primarily exercises personal spiritual, rather than territorial jurisdiction over its citizens. Therefore, the Provinces, Protected States, and Associated States of the confederation primarily refer to people, namely, their members, instead of actual territories; therefore each of these jurisdictions can be described as "mobile". All states are highly autonomous in matters not reserved by the Constitution to Commonwealth authorities, which are responsible for the common market, common security, and common foreign policy.
Foreign and Defense Policy
According to its Constitution, the fundamental security and foreign policy of the Myeong Commonwealth is to respect international law, promote peace, and prohibit the invasion of other jurisdictions. Nonetheless, if His Majesty's Government judges that the Commonwealth is being threatened by foreign aggression, it would strictly enforce the ancient Confucian military doctrine of Jon-hwang-yang-i (존왕양이) (‘Revere the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians’) until victory is attained. The Constitution establishes the Jinguk Security Council (진국 안전 보장 이사회) within His Majesty's Government, chaired by the Prime Minister as Commander-in-Chief, whose responsibility is to protect the right of Myeongeans to a secure micronation.
As at November 2024, the Myeong Commonwealth has concluded treaties that established diplomatic relations with ten micronations, namely, the Karno-Ruthenian Empire, the Aerican Empire, the State of Lasetia, the State of Hokoria, the Republic of Ceneda, the Free Nation of New Athens, the Kingdom of All São Paulo of the Fields of Piratininga, the Kingdom of Eintrachtia, the Empire of Yata, the Empire of Imvrassia, and the Duchy of Marienbourg. The development of diplomatic relations does not necessarily imply that the Myeong Commonwealth agrees with every policy or statement made by the above micronations.
Economy
The Commonwealth is constitutionally required to adopt an "effortless" style of governance, keeping laws at a minimum, taxes at a low level, and trade policy always free and open, while encouraging societal associations, clans, and families to take up greater responsibility in ordering their own affairs, including the cultivation of moral virtues and providing social services and assistance to citizens.
Much of the economy is dominated by the Commonwealth's single conglomerate, the chaebol (재벌) Samhan Group (삼한그룹), of which Min Jung-ho (민정호), an influential businessman and member of The Constitutionalists, is chairman.
Culture
Myeongean identity is defined not by blood but by cultural identification and recognition. Myeongeans are prideful of Joseon's traditional attire, their inheritance of the Confucian orthodoxy of the Way through Ming China, the last of all "civilised" imperial dynasties of East Asia, which was conquered by whom they the Myeongeans, like their Joseon forebearers, regarded as the “barbaric” Manchus, according to the Confucian doctrine of Hua-Yi distinction.
Since the Manchu Empire refused to wholly abandon its "barbaric" ways, such as the mandatory order that males of all ethnicities must shave bald their foreheads and wear long pigtails behind their heads, and wear nomadic dress, its emperors, on the Myeongean view, could not be regarded as legitimate successors to the orthodox lineage of Han, Tang, Song, and Ming emperors. The Myeong Commonwealth considers the Daehan Empire to be a rump state of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644/1662), from which it received the mandate of heaven. Consequently, the culture of the Daehan Empire inherited by the Myeong Commonwealth is deeply influenced by traditional Korean culture and by the cultural achievements of the Ming, which included lacquers, new genres of novels, porcelains, paintings, and textiles of high sophistication.
Hangul is an official language of the Commonwealth, though, as in the Joseon Kingdom, official legal and policy documents are written in the classic Chinese script, known as Hanja. English remains the most widely spoken and written language on a daily basis.
See also
- Empire of Korea
- Ikerlandian Republic of Korea
- North Dutch Korea
- United Kingdom of Corea
- United Kingdom of Korea
- West Korea
- West Korea Best Korea
- Federal Republic of Whestcorea