Kyo people

Kyo Ethnicity 쿄겨레 Kyo Gyeore
A Kyo man and woman in traditional Muchikae Ot
Total population
~51 million
Regions with significant populations
Dankuk	22.3 million
Yingdala	14.2 million
North Dovani	11.7 million
Kazulia	1.6 million
Seko	1.3 million
Languages
Kyomal
Religions
Kutkil, Daenism (Sindo-Daenism, Zensho), Seodongyo
Related ethnic groups
Proto-Dan Peoples (Extinct)

The Kyo Ethnicity (Kyomal: 쿄겨레) are an ethnic group native to the Dan Peninsula and North Dovani. Kyo people constitute the majority population of Dankuk, have a significant diaspora in North Dovani, and compose the largest Yingdalan minority group.

Kyo people have developed a vibrant and brilliant culture over 5000 years since the legendary founding of the first Kyo polity in 233 BCE, known as Kyonara. For a millennium, the Kyo people formed city states and later kingdoms that wrestled for control of their homeland, the Dan Peninsula. Following their unification between both each other and the ethnic Penru peoples of the east, Kyo culture rose to dominate the new kingdom of Bae. Generally modern Kyo culture is considered to have been derived from the traditions and legacies of the First Kingdom of Bae.

Whilst traditionally classified under the label of the wider Gao-Showan "race", modern anthropological evidence has revealed that Kyo people are of an unrelated genetic heritage from other ethnicities traditionally grouped with them; namely the Kunihito and Indralan races. It is nonetheless generally accepted that the culture of the Kyo people can be considered a subset of greater Gao-Showan culture.

Today Kyo people are recognized as one of Terra's major ethnic groups.

History

Proto-Kyo Migration

Beginning around the end of the 2nd millennium BC, archeological evidence begins to appear in the anthopological record of human migrations from what is now modern day Mikuni to the frigid Dan Peninsula. It is speculated that the Proto-Kyo people were one of the first participants in this movement. The first Proto-Kyo culture is thought to have emerged after some of these migrant nomads crossed the Mioksan Mountain Range that separates modern-day Dankuk and Kazulia.

Proposed map tracking the migration and split of the sedentary southern (white) and semi-nomadic northern (black) Kyo people

Following their separation from the rest of the migrants, those who remained north of the Mioksan mountains began to split off into two groups.

For reasons we are still mystified by, the Dan Peninsula is home to the most concentrated of Neolithic Dolmen Structures in the world. Many speculate it was around this time, the first millenium BCE, that Kyo folk religion (Kutkil) began to take shape. Dolmen are generally considered to have been religious structures for the burial of important figures.

Discovering Sedentary Civilization

Crown of Taejo of Bae, who united the Kyo and Penru polities into the Kingdom of Baeguk. Gold and jade, 8th century CE.

According to myth, Kyo civilization began with the legendary King Dan Seon in 233 BCE. Whilst this is generally not recognized as an exact date, it is generally agreed that the first large organized settlements of Kyo people developed in the late 3rd century BCE, near the modern capital of Gongmangdo.

Colonization and Genocide

Due to the proximity of Egelion to Dankuk, the former began to manifest colonial interests over the Bae Kingdom. After the peaceful unification of Egelion in 1610, the King of Egelion ordered an expedition to be sent to Baeguk in 1615. Egelion brought radical new ideas and religions to the peninsula, slowly but surely gaining a chokehold on the nation.

Following the Gasa Treaty of 1905, the last king of Baeguk, Baek Mihwa, agreed to leave Egelion control of Baeguk in his will. When he died in 1910, Baeguk was formally annexed into the new Egelian Empire. During Egelian rule, the Kyo were subject to a policy of assimilation, and were largely used for slave labour. Cultural genocide was perpetrated on a massive scale as national treasures were illegally looted across the Dan Peninsula. The Kyo language was banned from use and traditional religion was destroyed in massive and aggressive. Despite these times of adversity, Kyo people held out hope for their freedom, and continued to illegally keep their language, religion, and culture alive underground.

Independence

After Drania gained independence from Egelion, and for most of the modern era, Dranian politics were mostly dominated by Dranianos. However there were several notable politicians and parties of Kyo origin.

The Kyo became very prominent in the 30th century, with the rise of radical Gao-Showa nationalism in Dovani. This coincided with the Second Sekowan Empire, and the Kyo created several nationalist parties with the aim of joining Ultra-nationalist Sekowo. The most significant result of this is the Dranian Zenshō Revolution, which was mostly led by the Kyo nationalist Gao-Showa Imperial Revolutionary Front. As a result of the revolution, Drania became a Zenshō Socialist state, with Kyo as its official language. However, after an ill-fated intervention in the Great Sekowian War, the regime liberalized in 2985 in order to remain in power, and Dankuk became a parliamentary republic under the Enlightened People's Republic of Deulatoji. Soon afterwards, the revolution collapsed - and Kyo political dominance would temporarily cease.

The Kyo then settled down quietly into Dranish life, with many of them becoming prominent in politics, business and the professions. Most Kyo were still insular and isolationist; seeing themselves as somewhat separate from the Draniano and Draddwyr populations which had outnumbered them significantly. During the 40th-41st centuries; the anti-Kyo Valdorian Blue Shirt Movement exerted increasing influence, and unsettled many in the Kyo community. For a brief while the Virtuous Kyo Alliance tried to give the Kyos a political voice, but before long they fell into factional infighting as the more hardline nationalists tried to force the more moderate leaders out. Others followed a less constitutional path towards improving the status of Kyos in Dranland, as was seen at the infamous hostage crisis at Wellwyn Airport which ended with the slaughter of 108 innocent civilians.

Restoration

In 3608; the Great Kyo Revolution occurred; in which the Kyo would yet again seize political power. The revolution would establish the modern conception of the nation of Dankuk; with a dominant Kyo presence. The Kyo people have since remained culturally, politically, and socially prominent on the peninsula; though their level of dominance has fluctuated throughout the years.

As of the 54th Century, Kyo people are the majority ethnicity of Dankuk, and the Kyo language is the de facto national language.

Eastern Kyo

The Eastern Kyo split off from the Western Kyo in roughly the 2nd century BCE in Kazulia; establishing themselves in the mountainous regions of western North Dovani. From there they developed a clan system as well as a unique writing system separate from Kyogul; now known as Goja. The Eastern Kyo mostly kept to themselves, although records by the 8th century CE suggest that they operated as mediators between Kazulians and the Degalogesan tribes of North Dovani.

When Yingdala began to colonize North Dovani, the Kyo were largely forced out of therir dwellings, with the population collaborating or fleeing. Conditions greatly improved for collaborators when Dankuk took over the colony; but nomads who clung to the old ways found themselves as repressed as other natives. The distinction between the Western and Eastern Kyo during the colonial period eventually faded as the cultures converged; and as anti-Kyo sentiments progressed throguhout the centuries the two groups effectively became one.

Language

The language of the Kyo people is the Kyo language, which uses Kyogul and Yeongja through a mixed-script system. Kyo is considered a part of the Kyo-Changtae language family; an isolate family with no known relatives.

Religion

The traditional spiritual traditions of the Kyo race are generally grouped together under the label of Kutkil. However, there is debate as to whether Kutkil can be classified as a religion similar to those of the west. Kutkil does not have a belief system and is generally based upon the traditions of independent practitioners, known as Sŭsŭng (스승, shamans).