History of Wing Sing

The history of Wing Sing dates to the 12th century. The island rose to importance in the 19th century, when the Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie established a significant trading post on its shores. When Batavië took formal control of the island at the end of the Second Oriental War, the population exploded and the economy boomed. In the postwar independence period, Wing Sing became a Technocratic Republic, establishing a unique, free-market system of government and a modernisation program that focused on manufacturing industry. Today, the country is a fully-developed economy, with the highest per capita gross domestic product in Cathay outside of Oikawa.

Early History
Archaeological evidence points to human settlement on Wing Sing Island in the Paleolithic era, but written records only exist from the reign of the Jizhou Emperor of the Azure Dragon in the 13th century, which records the Empire's collecting of taxes from a township on the island called Langui (蘭桂). The tax collector notes that the people of the island speak a language, while not immediately intelligible by an imperial official, bears enough resemblance to the language of the mandarins that, he noted, “A courtier may sound like a Languiman if we were to remove his tongue and hold him underwater.” From its earliest history, the people of Wing Sing exhibited significant cultural and linguistic differences from the Han people of the Jizhou Empire.

Precolonial History (15th Century - 19th Century)
The name 'Langui' vanishes from all Jizhou imperial records after the 14th century, with the major settlement on Wing Sing Island being noted as 'Donggong' (東貢). Census information sets a population of roughly 15,000 in 1468. The Tan Tok River made for very fertile farmland, while the Chaai Hwaan and Laap Saap bays provided for excellent trade ports between the empire and Serindia.

During the reign of the Jizhou Emperor of the Five Phoenixes (1503-1525), Donggong was promoted from county (縣) to prefecture (地) status, marking the city's growing importance. By the start of the First Oriental War in the early 19th century, Donggong's population numbered more than 800,000 and the city was marked a full province (省). In celebration of Lan Yu's incredible conquests, the city was rededicated Yongsheng (永勝) or 'Eternal Victory,' which pronounced in the local Singlish language, is read 'Wing Sing.'