The Taixi Times is a daily print and web publication from Taixi, Anle, offering breaking news and analysis on politics, business and entertainment from Indrala and around the world. The publication is non-partisan.Biography of Emperor's mother sweeps the nationThe biography by Pan Heng has sold more than a million copies in its first month28 November 4390NATIONAL NEWS: To those who follow the Indralan monarchy, the name Pan Heng is nothing new. During nearly 40 years of journalistic coverage, Pan has penned some of the
most intimate and
exclusive interviews with Ryeo Kyunghee and Sun Luhan, parents to His Imperial Majesty, the Son of Heaven. Due to her unlikely and uncommon relationship with the nobles, Pan is widely recognized as the preeminent expert on the inner thoughts and feelings of members of the Imperial Household. Thus, her groundbreaking biography on the Emperor's mother,
Ryeo Kyunghee: Living in the Shadows, in Public, has swept the nation, selling more than a million copies in its first month.
Conservative groups have protested the book, working to prevent its publication in advance of its release. In the view of many monarchists the biography is deeply disrespectful, having been written without the consent of Ryeo Kyunghee and focusing on the private lives of members of the Imperial Household. Pan herself knew that this book would be deeply troubling and therefore she instructed her daughter to publish it twenty years after Ryeo's death. Ryeo Kyunghee died in 4270, while Pan Han died in 4376.
The book begins discussing Ryeo's early childhood spent in Beonyeongsalm Palace. The youngest of her siblings, the mischievous young princess managed to get away with many pranks during this period. The book also discusses how Ryeo was, in a sense, raised by her older brother Prince Choesun VI, as her father was predisposed with the ever-worsening political situation in Dankuk.
A large portion of the book covers the
4292 raid on Beonyeongsalm Palace, Ryeo's time in hiding, her family's relocation to Indrala, her
long romance with Sun Luhan, her family's return and subsequent exile from Dankuk, the death of her father and of her brother, and her time spent as the matriarch of the newly-emboldened Sun Clan.
In one chapter, Pan describes Ryeo as having symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, stemming from her early childhood spent hiding from the Taeyang regime. Pan also reveals that the Princess had trouble sleeping most nights, dogged by nightmares from her early experiences, and alludes that the Princess may have been taking prescription medication for general anxiety.
The portrait that Pan paints of Ryeo Kyunghee, however, is an overwhelmingly positive one. Pan describes a woman who, despite profound sorrow and trauma, overcame adversity and raised a strong and virtuous family. Pan closes her book by stating:
Pan Heng wrote:Princess Kyunghee was, to all who knew her or knew of her, the living embodiment of compassion, virtue and strength. A woman who's profound contribution to Indrala lives today as the Son of Heaven atop the Dragon Throne. A woman whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds.
KNU announces increased focus on domestic archaeologyKNU Chairwoman seeks to "uncover hints about our labyrinthian history."20 January 4391Dr. Li Huanyu carefully excavates a terracotta soldier during a dig in rural JiaozhiKAIZHOU, Jiaozhi Province: Ma Sichun, Chairwoman of
Kaizhou National University announced today that the
'KITE' institution would be performing a "record number" of archaeological digs in the years to come. This is in partnership with the Ministry of Culture and Education as well as Haejo Imperial College, Dongjing University, the Siji Institute, and other private sector supporters.
"Hopefully, with an increased focus on making archaeological discoveries, we can begin to uncover hints about our labyrinthian history and culture," Ma said.
As Indrala is one of the oldest continuous cultures in the history of the world, contemporary archeological and academic findings frequently change the consensus view on Indralan history. It is clear that KNU intends to verify and/or expand upon the work of previous scholarship. The most recent profound discovery regarding Indralan history came in December of 3874 with Juan Martin's widely-published and accepted
"Martin Divergence" theory.
Since the "Martin Divergence" most contemporary international and domestic scholarship regarding Indrala has focused on the modern history of the state, rather than the ancient or even pre-historic origins of Indralan culture. With KNU's enhanced focus on archaeological research, perhaps the consensus view on Indralan history will be altered once more.
Indrala's consumers are snubbing foreign brands amid growing national pride, says KM FinancialSurvey says young Indralans will pay "significantly more" for Indralan products22 January 4391Julie Wang purchases a designer handbag in downtown Tian'anNATIONWIDE NEWS: Indrala is seeing the emergence of a generation of consumers who are more likely to opt for home-made brands, spurred by a growing sense of national pride, according to a survey by KM Financial of 22,000 Indralans between the ages of 18-29.
According to the survey, young Indralan shoppers are increasingly showing a “domestic brand bias” amid “a degree of nationalism” in one of the world’s biggest consumer markets. Analysts hired by KM Financial believe that the trend is attributable to the cultural revolution which placed the
Tianshun Emperor on the Dragon Throne. A subsequent strong push from authorities to encourage citizens to feel more attached to the Indralan culture, including the opening of more Imperial colleges and universities may have influenced consumer habits, while another factor is likely to be the continually-growing influence of Indralan companies and media (
YingPop) on the global stage.
In the survey, 41% of respondents answered that they would spend "significantly more" on clothing if they knew that it had been produced in Indrala. Similarly, 36% of respondents answered the same when it came to consumer electronics.
"When it comes to fashion, there is simply no other competitor," says 21-year-old Julie Wang, while shopping in downtown Tian'an. "Indrala's fashion industry is unrivaled, why would I even bother considering some cheap import?"
One sector in which Indralan companies underperformed other domestic sectors was in automotives. In the survey only 42% of respondants said that they "preferred" Indralan produced automotives to imports. Analysts from KM Financial have said that this may be due to the lack of high-range and luxury domestic models. Other than the six-figure Taiyang electric supercars, the Xiandai X-Model is one of the only Indralan-produced high-end sedans.