Grand Han Ancient Nation

Grand Han Ancient Nation (大韩古国) is one of the Four Grand Ancient Nations. It was destroyed after the Dragon Vein's energy got reversed and sucked dry by Xia Chen. Its Karmic luck moved to the three other empires, leaving the Han Empire to wither into history.
It apparently shamelessly stole its culture from the Grand Xia Ancient Nation.
After they got destroyed, they had a resurgence backed by a foreign power. At the behest of that foreign master, hundreds of Grand Han experts then abused their power to bully the innocent citizens of Grand Xia. The Grand Xia imperial family wanted to find and eliminate the source backing them rather than retaliate directly and wage war with the Grand Han.
It turned out those experts were imposters pretending to be Grand Han people. The mysterious foreign power backing them was the Pill Valley along with Liu Qingfeng.
However, after the Grand Han got destroyed a second time during the Dragon Slaughtering Convention, their backers the Pill Valley abandoned them as the Pill Valley was caught in its own scandal. The Grand Han underwent a huge refugee crisis and exodus, with waves of people leaving en masse, fed up with the corrupt and abusive Grand Han elites. The Grand Han then had an internal revolution that overthrew the elites, resulting in their execution. However, by then the Grand Han was but a rump state that could not stand head to shoulder with the other more prosperous nations, leaving the Grand Han to be left in the dust, swept away by the flow of time.
== Members ==
== Story ==
After the Four Nations Ancient Remnant closed last time, the Grand Han Ancient Nation’s capital had been essentially destroyed by a formation expert called Xia Chen. Everyone had thought that the Grand Han would quickly collapse and be consumed by the Grand Xia, Grand Zhou, and Grand Chu.
However, despite its core being destroyed, the Grand Han suddenly began to produce one expert after another. It was unknown where they were getting the support for this, but it was like these experts were sprouting out of the dirt. The Grand Han not only recovered, but their power became greater than ever.
Unfortunately, Qi Hao was not a core figure of the Grand Xia and didn’t know the inner workings behind this. But his guess was that there was some great force supporting the Grand Han from the shadows.
He guessed that these geniuses that were rising out of the Grand Han were not actually the Grand Han’s people. They were very likely people from various sects.
However, these geniuses all claimed to be from the Grand Han. They claimed that they were born and grew up there. It was just that they were secretly raised until this time, like a demon sword storing up energy until it broke out its seal in one blow.
The rate of the Grand Han’s growth could be described as monstrous. Rank seven Celestials were like dogs, rank eight Celestials were common, and even rank nine Celestials weren’t that rare.
The Grand Han had actually produced three rank nine Celestials. Most terrifying of all, half a year ago, the Grand Han announced that they had produced their first Empyrean.
=== Empyreans ===
Empyreans were geniuses born through karmic luck. They needed an incredible amount of karmic luck as a foundation to be born.
The Grand Han couldn’t possibly be in possession of that much karmic luck. Furthermore, even if they had given birth to an Empyrean, with their wealth, there was no way for them to raise one.
Phoenixes did not land in worthless places. There was no way to raise an Empyrean in a place as poor as the Grand Han.
Back then, Xia Yunchong’s father, Xia Yuyang, had told Long Chen about karmic luck. The four nations’ karmic luck was not enough to give birth to Empyreans. In that case, there was only one possibility, and that was someone was supporting them secretly.
With the Grand Han’s shameless methods, such a thing could definitely happen. They were using other people’s geniuses to put up a front.
=== Second destruction: collusion with Pill Valley and foreign imperialists ===
After Pill Valley retreats when the High Priest intervenes, the Grand Xia people attack the imposters who were pretending to be Grand Han people.
“Break all their legs, especially their third leg! Make sure to break it into eighteen pieces, or I won’t be able to resolve my resentment!”
Another person asked, “Then what about the women?”
The Grand Han colluded with the Pill Valley to devour, annex, and colonize the other ancient nations, culminating in the Dragon Slaughtering Convention in the Grand Han Capital. However the Grand Han failed when Long Chen and his buddies as well as Qu Jianying and Wu Guangyuan foiled the plan and exposed the Pill Valley's crimes and schemes.
Now Pill Valley was ‘investigating’ just who had sneak attacked the Xuantian Dao Sect and had no time to bother with them. Furthermore, the Grand Han had lost its value to them. Pill Valley kicked them aside mercilessly. Politics were just that heartless.
=== Oppression of the plebeians ===
The Grand Han elites and imperial family often abused their power to oppress the poor and weak, while at the same time serving their own personal interests.
The Grand Han’s imperial family had never treated their commoners particularly well. They only cared about themselves.
As for the commoners, their requirements weren’t very high. They just wanted a place where they could live in peace, away from fighting and killing.
However, not caring about that, the imperial family had still tried to use Pill Valley to devour the other ancient nations.
=== Refugee crisis ===
When the Grand Han got wrecked a second time after the Dragon Slaughtering Convention, the Pill Valley severed relations with the Grand Han and kicked them aside. The commoners then took the opportunity to leave Grand Han in exodus. They migrated as refugees to other nations like the Grand Xia. These people had given up on the Grand Han and lost faith in their ruling class.
Even the commoners could clearly see Pill Valley’s indifference towards them. However, the imperial family was lost in the stories and legends that they themselves had constructed, resulting in them thinking that they could use Pill Valley to unite the four nations and dominate the land.
As the news of the Dragon Slaughtering Convention spread, countless commoners began to migrate from the Grand Han to the Grand Xia, Grand Zhou, and Grand Chu.
They had lost hope in their nation. Not only had they lost their dragon vein, their arrogant provocation of the other three nations when backed by Pill Valley would definitely result in those three nations now unleashing their anger on them. Furthermore, considering Long Chen’s relationship with the Grand Xia, the results were clear.
In the eyes of the commoners, the Grand Han’s imperial family had been too disappointing. On the other hand, the Grand Xia’s imperial family had actually endured the Grand Han’s constant provocations to keep their commoners safe. That made them want to move even more.
Furthermore, the Grand Xia, Grand Zhou, and Grand Chu all gave the new immigrants a new space in their territory, making them endlessly grateful.
This was the style of a real grand nation. Rather than targeting the innocent commoners, they knew that their real enemy was only the Grand Han’s imperial family.
The Grand Xia, Grand Zhou, and Grand Chu were all calm. Only the Grand Han’s interior was filled with battle and fire. Refugees fleeing from within were constantly coming to the other three ancient nations.
The three nations did their best to take in these refugees. They gave them land for them to set up their homes and what tools they needed. Although it was a little bitter, at least they could make their own living now. That was a thousand times better than staying in the Grand Han.
With the Grand Han filled with internal warfare, the commoners were never sure whether or not they would live to see the sun rise or set each day.
When Long Chen heard this, he didn’t quite know what to feel. It was no wonder Xia Yuyang had said that warfare was cruel. The glory went to the highest people, while the ones who paid the debt for the battle were always the innocent commoners.
=== Revolution: overthrow of the elites ===
More and more people left the Grand Han. There were also some people who didn’t want to leave who rose in revolt. Groups of experts began to gather in various locations, forming their own revolutionary parties who wanted to overthrow the current imperial family.
The Grand Han was thrown into chaos. Even without the other three ancient nations doing anything, the imperial family was already viewed as the enemy of the Grand Han. Some parts of the imperial family’s army also switched sides at the last minute. In the end, the Grand Han’s imperial family was overthrown in less than a month.
When the imperial family’s heads were cut down, they were shown as a symbol to the people. Their bodies were also ripped apart by the five horse punishment.
Although the imperial family had been overthrown, the various powerful revolutionary parties all wanted to take the throne, resulting in another huge internal battle that lasted three years.
When the new ruler was established, the Grand Han had been fighting internally for so long that its core was badly damaged. It no longer had the power to revive itself. It lost the qualifications to challenge the other three ancient nations.
As one person put it, the Grand Han was now the 'Little Han'.
== Cultural appropriation ==
Qi Hao explains how Grand Han copied Grand Xia's culture:
"The Grand Han is a bunch of shameless egomaniacs. It's like they think the whole continent was made by them, as if the origin of all the culture and magical arts in this world came from them. A long time ago, the Grand Han acquired all kinds of inheritances from the Grand Xia. It was originally a cultural exchange, and the Grand Xia didn't hold back. But then they suddenly realized something was off. When the Grand Han learned something, they would start saying that they had been the original innovators. They refused to admit that they were just stealing the culture of my Grand Xia.
"At first, it was just a few of them saying this. But later, more and more people refused to admit the truth, saying that all our culture was theirs. If they were just that shameless, then fine. But then they started accusing the Grand Xia of stealing their culture, that our techniques were taught by them!" Qi Hao burst into obscenities.
"That was just the start! They became more and more arrogant, tampering with historical and cultural documents. Anything with any fame ended up originating from them, whether it was historical events or famous people! According to them, when the Wine God became a god, the Wine God supposedly comprehended the Dao and ascended right within their Grand Han Ancient Nation!" raged Qi Hao.
"To put it frankly, it's simply that their citizens don't feel enough national pride. Their history isn't dazzling enough. Without enough of a foundation, they steal from others. In any case, the events from that long ago cannot be confirmed. It's all about who's more shameless and whose skin is thicker. Furthermore, as time passed, it turned out their shamelessness was actually brilliant. Right now, all their civilians are full of intense pride, as if other than the ones in the Grand Han, everyone else is a country bumpkin.
=== Three Monarchs Eight Princes ===
Qi Hao continues: 
"In the past few thousand years, the Grand Han became more and more arrogant, to the point that their youngsters are like madmen! They go around worshipping idols. Right now, the Grand Han has three supreme geniuses called the Three Monarchs. Each of them looks like a girl, but somehow they have countless admirers who are practically crazy with adoration. Other than the Three Monarchs, they also have the Eight Princes. Don't you think they're begging you to call them the eight bastards?"王子=prince, 王八犊子=bastard
One of the 8 princes Han Zhenyu was slain by Long Chen.
=== Intermarriage ===
"But with the embellishment of the Grand Han, these people end up becoming national icons. Not only do countless people worship them within the Grand Han, but even some of the Grand Xia's ladies idolize them! There are countless women marrying into the Grand Han... And the Grand Han's civilians grow more and more united, as well as more and more arrogant. The young women go all-out cultivating in order to pursue their idols, while the young men also want to become those idols. Now they have countless geniuses rising in their ranks. Before, the Grand Han was the weakest of the four ancient nations, but now they're the strongest." Qi Hao was venting, just a bit away from cursing.
Long Chen found this funny and suggests that Grand Xia men take their revenge and seduce Grand Han women.
"Brother Long, the Grand Han's confidence is overinflated. Their women always marry within their nation. Even if they were to become nothing more than a maid, they can't marry outside. If they do, not only will they be looked down upon, but their family will also never acknowledge them for the rest of their lives. However, let me tell you, the Grand Han's women... yes, they really are beautiful. There are many of them that are the ‘tender and soft as water' kind." An expression of adoration appeared on Qi Hao's face when he mentioned the Grand Han's women, as well as an expression of bitterness like feeding pigs the best cabbages.
== Gender relations ==
In truth, Grand Han's romantic stories did not really represent the Grand Han. Their discrimination toward the young and female was extremely great. Amongst the commoners, women didn't even have the right to sit at the table when eating. They had to sit by the kitchen while doing so.
Those romantic stories were games played by the aristocrats. As for the expert who had offered a toast to Long Chen, his background was only ordinary, and his discrimination was deep-rooted.
So when a Grand Han person congratulates LC on beheading Li Wanji, LC retorts:
"First, you don't have the qualifications to toast to me, so you should sit. Second, the cultivation world doesn't differentiate between men or women. The only thing that matters is whether you're weak or strong. Just hearing your tone, it's clear you're an idiot who has lived a far too peaceful life. You clearly don't know the cruelty of the battlefield, or you wouldn't say such a brainless thing. Third, so what if she's a woman? Are you looking down on women? Is your mother not a woman? Is your grandmother not a woman? Your discrimination makes you forget your roots. A sheep kneels in thanks to its mother, a bird repays its mother in its old age. Even a beast knows how to be thankful to their mother, while you are less than a beast. You think you're fit to toast to me? Absolutely shameless."
Long Chen's words made the Grand Xia's experts want to cheer. This retort was marvelous, with the first and final points even connecting.
== Etymology ==
* Han (韩) is different from the Han (汉 / 漢) of Han Chinese and the Han dynasty (汉朝).
* Han is a Chinese surname and one of the ancient Chinese warring states. It is also the same Han as in the name for South Korea (韩国 Hanguo). In Chinese, Koreans are usually referred to by the name Joseon / Chaoxian (朝鲜人). For example, North Korea is called Beichao (北朝) or simply Chaoxian (朝鲜).
==References==
Category:Empire
Category:Four Grand Ancient Nations
Category:Destroyed