World Building General

One-Winged Eagle

This is my project. Right now.

Basically, you know Journey to the West? Accelerate that timeline past modern Chinese history to 2016, and see what you get.

And what I've got is...weird. But whatever. Right now, my major concern is that Heavenly society is enormously, ridiculously powerful, strong enough to enslave or destroy the world several times over. But they won't do it, because:

• They're humans in another mode of existence, and so won't mess up their homes in the next life,
• They also want to try to keep their karma good so they won't end up in Hell in the next life,
• They have no need for food, water, or anything, so their needs for understanding, belonging, and job fulfillment are intensified.

I'm not sure if those are compelling reasons.

One-Winged Eagle

I guess I'm concerned about addressing the people who need to see the world as being completely composed of cycles of dominance.

Tachyon

i can buy those reasons, fwiw

Is there another group (or groups) that dominates in some way, on a large scale?  perhaps that could be your avenue to addressing those people

One-Winged Eagle

They're the gods. They make the rules, but there are also still rules that they can't escape from: death, karmic retribution in the form of the next life, and so on.

Tachyon

maybe it's because it's 5 am here and i'm tired af but i don't see how that relates to my question

i was asking about less powerful, but nevertheless powerful organizations in your setting

One-Winged Eagle

Oh, okay. I haven't really spent much time on that, but I do have some idea. There are various political movements/parties, trading companies, and so on in Heaven. They exist in the political/social/bureaucratic/economic spaces between the Offices and the Emperor.

Yarrun XIX

Tachyon said:

i can buy those reasons, fwiw

One-Winged Eagle

Okay, so here's my actual problem.

All the dynasties before the 20th Century were guided by Heaven. The deities would work with the Emperor, the officials, and shamans by visiting in their dreams, and bringing about changes in Heaven and Earth through this correspondence. Daoist mystics and Buddhist dharmists would be trained by deities with strong spiritual attainment, taking part in traditions that span thousands of years.

The People's Republic of China is actively misotheist. They have a standing policy to not only refuse all guidance from Heaven, but to also work to interfere with the Celestial Bureaucracy's acts. Anyone who manages to kill an Officed deity will be richly rewarded.

The deities of Heaven are reborn into their station; they don't need worship or belief to source their powers. The question is, why would they stand for it? 

Tachyon

This might be out of character, but just a suggestion: because humans are so tiny and insignificant to them that they see no reason to pay this blasphemy any notice at all?

Yarrun XIX

I think Heaven has too much contact with the human world for that to work.