Around 2010, several adventurous tribes from Toycity launched a voyage across the eastern seas, landing on the northernmost shores of what would eventually be known as the island of Shengdi. Instead of forming a single kingdom, these people established a network of independent settlements scattered across the rugged northern landscape.

These tribes were defined by three core pillars:

1. Inter-Tribal Trade: Despite their independence, the settlements were connected by a complex trade network. They exchanged handmade goods, resources, and ideas, creating a unified northern culture.

2. Superstition and Luck: The Budanese ancestors were the most superstitious people in the Toy-world. Their entire lives revolved around the interpretation of signs, the pursuit of good luck, and the search for hidden meanings in everyday events.

3. The Forbidden South: A powerful cultural taboo prevented any Budanese from traveling to the southern part of the island. They believed the south was a "sacred territory" that could only be claimed by the ultimate ruler of the Toy-world. This belief kept their civilization compressed in the north for years.

The Mythology of the Early Tribes

During this era, the tribal elders created a vast collection of legends and myths that explained the origins of the world and the nature of luck. They believed the island itself was a living entity that rewarded those who followed the correct rituals.

Because these tribes lived in such isolation and focused on the spiritual world, they developed a unique identity separate from the industrializing Toycity they had left behind. They were a people of the earth and the spirit, content to live in their small settlements as long as the "luck" of the tribe remained strong.

By 2014, a massive group of pirates faced a terminal crisis. These were not mere looters; they were "Sea-Born" men who had spent their entire lives on the water. Because they were wanted for their past crimes in almost every major kingdom across the Toy-world, they had no land to call home.

Under the leadership of the formidable pirate Bashing, they sailed to the northernmost reaches of the island of Shengdi. Exhausted by the life of the outlaw, Bashing made a historic decision: he would not conquer the local tribes, but would instead seek a permanent home among them.

The settlement process was defined by a rapid and peaceful integration. The "Sea-Born" pirates brought their knowledge of the world and maritime strategy, while the local northern tribes brought their deep-rooted superstitions, legends, and ancestral skills.

• Intermarriage: To solidify their bond, the pirates married into the local tribal families. This merged the bloodlines of the seafaring outlaws with the indigenous people of Shengdi.

• The Shared Ideology: The pirates adopted the tribes' superstitious beliefs regarding luck and the "Sacred South," while the tribes embraced the pirates' need for a structured defense against the kingdoms that once hunted them.

• The pirate leader Bashing succeeded in his greatest mission: finding a home. After retiring in 2014 and integrating his "Sea-Born" men with the northern tribes, Bashing lived out his final years in peace. He was the architect of the community, but he never formally wore the crown of a dynasty. Upon his death from old age, the task of turning this integrated settlement into a true empire fell to his sons. 

The Shingshang Dynasty: A Feudal Masterpiece

Bashito soon proclaimed the birth of the Shingshang Kingdom, declaring himself the first Emperor. This was not a typical monarchy, but a highly organized Feudal Society that respected the existing tribal hierarchies:

1. The Emperor : Provided the central law and the "Sea-Born" military discipline.

2. The Nobles (Masters): The former tribal leaders were elevated to the status of Masters. Their primary role was the preservation and teaching of Kung Fu, the ancient martial art of the northern tribes.

3. The Feudal Structure: The "foreign" men (the former pirates) provided the external protection and labor, while the "local" masters provided the cultural and spiritual guidance.

This era transformed the northernmost part of Shengdi into a bastion of martial arts and disciplined culture. The Shingshang Dynasty became a place where the skill of the fist (Kung Fu) was as important as the wisdom of the mind. By valuing local power over foreign conquest, Emperor Bashing ensured that his people were no longer seen as "wanted men," but as the founders of a proud, noble civilization.

The eldest son, Bashito, became the first official Emperor of the Shingshang Dynasty. He formalized the structures his father had started, solidifying the alliances between the pirate-descendants and the local tribal "Masters." However, his vision for a peaceful transition of power was cut short. 

Driven by personal ambition and a desire for absolute gain, Bashito’s brother, Prince Bihito, assassinated him. This bloody beginning to Bihito's reign fundamentally changed the governance of the dynasty:

• The Imperial Court: To legitimize his rule and manage the complexities of the growing nation, Bihito established the Imperial Court.

• The Prime Minister: Bihito introduced the position of Prime Minister—the highest advisor to the Emperor. This was a strategic move to ensure that the tribal "Masters" and noble families had a voice in the day-to-day administration, preventing another coup from within.

• Feudal Order: Under Bihito, the court strictly enforced the feudal hierarchy, ensuring that Kung Fu schools and local lords remained loyal to the central throne through a mix of military discipline and advisory influence.

Following the passing of Emperor Bihito, his eldest son, Kenito, ascended the throne. While his brother Shito remained within the Imperial Court, Kenito embarked on a historic diplomatic mission to the Kingdom of Toycity.

There, he met Queen Cityana, the ruler of the region's most established civilization. The meeting was a turning point for both nations. Kenito and Cityana formed a "Great Alliance" that effectively ended the isolation of the Shingshang people. This treaty brought a flood of new ideas, resources, and technologies into the northern settlements, reshaping the Shingshang social and economic landscape.

The Shingshang Dynasty, alongside its neighboring kingdom Toycity, represented one of the earliest recorded civilizations in Toy-World. Their culture was defined by elegance, precision, and structure — a reflection of their architectural mastery seen in dougong roofs and shoji walls. Society followed a feudal hierarchy ruled by the Emperor, supported by nobles, kung fu masters, ninjas, and peasants. Courtesy and formality defined social life, as seen in the Shingshang Bow, a polite gesture that would later influence Toylandia’s formal greeting now used across Toy-world.

Fashion symbolized social class — flowing kimonos and layered robes adorned the nobility, often accessorized with gold ornaments or silk belts. Artisans crafted delicate paper lanterns and painted scrolls that depicted harmony between toy and nature, values that would echo across Toy-World for centuries.

The alliance with Toycity accelerated the refinement of Shingshang society, merging pirate resilience with Toycity elegance. The culture became defined by precision and structure, visible in every aspect of their lives: 

The social order became strictly defined to ensure peace and stability:

• The Emperor: The divine heart of the nation.

• The Nobles & Prime Minister: The administrative brain of the Imperial Court.

• Kung Fu Masters & Ninjas: The protectors of the feudal lords and the keepers of ancient tribal combat arts.

• Peasants & Artisans: The backbone of the economy, crafting the silk and paper goods that were traded with Toycity.

Following Kenito’s death in 2015, his brother Emperor Shito ascended the throne, ruling from 2015 to 2016.

Emperor Shito broke with tradition by offering unprecedented state support to the merchant class. Under his decree, trade was no longer seen as a lowly profession but as the highest service to the empire. This shift caused the Shingshang Dynasty to rise as the wealthiest kingdom in the Toy-world during this period, eclipsing even its allies in Toycity. 

The Shingshang Golden Age brought an era of prosperity and innovation, as the merchant class rose to prominence and even joined the ranks of nobility. The most renowned figure of this age was Yamasita, a visionary entrepreneur and confidant of Emperor Shito. Yamasita founded the first organized company system in Toy-World’s history — employing other merchants and forming a structured trade network known as the merchant hierarchy.

Under this model, Yamasita served as the General Merchant, similar to a modern Chief Executive Officer. He pioneered concepts of employment, branch expansion, and shared profits, allowing one business to operate across vast territories. This early corporate structure became the foundation of Toylandia’s later capitalist economy. The Golden Age was celebrated not only for its booming trade but also for its artistic refinement — with silk paintings, ornate ceramics, and music halls flourishing across the empire.

The most legendary figure of this golden age was Yamasita, a close personal friend and confidant of Emperor Shito. Yamasita was more than a trader; he was the architect of the earliest model of a company.

• The Merchant Hierarchy: Yamasita pioneered the revolutionary idea of "employment." He hired smaller, independent merchants to work under his brand, creating a structured network that enriched both the state and himself.

• The Richest Person in Toy-world: Through this proto-corporate system, Yamasita amassed a fortune so vast that he became the wealthiest individual ever recorded in the early Toy-world. His business model—featuring branch expansion and shared profits—would eventually serve as the blueprint for Toylandia’s capitalist economy years later.

To ensure that this new wealth remained tied to the throne, Emperor Shito and Yamasita solidified their bond through a royal marriage. Shito’s heir, Prince Magider, was wed to Yamasita’s daughter. This union of the "Blood of the Emperor" and the "Gold of the Merchant" created an unstoppable political and economic force. 

Following the death of Emperor Shito, his eldest son, Magider, ascended the throne. Married to Yamasita’s daughter, Magider and his wife were the wealthiest couple in history, but they lacked the discipline of their ancestors. 

Instead of managing the empire, they spent the national treasury on extravagant banquets and self-indulgent royal parties. As the thriving economy began to dip, the Imperial Court and the people grew furious at their "out-of-touch" lifestyle. After only two weeks, the ministers staged a coup, ousting Magider and forcing his abdication. 

Following the forced abdication of the extravagant Magider—whose marriage to Yamasita’s daughter, Yama, remained childless due to her infertility—the throne was taken by his younger brother, Budalider. Unlike his predecessor, Budalider was ambitious and eager to prove his worth through conquest. He was married to the daughter of the Shingshang’s greatest military leader, General Chito Choi. This woman became a legendary figure in her own right, famously refusing to use her given name in favor of her powerful clan title. By insisting on being addressed only as Empress Choi, she ensured that her father’s lineage was honored above all else, eventually causing her first name to be entirely forgotten in Toy-world history. Together, they had a daughter named Imelda, who secured the royal bloodline and grew up in the shadow of her mother’s formidable reputation and her grandfather’s military legacy. 

Budalider initially sought to conquer the Southern Forest of Shengdi, but his ministers remained paralyzed by the ancient superstition that only the "Ruler of the Toy-World" could claim that land. Accepting this, Budalider turned his gaze toward the sea. 

Budalider conducted an expedition to the small, isolated nation of Atlantis. He found a country suffering from extreme inequality—where the nobles held all the wealth and the common people lived in desperate poverty. Seeing an opportunity to both "liberate" the poor and expand his empire, Budalider declared Atlantis his first target.

With the expertise of General Chito Choi (the Empress's father and a legendary Shingshang tactician), the Shingshang fleet set sail. However, the Atlantians were masters of the water. Upon seeing the foreign sails, Queen Melinda of Atlantis took a desperate gamble: she dove into the ocean and swam across the Great Sea to reach the world’s most advanced military power: The Kingdom of Toys. 

In a historic meeting that corrected what post-Architect era historians would later identify as a widespread inaccurate interpretation of history, Queen Melinda of Atlantis did not seek the aid of the figures traditionally associated with that era in popular memory. While many early records mistakenly credit King Teddy and President 2nd Teddy with the intervention, historical reality confirms that Melinda negotiated directly with President Valentines Bear and King AJ. She pleaded for the protection of her people against the encroaching "Shingshang Shungshangs," offering a strategic masterstroke: in exchange for military aid, Atlantis would become a permanent trade route, positioned perfectly in the center of the Civilized Kingdoms' Sea. 

Recognizing the immense value of this trade hub and the humanitarian crisis at hand, the Kingdom of Toys agreed to intervene. They dispatched their Royal Marines—famed for their undefeatable knights and the most advanced cannon-bearing ships on the planet—to shield the helpless nation. This intervention sparked the First Toy-World War, a collision of civilizations that pitted the Shingshang’s elite martial arts and massive naval numbers against the Western world’s superior technology and heavy steel. 

The First Toy-World War reached its climax in the waters of the Atlantis Sea, where the clash of two vastly different military philosophies created a scene of unprecedented destruction. As the Royal Marine ships of the Kingdom of Toys established a defensive line around the inhabited islands, General Chito Choi was initially dumbfounded. Having only ever fought smaller powers, he had never witnessed naval strength on this scale. Yet, with Shingshang fleets stretching in a massive line from the northern islands to Atlantis, and monitored closely by the Emperor, the Shingshang forces remained confident that their rare martial arts talents and ninja stealth could overcome the Kingdom’s firearms and cannons. 

The battle erupted into a chaotic symphony of steel and gunpowder. Shingshang Ninjas performed daring leaps onto the decks of enemy ships, engaging in close-quarters combat against armored knights, while Atlantian warriors launched fierce underwater ambushes from the depths. The Kingdom of Toys responded with relentless cannon fire and disciplined shooting, creating a stalemate of blood and fire. In a desperate, decisive moment, Queen Melinda of Atlantis swam through the chaos to General Chito’s flagship. With a strike of her trident, she slew the legendary General, but she was almost immediately cut down by his defending ninjas. 

The news of the General's death—and the loss of nearly half the ninja corps—reached the Imperial Palace like a thunderclap. Empress Choi, seeing the ruin brought about by her husband's obsession with the "Prophecy of the South," decided to end the madness herself. While Emperor Budalider waited in his quarters for news of victory, the Empress entered and fired two shots that echoed throughout the palace halls. 

Prime Minister Pring, the young Princess Imelda, and the council of ministers rushed to the scene to find the Emperor dead. The war was immediately halted, resulting in a formal victory for the Atlantian side. Because Imelda was too young to rule, Empress Choi was crowned the sole monarch. Despite the blood on her hands, she became a beloved figure among the Atlantians and the people of the Kingdom of Toys, as her decisive action had saved both nations from a total war of attrition. 

In the landmark 2025 historical text Lost Years of Buddissland, the historian Andy Choi Tom provides a definitive account of the republic’s birth and the tragic end of the Shingshang era. In 2017, determined to ensure that the internal strife and absolute power of the past would never repeat themselves, Empress Choi made the radical decision to grant the people the right to rule. She found an intellectual partner in her new Prime Minister, Gorge Washington, a figure of dual heritage—half Toymerican and half Shingshang—who introduced her to the revolutionary concept of democracy. Inspired by his vision of a government "of the people, by the people, and for the people," the Empress ordered the total abolition of the monarchy.

As a final act of devotion, she specifically commanded Washington to name the new nation Buddissland, a name derived from her late husband, Budalider. This was a complex testament to her undying love for the man she had been forced to kill, ensuring his name would be synonymous with the land's new freedom. With the foundation of the First Buddissland Republic, Gorge Washington transitioned from Prime Minister to the nation's first President. The Imperial Family surrendered their titles but retained their massive private wealth, moving into a secluded mansion, while the Imperial Palace was transformed into the Presidential Residence—rebranded as a "Home of the People." 

The 2017 transition marks the darkest chapter in the history of the island, a period when the architectural and cultural splendor of the Shingshang era was almost systematically erased from the world's memory. As documented in Andy Choi Tom’s Lost Years of Buddissland, the geopolitical landscape shifted violently in early 2017 when the Tent Empire (the successor to the Kingdom of Toys) concluded its long voyage and claimed the Southern Forest of Shengdi as its new territory. 

By June 2017, while Buddissland was still reeling from the plague and economic isolation, the Southern settlers rebranded themselves as the Republic of English Toyland. This new state moved with terrifying efficiency, inventing capitalism and sparking an Industrial Revolution that would redefine the Toy-world. Seeing the weakened Buddissland Republic as a strategic liability and a land ripe for "modernization," the Toylandian government launched a full-scale invasion. The conflict was swift and brutal; Toylandian forces destroyed the ancient Shingshang structures, leveling the iconic Dougong roofs and Shoji walls to make way for industrial factories. In this process, the secret techniques of ancient Shingshang architecture were lost, turning the once-vibrant cities into fading memories. 

In the chronicles of The Lost Years of Buddissland, Andy Choi Tom finally unravels the mystery of January 15th—a date celebrated by millions as Independence Day, yet one whose origins were long suppressed by official Toylandian records. 

On January 15, 2019, Imelda Choi, the last scion of the Shingshang bloodline, officially declared Buddissland a sovereign territory, refusing to acknowledge the authority of the English Toyland annexation. As a "father’s girl" who never forgave the world for Budalider’s death, her nationalism was fueled by a deep-seated hatred for the foreign power that had razed her heritage. 

Andy Choi Tom describes her in his text as:

"A very stagy lady who liked to mess with Toylandian presidents, especially the Queen Puppet of the Toy-World. But behind her over-exaggerated actuations was a misunderstood daughter and a fierce 'Buddiss' patriot—a lady seeking revenge against a country she deeply loathed."

Imelda’s resistance was often theatrical and disruptive. One of the most infamous instances of her defiance occurred during the Buddiss New Year on February 5, during the term of President Butitor. Under the guise of celebration, fireworks were intentionally aimed at the Toyville Mall, causing mass chaos in the heart of the Toylandian commercial district—a clear message that the spirit of the Shingshangs had not been extinguished. 

However, Imelda Choi was a complex figure who understood that total war was not always the answer. Despite her role as a nemesis to Toyland, she was the visionary behind the Statue of Wishingwell.

• The Symbol: Originally a gift of supposed goodwill, it was later renamed the Tower of Wishingwell.

• The Result: In the post-Architect era, this structure transformed from a symbol of Imelda’s "stagy" diplomacy into the ultimate icon of the delicate diplomatic relationship between Toyland and the Budanese people.

In 2021, during the Architect Era, Buddissland merged temporarily with Toylandia to form Buddisslandia, a joint nation on modern-day Toymerica, as a response to the chaos and instability caused by Architect Neil. The nation dissolved in August 2021 after an invasion by Baksus. Later in July 2021, President Bonbon Makroy renamed Buddissland to Budan, modernizing the country and reaffirming its independence. 

The post-Architect Era brought economic revival and industrial expansion, particularly in Atsara production (Budanese Rice), which became a hallmark of Budanese culture and the rise of agriculture to the country. However, challenges persisted. In 2022, under President Donald Jefferson, Budan experienced economic decline, political unrest, and ultimately the Bearland War in 2023, which further destabilized the nation and diminished its industrial relevance. 

Following these crises, the construction of the New Toylandian Paradise offered Budan a path toward economic cooperation with Toylandia, and the new administration under President Shane Makroy, daughter of Donald Jefferson, established the New Budanese Republic. This modern government emphasized people-centric policies, industrial modernization, and foreign investment under the Budan Modernization Project of 2024, aiming to rebuild cities, strengthen infrastructure, and foster prosperity across the nation. Budan continues its journey toward economic growth and stability, building on the historical legacies of the Shingshang Dynasty, the republic of Buddissland, and modern reforms.