Yanism

Yanism is a non-theistic or monotheistic religion that focuses on internal balance. According to Yani teachings, all humans have aspects of Wild and aspects or Order in them. In order to achieve contentedness in life, a human must bring these competing aspects under control, cultivating each when they are weak and tamping them down when they are strong. Trilateralism is either a sect of Yanism or a closely related but separate religion that introduces a third force to balance: that of Creation or Control.

The founder of Yanism, Yan, was an Aleyan philosopher and scholar who traveled across the triple kingdom during his lifetime, which led to his conclusion that all humans are composed of the same aspects, just at different concentrations. People who dedicate themselves to Yanism are called monks. Those who understand the tenets and texts well enough to preach are called honja. Most Ju villages have a local honja, and all monasteries do.

Like Paraism, Yanism uses allegories to teach central tenets to believers.

## Spiritual Beliefs

### Tenets

In almost all sects, Yanism is fundamentally a religion about internal self-improvement. While Yan sometimes spoke about morality or existential matters, his focus was on how individuals could improve themselves, no matter their standing, which made his religion popular with the poor and otherwise marginalized, who were told under Paraism to accept suffering without seeking vengeance, even against those who wronged them, or, under Sudhaism, told to accept that their lives were exactly as God willed them to be.

All Yanist sects accept the balance between Wild and Order as of foremost importance. However, they almost all disagree on how this balance can be fostered. Over time, the sects that made donating land, money, and time to honja and monasteries a central tenet grew strong enough to engulf lesser sects. Other methods include through transcription, calligraphy, spiritual journeys in the Forest, spiral meditation (not to be confused with Parai meditation), and asceticism.

### Fables

#### The Ink in the Water

Yan often represented balance metaphorically by describing black ink in a pool of water. Not enough ink and the pool remains clear, too much and it becomes black. Like that pool, people must balance Order (ink) and Wild (water) in themselves so that both are visible at all times. The earliest honja wore grey robes to represent the balance between ink and water, but most later gave up on that practice, especially after the unification of the Seprum Republic, when grey came to be associated with the Grey Keep and grey women.

#### The Child and the General

In the fable of the child and the general, a young prince falls in love with the princess from another kingdom. When his advances are rebuffed, he kidnaps the princess and brings her back to his kingdom, locking her in the palace so that she may never run away. Her father, the king, could not let such an insult stand, so he ordered his most dedicated general to invade and bring the princess back or, if she could not be found, bring the prince in her stead.

When the prince saw the army outside the capital, his father asked him to give the princess back. Angry, the prince refused. When he learned his father intended to release her on his own, he killed the princess in a rage, ordering his men to bring her severed head to the general's forces.

The general now knew his orders meant he had to bring the prince back to his king. Suspecting as much, the prince's father ordered the prince to flee the city into the countryside, where he could hide more easily. To draw him out, the general declared he would execute one hundred villagers each day until he turned himself in. The general's advisor begged him to reconsider, saying the prince felt no moral compulsion towards other people, even his own people, but, blinded by his duty, the general refused to back down from his pronouncement.

The general slaughtered thousands before he found the prince by other means and returned him to his king, where he was imprisoned for as long as he kept the princess captive, then executed.

In this story, the prince represents an overabundance of Wild, which leads him to consider only his own wants. The general, on the other hand, suffers from too much Order such that he cannot see mercy past his duty and orders.

### Gender

Yan was a staunch binarist, someone who believes there are only two genders, a view no less controversial in his own time as it is today. He argued that because there were two fundamental forces in the world, Forest and spiral, there must therefore be only two genders. Women naturally represent Wild and men, Order. This, Yan argued, is why men make the best spiromancers and women the best guides through the Forest.

Initially, honja preached binarism as an inseparable part of Yanism. Over time, however, they realized people found Yanism much more palatable without the attached gender reductionism and they loosened the connection. Yanism became far more popular, but now that honja realized they could oppose the teachings of Yan, sects continued to split off as local Yani leaders shaped the beliefs they preached, often for selfish reasons.

### Eighteen balanced animals

The eighteen balanced animals are eighteen animals previously important to Daekon society that were adopted by Yanism to make conversion easier to locals. According to Yani beliefs, each animal represents a balance of Wild and Order. Trilateralism rejects the importance of the eighteen animals.

## Morality

Goodness, as a moral stance, emerges from the balance between Wild and Order. Someone consumed by the Wild may be egotistical or hedonistic. These people abandon duty and the bonds of society and become like chaos. On the other hand, those consumed by Order will be strict to the extreme succumbing to cruelty and dispassion. In this way, Yanism neatly folds moral goodness into its central beliefs: a balanced person is a good person.

Skeptics argue this simplistic view allows for cruelty in monasteries to grow unchecked—after all, honja cannot do moral bad by dint of their position—whereas most practitioners understand that true balance is almost impossible and therefore anyone can enact badness.

## Sects

The three most powerful sects of Yanism are **Hafya**, **Morin**, and **Endre**. Hafya practice transcription to foster balance, in the past of Yani spiritual texts, but in modern times of any text at all. Hafya monasteries focus on spreading literacy and penmanship, though they de-emphasize calligraphy and aesthetics, beyond simple legibility. The change happens internally—the best transcription is one that leads the transcriber to a psychological or spiritual breakthrough, not the one that looks best. Anyone can enter a Hafya monastery and be given transcription work, in most languages. Hafya is the dominant sect in Ju.

Morin practitioners achieve balance through meta-cognition and knowledge of the self. Morins believe you must understand yourself before you can understand anything else. Actions, more than thoughts, define selfhood, and so Morins place themselves in strange or dangerous positions and study how they react. Morinism likely emerged from the practice of spiritual journeys through the Forest to get more in touch with Wild. In modern times, Vorin honjas encourage their followers to be a little more safe, lest they run out of followers entirely. This sect is popular in Kuan and parts of Diao and Dhi.

In Endre, balance emerges from an exploration of social roles, most especially gender roles. Endre honja live each day as a different gender, sometimes the three generally accepted ones, sometimes as other, unknown genders and any combinations therein. There is some debate amongst Endre as to whether true balance comes from being all genders equally or having no gender at all. Endre are also encouraged to disrupt other systems, such as during Atet, the most important Endre festival, during which people of different social strata swap places, so leaders may become farmers and farmers may sleep in palaces. During a similar festival, Anong, people dress in the clothes and customs of someone from a different culture or ethnicity, often as a parody. Endre can be either a sect of Yanism or Trilateralism and is most popular in Dhi.

## Holidays

### New Years

The most important Yani holiday is the celebration of the new year, which occurs every eighteen months. Eighteen is a holy number in Yanism, composed of an even number (2) for Order, a prime number (3) for Wild, and a perfect square (9) for balance. The day of new year is dedicated to quiet contemplation, time with family, and charity. The nine days after are a celebration.

In Ju, people age in eighteen-month intervals, not yearly ones as in the rest of the Empire. Ju become one year old the day after their first new years, two after the second, and so on, regardless of their actual birth date. The only time a birth date is celebrated is when Ju turn eighteen (or twenty seven), and this day is generally dedicated to the parents and their success at raising a child to adulthood.

### Carnival

Carnival is a celebration of Wild and of children. Generally, children are released from work, school, and other commitments. Their parents give them new clothes and some money so they may run about on their own, doing as they like and buying what they want. Other adults are expected to provide children with simpler asks, such as food, and nearby aristocrats are shunned if they do not give any children who come to their estates with toys and fruits. Adults are encouraged to engage in their more basic desires, such as by eating, frolicking, picking flowers, petting animals, and dancing or singing the children's parts of songs.

In recent years, Queen Paek has dedicated herself to ensuring all children, regardless of social status, have the chance to enjoy carnival. The decans leading up to carnival, Ju administrators give poorer families toys and money that they can gift their children.

### Tollens

Tollens is a celebration of Order and, more recently, of academics and their universities. Across Ju, the holiday has been mostly adopted by the middle class. During Tollens, universities open their doors to any who wish to attend and showcase their students and facilities. Private libraries allow people to read some of their most important books and recitations are common in squares, theatres, and even on street corners.