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Overview

The Jianshen villagers are an ethnoreligious group from the Western Continent of the Earth Kingdom, which spread somewhat Eastward, and, formerly, to the Fire Nation. They are an officially recognized minority.

Their bending is Earth, for the most part, though some are firebenders.

History

Antiquity

Pre-War

Since the War

In the lead up to Sozin's attacks on the other elemental nations, Jianshen villagers came under increasing civil debility in the Fire Nation, and many immigrated to the Western Earth Kingdom. Eventually, those that did not were forced to give up their distinctive traditions and conform to mainstream Fire Nation society.

Physical Anthropology

Distribution and Population

Culture

Language

Most Jianshen villagers speak Common. In the past, some spoke dialects of Fire, but few speakers remain. They have a liturgical language, the Divine Speech; the regularity of this language suggest it is artificial. It seems to be a highly refined form of a language spoken by them in remote antiquity, before they came into contact with Common literate culture.

Literature and Folklore

The Jianshen villagers have an extensive compendium of lore and law, which runs to six large volumes in codex form, and which is written in a liturgical language they call the Divine Speech. They also have many commentaries on their Jianshen Lawbooks, and tomes of theological and philosophical speculations. Overall, they are a highly literate culture.

Arts and Music

Cuisine

Jianshen villagers customarily abstain from overly-stimulating foods (generally peppers, garlic, and onions) and alcohol, and their "Elect" (priestly class) must additionally abstain from animal flesh and eggs. Various other special rules govern food preparation for the Elect. Their "Hearers," (laity) follow the more stringent dietary rules of the Elect on certain special occasions, as a meritorious spiritual practice, or in preparation for Election.

Jianshen food is generally quite rich, despite the lack of spices, and often incorporates ingredients preserved by fermentation. They treat their dairy animals with great care and respect.

Religion and Holidays

They believe in a single, absolute spiritual being, which is characterized as having a "broad end" and a "narrow end," the former expressing Themselves as the universe and its life-forms, and the latter being an ineffable divine being. Despite Their exalted position and all-encompassing universal scope, the divinity is nonetheless thought to have very extensive and particular opinions as to the way in which human beings should conduct their daily lives. By following their prescribed patterns of living, the practitioner hopes to attain a pleasing life, and die with the satisfaction that their life forms a consonant and harmonious part of an eternal whole. They do not believe in an afterlife or reincarnation, but rather consider that the past is, from the perspective of the Divinity (and the most legitimate perspective), not gone at all. They sometimes compare the Deity to an artist painting a picture (i.e. the universe).

The Jianshen villagers venerate their Deity (i.e. Jianshen, though that name is rarely used by them) in tall pagodas, the form of which symbolizes their theological understanding.

Politics

The Jianshen villagers have never had a sovereign state of any size, but many of their colonies have enjoyed special privileges or home rule under larger polities. In general, their religious obligations and strictures have impeded their political and military power relative to other groups. They have generally got along well with the Ganjinese, and were officially tolerated under both Ganjinese empires, during which time their missionaries propagated their faith through much of the West. Although willing to make converts, the extensive obligations required of them tended to blunt their appeal to foreigners.