Volume XVIII: Eternal Balance—The Ways of House Liao

Zi-jin Cheng (Forbidden City), Sian, is a city of remarkable beauty and grandeur—as might well be expected of the home of the Celestial Throne, and the heart of the Capellan Confederation. Nestled between five gently rolling hills and surrounded by a wall vaguely reminiscent of Terra’s once-mighty Great Wall of China, every structure in Zi-jin Cheng features the delicate lines of classical Han Chinese architecture. Gardens, painstakingly landscaped for maximum effect, are common throughout the city, but few are so resplendent or so lush as those surrounding the soaring heights of the Celestial Palace, which dominates the city’s western edge. Nowhere in this spectacular place can one find evidence of its near extinction during the Jihad, for House Liao invested billions of C-Bills in its reconstruction, down to the very last brick. All over Sian, monumental cities mimic the style of Zi-jin Cheng, a style revived by the efforts of Sun-Tzu Liao, He Who Ascended. Even in death, visitors to Sian can easily understand how his people deify him, the Celestial Wisdom, who guided the Confederation away from a cycle of self-destruction, rebuilt and revitalized in the spirit of Xin Sheng (Rebirth). Were it not for him, who could imagine the Confederation’s fate?

In the Confederation today, Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao’s name is still revered, uttered as if sacred for what he accomplished in his six-decade rule. It was he who reclaimed St. Ives, he who brought a cultural renaissance to a broken people, he who led his nation to throw off the yoke of Blakist oppression during the Jihad—with little help from Stone’s coalition. These are the reasons the citizens of the Confederation praise Sun-Tzu, but for all Liao chancellors before and since one might find the same reverent tone. Indeed, to the people of the Confederation, all Capellan chancellors, as the Chinese emperors before them, hold the same godlike standing—above reproach, above shame, and above all others—but none so much as the Liaos.

Only four times in Capellan history has the Confederation lived under the rule of a non-Liao, and few of them have been viewed as positive for the nation. Adren Baxter, the first of these, may in fact be the single most reviled chancellor in Confederation history, because of his pathological hatred of the Liao family and all it stood for. Thanks to the near-disastrous effects of his rule, he had the Confederation and the Federated Suns ready for war on the eve of what many experts call their golden opportunity for peace. But more than that, he gave the succeeding Liaos all the ammunition they needed to curtail the House of Scions, perhaps the only check on the chancellor’s authority placed in the Confederation’s charter. By the time of Edmund Salindar, who was technically not a chancellor, but a Liao regent, the House of Scions—once the voice of the Confederation nobility—had been reduced to a rubber-stamp office, with almost dictatorial power in the hands of House Liao. Their authority was so absolute that it would not be until Chancellor Normann Aris’ reign began in 2599 that anyone would think to change the path the Liaos had set, and even then it was only to strip away more of the powers of the Capellan people in favor of the state. When Normann Aris died—a most untimely death, I might add—he left behind a system the Liaos used to further cement their authoritarian regime. —Pedro Anderson, Tyrants and Treachery: A Capellan History, SPC Publications, 3121

Regardless of who was ultimately served over the centuries of Liao rule, the formative years before and during the Star League era created many of the basic aspects of Capellan society still seen today. The absolute rule of the Liao family, for instance, forms the backdrop of Capellan culture, thanks to the Liao family’s own Chinese background. Mandarin Chinese is the official language of state, and while Buddhism and other Asian faiths are not mandatory, those who seek the favor of the Capellan leadership often worship as the chancellors do. Unlike the brutal imposition of Japanese traditions on the people of the Draconis Combine, the fact that most of the Capellan worlds already leaned toward Terra’s Eastern nationalities made this cultural dominance a fairly painless process. Still, the fact that this facet of Confederation life rises from the personal beliefs, traditions, and upbringing of a single ruling line demonstrates the power of the chancellors over those they rule.

The rigid, caste-driven system, another major part of Capellan society, arose from the combined systems of controlled peerage established by past rulers, which limited the powers of all nobility, and established requirements to attain the privilege of citizenship in the Confederation. Unlike other realms, the right to the basic liberties as a citizen of the realm is available only to those who first serve the Confederation. Established both as a control measure and as a means to stave off economic collapse, this system assures that every Capellan has his or her place in society, and that all contribute for the betterment of the whole.

Reinforcing these beliefs, the Confederation formally adopted the Korvin Doctrine and the Sarna Mandate, two philosophies that loosely state that the role of the citizen is to serve. These rules helped to establish the rules for citizens that have gradually given rise to the caste system. The Troika, the realm’s three-branch ruling body, described by the Chancellor, the Prefecturate (legislature), and the House of Scions (nobility), forms the unofficial ruling class, but the actual castes of Capellan society are known by different titles. There is the directorship, which consists of highly placed administrators and bureaucrats, followed closely by the intelligentsia, who represent the Confederation’s intellectual elite. After them are the supporters, the professionals such as business leaders, teachers, and other aides to the intelligentsia and directorship. Then come the entitled, who include medical professionals, and finally the commonality, which represents the lowest of the Confederation’s official castes. Below them are those who do not have Capellan citizenship. Often known as servitors, this class has none of the rights and privileges of the others, occupying a role somewhere between criminal and slave. Changing castes is a tricky business, but not as difficult as it might be in a Clan structure. Nevertheless, most Capellan citizens born into one caste will live out their lives within it, and carry their expected societal role with them all the way to the grave. Such is the life of a Capellan citizen.

But the rights of the citizens are not overlooked, contrary to popular belief.

The mid-twenty-fifth century was a defining time for House Liao, especially in regard to its relationship with the common folk. Having just been pushed to the brink by Chancellor [Arden] Baxter’s best efforts to destroy their realm and anything connected with the Liaos, the economy was a shambles from their effort to recover. The Capellans call this era their Time of Tribulations, but that doesn’t begin to describe the social unrest that affected the nobility and the lower classes equally. Chancellor Jasmine Liao’s brutal imposition of her authority over the House of Scions and the Capellan military, curbing the powers of the nobility and the armed forces alike, helped stabilize the government, but more was needed to stabilize the people. Wisely, she enacted the Capellan Concordat, affirming the rights of all Capellan citizens to fair and just treatment by the military and ruling classes. Though one might have trouble believing it, more often than not these rules are followed—“state emergencies” notwithstanding. —Vanessa Cedrik, PhD, Professor of Capellan Studies, Cambridge University, Terra.

This Concordat remains in force today, and in addition to its laws, the citizens of the Confederation are promised free education, free health care, social security, and even the right to own properties free of government interference. Though, from time to time, many of these rights have been set aside for the duration of a state emergency, the most law-abiding and honest of the Confederation’s citizenry may generally expect a remarkably high standard of living.

For all this, the people of the Confederation seem to be secure—perhaps even content—in the strict way of life they live. Though, in many ways, this police-state mentality may seem brutal and oppressive, it has accomplished the one thing the Confederation’s founders set out to do: secure the freedom of the Capellan nation.

In part three of our four-part series on the Confederation, The Liao Himself brings rebirth and hope to a downtrodden people, guiding the fate of millions in a time of chaos and horror. Please join us as we continue our tour of the stars! I’m Bertram Habeas.