minor issue with the map.

[zeruosi]

I've noticed that in almost all Paradox Interactive (PDX) games, Liaoning is not considered part of Han China, while the grassland areas of Hulunbuir and Horqin are mistakenly included as part of Han China. This is geographically, culturally, and in terms of living customs, inaccurate. I suggest revising the map design to reflect this correctly.

There's also the issue of Taiwan. Although during the time frame of the game, Taiwan was not part of the territories of the Tang, Song, or Yuan dynasties, the empire with the closest ties and proximity would be China. It would not be appropriate to categorize Taiwan under any other imperial title. Aside from the aforementioned reasons, Taiwan's Penghu Islands were under the jurisdiction of the Song and Yuan dynasties. So, it's just a personal suggestion to place Taiwan under the imperial title of China, but not as a direct dominion.

There's another issue—the blank space in the Manchuria region. Although it is mountainous, the gap looks quite unsightly. Could we add a few tiles to fill in these areas?

The last issue is the incorrect navigable areas of the Yangtze River and the Yellow River. The Yellow River shouldn't be navigable all the way to the Guanzhong Plain, let alone reach the Wei River. There is a very dangerous gorge called Sanmenxia between the North China Plain and the Guanzhong Plain. It's simply impossible for ships to pass through here. So, after ships reach this place, the transportation will switch to overland until reaching the Wei River, where it will resume by water again.

Here is a photo of the original Sanmenxia. It can be seen that navigation is almost impossible.
The navigable section of the Yangtze River has been shortened. Although the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River also have a relatively high risk factor, they are navigable. Since the Han Dynasty, the upper reaches of the navigable section of the Yangtze River were located in Yibin County, Sichuan Province. Meanwhile, the Han River should also be navigable. As the largest tributary of the Yangtze River, its navigable range can reach Xiangyang.
“犍为郡，武帝建元六年开……僰道，莽曰僰治。”
“符关以南，水道通番禺。”
《汉书·地理志·犍为郡》
“江水又东，过僰道县北，若水、淹水合从西来注之……其地下接蜀之江源，舟楫所通。”
“江水自僰道来，东历樊道，通舟甚利。”
《水经注·江水》（北魏·郦道元）
“戎州，南溪郡……管县五：僰道、南溪、义宾、开边、归顺。”
“马湖江自蕃中来，经州城下，与汶合流，东入蜀江。州城当二水之会，舟航之利，西通滇僰，东下荆吴。”
《元和郡县图志·剑南道下》（唐·李吉甫）
"Jianwei Commandery was established in the sixth year of Emperor Wu's Jianyuan era... Bo Road (僰道), renamed 'Bozhi' (僰治) during Wang Mang's reign."
— Book of Han · Treatise on Geography · Jianwei Commandery

"South of Fuguan Pass, waterways lead to Panyu (modern Guangzhou)."
— Book of Han · Treatise on Geography · Jianwei Commandery

"The Yangtze River flows eastward, passing north of Bo Road County. The Ruoshui (若水) and Yanshui (淹水) rivers converge from the west and join it... The region connects to the river sources of Shu (Sichuan), accessible by boats."
"The Yangtze River, originating from Bo Road, flows east through Fandao (樊道), facilitating smooth navigation."
— Commentary on the Water Classic · Yangtze River (Northern Wei · Li Daoyuan)

"Rongzhou (戎州), Nanxi Commandery (南溪郡)... governed five counties: Bo Road, Nanxi (南溪), Yibin (义宾), Kaibian (开边), and Guishun (归顺)."
"The Mapu River (马湖江) flows from Fan (蕃, modern Sichuan-Yunnan border) through the prefectural city, converging with the Min River (汶水) before joining the Shu River to the east. The prefectural city lies at the confluence of these two rivers, benefiting water transport westward to Dian (滇, Yunnan) and Bo (僰), and eastward to Jingzhou (荆州) and Wuyue (吴越, Jiangnan)."
— Yuanhe Junxian Tuzhi · Jian Nan Dao Xia (Tang · Li Jifu)

Here is my rough sketch of the river courses. Regarding the Yellow River, I still believe it would be more appropriate to depict all three river channels. After the Yellow River changes its course, the original channel doesn't dry up completely right away. Instead, its water flow decreases and it may develop into a new river over time. Therefore, selecting and depicting the three Yellow River channels together is more conducive to simulating the situation at that time. Moreover, the Huai River is also a navigable river.

 

[DiabloDeVille]

Its more appropriate to have taiwan be its own de jure, than for china to vassalise it 800 years earlier than irl history. Could even have it be part of the phillipines empire de jure.

 

[zeruosi]

Its more appropriate to have taiwan be its own de jure, than for china to vassalise it 800 years earlier than irl history. Could even have it be part of the phillipines empire de jure.

The only commonality between Taiwan and the Philippines is that their indigenous languages both belong to the Austronesian language family. Other than that, they are completely different. Moreover, by the end of the Tang Dynasty, the Chinese had already gained control over the Penghu Islands, which are the closest islands to Taiwan and only a few kilometers away.

It would be really strange if Taiwan were an independent imperial title on its own; it's simply too small. And before being colonized by Spain, the Philippines was never a unified entity.

 

[toroltao]

The de jure territory is pretty inconsistent. Why is Nanzhao part of the Tang de jure but not Liaoning when the Tang never had control over Nanzhao but did have control over Liaoning?

I do think it makes more sense that Liaoning is not considered part of de jure Tang China in this period because of Balhae's influence and the Tang had lost influence in the region during the 700s due to the An Lushan rebellion. But for 1066 and 1178 it had definitely become part of the Liao and Jin dynasties enough that it should be considered a de jure northern conquest dynasty territory. It's a mixed bag and there just doesn't seem to be a lot of reliable sources for where liaodong belonged in this period. It still makes more sense than Nanzhao though because that definitely was not part of the Tang's de jure territory.

Yunnan only became part of a Chinese dynasty starting with the Yuan or Ming depending on whether or not you count conquest dynasties.

If Yunnan is part of the Tang then you might as well add Tibet as well since the Yuan had control over that.

Neither Liaoning or Nanzhao seem to have been considered part of the Tang's core territory. Liaoning was definitely under the Tang's control for a period after conquering Goguryeo, but I'm not sure if that qualifies it for de jure status. It just makes it a bit more likely than Nanzhao, which was at no point part of the Tang. My impression is that Liaodong had been invaded by Balhae by 867. So Liaodong/Liaoning had been controlled by multiple dynasties by the start of 867. In 1066 and 1178, Liaodong had been part of a northern conquest dynasty for more than a century.