House of Chu-Lakandula

  

House of Chu-Lakandula 蒂朝的朱劳干度劳 Ongchao nan Chu-Lakandula
House emblem (1700–present) Tondolese coat of arms (1906–1944, until 1997 in Palawan and Cuyo)
Country	Tondo (1700–1901, 1962–present) China (1676–1708; de jure)
Parent house	Lakandula (Nilad branch) House of Zhu
Titles	Monarch of Tondo (1700–1905, 1948–present) Monarch of China (1676–1708; de jure)
Founded	1676 (de jure) 1700 (de facto)
Founder	Dawu Emperor
Current head	Victoria
Ethnicity	Tondolese

The House of Chu-Lakandula (Tondolese language: 蒂朝的朱劳干度劳, tr. Ongchao nan Chu-Lakandula) is the current ruling royal house of Tondo.

History

The House of Chu-Lakandula was originally established as the Nilad branch of the House of Lakandula (the royal house of Tondo). However, it was not until the end of the Fragmentation Period in which it separated as a fully-fledged independent house, when the members of the Nilad branch, led by Prince Yang, dissolved the House of Lakandula. In 1700, in response to faltering Ming royalist movements, recentralized Tondo and established the Southern Han dynasty

Chu Yang, later known as the Dawu Emperor, implemented a bunch of drastic measures to cement authority; most notably revoking the rights of the ruling caste as well as implementing an identification system to watch over the movement of people (and potential dissidents). Furthermore, court members with conflicting beliefs were often forced to renounce their membership and/or were killed under the pretence of treason. As a result, from the start of the eighteenth century to the early nineteenth century, the House of Chu-Lakandula enjoyed virtually no opposition, and ushered Tondo into a zenith, securing its role as a regional entrepot. This continued under the famed Chu Rin, which was the first and only female monarch (though Mei Ling functioned as the de facto monarch during the closing years of the dynasty), and her son Chu Chang, who died in 1806.

After Chu Dang, his brother, the set of monarchs were incompetent. During the 1820s, opiates arrived en-masse and took a blow to the dynasty's once-wide trade surplus (eventually becoming a trade deficit). The reign of Chu Shang oversaw the removal of repressive laws on the nobility (particularly the right to own private armies) started a power struggle, with many of the ruling class becoming increasingly free, and pursued their independent interests. De facto rule became largely restricted to the areas comprising the Great Tondolese core, and regions outside it lied in a state of lawlessness, with regional nobles vying for control.

In 1843, Chu Shang was assassinated by a group of nobles, with his nephew Chu Tan assuming the throne at the tender age of seven–however Chu Shang's friend Fa Hong assumes regency. However, the following two years oversaw turmoil–Fa Hong was poisoned by the next claimant to the throne, Chu Dong. Chu Dong then fabricated documents stating Chu Tan's status as an illegitimate child (having been born from a concubine, yet royal records stated the otherwise), and banished Chu Tan into exile in China. He worried that an unequal treaty could be imposed on Tondo by Spain as the British had done to the Qing in the aftermath of the Opium War, and implemented an isolationist policy known as Sarado (whose root words mean "closed")–under which Tondo isolated itself from every country asides from China. However, civil order and integrity was disrupted when Chu Dong abruptly died of natural causes in 1865.

Sierran influence

During the late 1800s, the Chu Han Rebellion (1865–1880) toppled the central government, which was accused of losing the Mandate of Heaven. In 1870, the Sierran government arrived in Manila, and enforced the first unequal treaty enacted on Tondolese soil–promising to help resolve the rebellion in-exchange. This marked first official records of Tondolese–Sierran diplomatic contact.

However, in 1880, the ruling monarch, Chu Ren, was asssassinated by LChuTan, part of the extremist court faction seeking to block his bagohan ("renewal") reforms, that sought to modernize Tondo as a late-comer to the Industrial Revolution. Chu Tang's reign was brief, but it oversaw the withdrawal of Sierran aid and nullification of the previous treaty. Sierran aid and missionaries were expelled, while the Catholic and Protestant minority was persecuted. Attempts to reconcile was deterred by resistance and the fact that Sierra had not yet fully industrialized and was incapable of waging war across the Pacific. After two years, Chu Tang faced a revolt from two princes; Chu Chin, and Chu Jang–fifteen and sixteen respectively. Chu Jang lacked major support, and being a part of the reformist faction undermined his credibility and image. Chu Chin opposed the reforms, but still supported some sort of a diplomatic relationship with Sierra. Chu Tang was deposed after six more years of rule, bowing down to a Jang–Chin coalition. Both proposed partitioning the country into two separate dominions that are under separate courts, but still fused together politically. However, this was seen as a threat to the country's integrity, and both were overthrown by Li Hwang–a coup d'état funded by Sierran authorities.

As Chu Hwang aged, his health rapidly deteriorated. Mei Ling, his second wife and a former concubine, took de facto control at the age of twenty. Royal records show that Chu Hwang prior to his abrupt death was often abused by her, but death threats kept him quiet and prevented the information from spilling into public knowledge. With her new powers, she hastily organized the conservative members of the imperial court into one faction, competing with the now dominant reformist faction. However, despite this newfound integrity, the conservative court was still conflicted as the members had favoured varying forms and levels of conservatism. To combat this, she standardized Tondolese conservatism; allowing a certain extent of Westernization and many of the reformist policies. However, she insisted that Confucianism remain a pillar of Tondolese society, and sought to cement ethnic consciousness through the promotion of the early forms of Tondolese nationalism among Tondolese anti-imperialist intellectuals. Chu Hwang was later poisoned by Mei Ling, who instead engaged in a relationship with General Cheng–another proponent of the conservative court. Chu Hwang's body was smuggled and burned at an unspecified rural area as to not arouse suspicion among the court.

In 1894, the First Sino–Japanese War ended with a Qing defeat, and the Japanese demands in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, clearly showed the Qing was unable to defend Korea from a newly industrialized power, let alone an established one. The subsequent renouncement of its traditional tributary relationship with the Qing effectively granted Sierran interference in Tondolese affairs. This move was a major twist of fate for the conservative court, which relied on Qing intervention to check Sierra. As such, the conservative court sought to obtain help from a more reliable American power, the United Commonwealth, to counter Sierra. Meanwhile, the success of reforms aimed at modernization legitimized many of the doctrines found within Tondolese nationalism–ironically many of these reforms were implemented with the insistence of Sierran envoy. As its success gained it global respect and prestige, Tondo was able to nullify many of the unequal treaties it ratified with other colonial powers. However a notable exception was Sierra, who remained staunch on their intention of annexing the state to secure imperialist interests in the Pacific.

The closing days of the Chu dynasty was filled with political turmoil, centred around the power struggle between the conservative and the reformist court. The House of Chu-Lakandula was split into three separate groups; those who advocated for further reform, those who sought to revise some, and a minority who sought to main status quo. This resulted in the promulgation of various cadet branches, many of which lacked sufficient power to fully assert royal legitimacy. Mei Ling continued her reign as the de facto Empress and leader of the house, as her child with Chu Hwang had not reached proper age. Tensions would eventually culminate in a purge among the ruling class and allied literati, which gained global condemnation. Fearing Sierran intervention, she orchestrated the violent overthrow of the Sierran influence. Her attack of the Sierran diplomatic delegation stationed in the capital signaled the start of the Han–Sierran War.

Four years of stalemate was followed by a year of a series of Tondolese losses, with Sierra emerging triumphantly at the end. Many lower Li royals fled to China and to Japan, while others committed ritual suicide to escape potential Sierran penalization and persecution. This power vacuum enabled Sierrans to easily annex Tondo with little true opposition.

Temporary exile

During the first opening years of Sierran colonial rule, the House of Chu-Lakandula was still kept as the head of state, using their persona to portray a false friendly friendship with colonial authorities. However, their usefulness did not guarantee them proper treatment as royalty. Members of the house were placed under house-arrest in the Naragi palace in Manila, and had to receive formal permission to exit the premises. In addition, the members were often separated and barred from being placed within the same room apart from special occasions and the shooting of Sierran political films.

In 1910, the Sierran government launched an attempt to incorporate the Sierran and Tondolese royalty. Branches of the latter were forced to marry into Sierran royalty, with these events being widely publicized, while those who resisted marriage were ripped of their titles. In 1914, the Crown Princess Chu Qin announced her marriage to a Sierran noble, the Duke of Zephyr Cove. This sparked local outrage, and received harsh criticism from the Sierran public as it would be an interracial marriage. Many also accused of the marriage of being an orchestrated imperialist plot to terminate the royal lineage, as documents were leaked of his alleged infertility. The legitimacy of these circulated documents are challenged by an increasing number of contemporary historians, as the documents were never found. Nevertheless, the marriage proposal, which was believed to be forced, prompted numerous strikes and revolts that destabilized colonial rule.

In 1915, in face of protests, the Sierran colonial government ousted them from the palace, which was quickly symbolically burned. Knowledge on their ancestry of the assimilated members, many of which now living in Sierra, was kept hidden from the public. Meanwhile, the other members were revoked of their citizenship and became effectively stateless–forcing to reside in China or Japan for now. As a replacement to the house, the Sierran House of Columbia was entrenched as the new ruling house.

In China, the quickly stateless members were welcomed and were granted special status. Many of the members resided in Shanghai, which was a base of many independence activists. In Japan, many members adopted Japanese citizenship and honorary Tondolese citizenship, some were even absorbed into the imperial family.

Reestablishment

During the Great War I, those residing in Japan were established as puppet rulers of occupied Tondo, and was repatriated to Manila following the city's acquisition by Japanese forces. Meanwhile, those in China retreated to Chongqing (as the eastern coastline cities were taken) following Nationalist forces, while some immigrated to New South Wales. Approaching the end of the Great War II and the withdrawal of the Japanese from Tondo, the Grand National Party–which occupied the northern islands, including Manila and the Great Tondolese core–invited the royal house once the war is over. Accepting the proposal, the royal house–led by the Crown Princess Chu Sui amassed the house's members and met up in Hong Kong. However, the First Tondolese Civil War interfered with the plans, as the royal house remained in Hong Kong as to avoid any casualties on their part.