Gong Empire (Fidem Pacis)

The Empire of the Great Gong (Chinese: 大弓, Dà Gōng) was the official name of China during the period of its rule by the Gong Dynasty from 1644 to 1912. At its height it was one of the world's major superpowers, dominating most of eastern Asia and having extensive influence overseas, including for a time its own colonial empire.

The Gong state emerged from the Korean kingdom of Taebong in the northern part of the Korean peninsula, which increased in power by allying with and integrating a number of neighbouring Jurchen clans. For many years Taebong ensured its independence by paying tribute first to the Jin dynasty, then the Mongols and finally the Ming dynasty after the Mongols were thrown out of China. As the Ming began to decline, however, Taebong was able to fill the power vacuum by taking over large parts of Korea and Guandong, until in 1635 King Gung Hyeong was proclaimed Great Gong Emperor and claimed the Mandate of Heaven.

As the Ming collapsed into civil war, Gung Hyeong invaded northern China and occupied everything north of the Yellow River. Over the next decades, he and his descendants conquered the south, reuniting China under one dynasty after the fall of Taiwan in 1683.

As a great number of Ming loyalists had fled overseas, the early Gong emperors pursued an interventionist policy to try to establish their influence in former Ming satellite states. Although this was largely successful in Asia, the heavy-handedness of Gong officers and administrations in the Chinese colonies of Fusang resulted in the colonies revolting and declaring independence. After this fiasco, the dynasty started to look inwards and remained largely oblivious to outside developments for the next century.