During the Han dynasty, Confucianism gained sanction as the official political theory. The absolute authority of the emperor came with a variety of governing duties and moral obligations; failure to uphold these was thought to remove the dynasty's Mandate of Heaven and to justify its overthrow. In practice, emperors sometimes avoided the strict rules of succession and dynasties' purported "failures" were detailed in official histories written by their successful replacements or even later dynasties. The power of the emperor was also limited by the imperial bureaucracy, which was staffed by scholar-officials, and eunuchs during some dynasties. An emperor was also constrained by filial obligations to his ancestors' policies and dynastic traditions, such as those first detailed in the Ming-eraHuang-Ming Zuxun (Ancestral Instructions).
Qin Shi Huang escaping assassination (3rd century AD)
During the Western Zhou dynasty (c.1046BC–771BC), Chinese vassal rulers with power over their particular fiefdoms served a strong central monarch. Following a brutal succession crisis and relocation of the royal capital, the power of the Zhou kings (王; wàng[lower-alpha 1]) waned, and during the Eastern Zhou period, the regional lords overshadowed the king and began to usurp that title for themselves. In 221BC, after the King of Qin completed the conquest of the various kingdoms of the Warring States period, he adopted a new title to reflect his prestige as a ruler greater than the rulers before him. He called himself "Shi Huangdi", or the 'First Emperor'. Before this, Huang (皇 'august', 'sovereign'[lower-alpha 2]) was most commonly seen as a reverential epithet for a deceased ancestor, and Di (帝, OC:*tˤeks) was an apical ancestor, originally referring to the deified ancestors of the Shang kings.[3][lower-alpha 3] In the 3rd centuryBC, the two titles had not previously been used together. The emperor of China, like the Zhou kings before him, and the Shang kings before them, was most commonly referred to as Tianzi (天子 'Son of Heaven'), who was divinely appointed to rule. The appellation Huangdi carried similar shades of meaning.[4] Alternate English translations of the word include "The August Ancestor", "The Holy Ruler", or "The Divine Lord". On that account, some modern scholars translate the title as "thearch".[3]
On occasion, the father of the ascended emperor was still alive. Such an emperor was titled as the Taishang Huang ('grand imperial sire'). The practice was initiated by Qin Shi Huang, who gave the title as a posthumous name to his own father, as was already common for monarchs of any stratum of power. Liu Bang, who established the Han dynasty, was the first to become emperor while his father yet lived. It was said he granted the title during his father's life because he would not be done obeisance to by his own father, a commoner.[5][6]
Owing to political fragmentation, over the centuries, it has not been uncommon to have numerous claimants to the title of "Son of Heaven". The Chinese political concept of the Mandate of Heaven essentially legitimized those claimants who emerged victorious. The proper list was considered those made by the official dynastic histories; the compilation of a history of the preceding dynasty was considered one of the hallmarks of legitimacy, along with symbols such as the Nine Ding or the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. As with the First Emperor, it remained very common to grant posthumous titles to the ancestors of the victors.
The Yuan and Qing dynasties were founded by successful invaders of different ethnic groups. As part of their rule over China, they also went through the culturally appropriate rituals of formally declaring a new dynasty and taking on the Chinese title of Huangdi, in addition to the titles of their respective people, especially in the case of the Yuan dynasty. Thus, Kublai Khan was simultaneously khagan of the Mongols and emperor of China.
Puyi, who had reigned as the Xuantong Emperor, abdicated on 12 February 1912, ending the Qing dynasty as well as the imperial tradition altogether, after more than 2100 years. Yuan Shikai, former President of the Republic of China, attempted to restore dynastic rule with himself as the Hongxian Emperor, however his claim to the title of emperor ended on 22 March 1916. Puyi was briefly restored for almost two weeks during a coup in 1917 but was overthrown again shortly after. He later became the emperor of Manchukuo, a Japanese puppet state, and was captured by the Red Army as a prisoner of war after World War II and held in the Siberian city of Chita. He was returned to China by the Soviets, and imprisoned in Fushun War Criminals Management Centre, and after he was released lived until 1967.
Had the Qing dynasty continued as an imperial house, Jin Yuzhang would currently head it. He has worked for various local councils on China, and no interest in the restoration of monarchy.[7]
Enumeration
Traditional political theory holds that there can only be one legitimate Son of Heaven at any given time. However, identifying the "legitimate" emperor during times of division is not always uncontroversial, and therefore the exact number of legitimate emperors depends on where one stands on a number of succession disputes. The two most notable such controversies are whether Cao Wei or Shu Han had legitimacy during the Three Kingdoms, and at what point the Song dynasty ceased to be the legitimate dynasty in favor of the Yuan dynasty.[8] The Qing view, reported to Europe by the Jesuits, was that there had been 150 emperors from the First Emperor to the Kangxi Emperor.[9] Adding the eight uncontroversial emperors that followed the Kangxi Emperor would give a grand total of 158 emperors from the First Emperor to Puyi.
The emperor's words were considered sacred edicts (圣旨; 聖旨), and his written proclamations were called 'directives from above' (上谕; 上諭). In theory, the emperor's orders were to be obeyed immediately. He was elevated above all commoners, nobility and members of the Imperial family. Addresses to the emperor were always to be formal and self-deprecatory, even by the closest of family members.
In practice, however, the power of the emperor varied between different emperors and different dynasties. Generally, in the Chinese dynastic cycle, emperors founding a dynasty usually consolidated the empire through comparative autocracy—examples include Qin Shi Huang, emperors Gaozu and Guangwu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Kublai Khan of the Yuan, and the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing.
The usual method for widespread geographic power consolidation was to involve the whole family. From generation to generation, the bonds weakened between the branches of family established as local rulers in different areas. After a sufficient period of time, their loyalty could no longer be assured, and the taxes they collected sapped the imperial coffers. This led to situations like the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, who disenfranchised and annihilated the nobilities of virtually all imperial relatives whose forebears had been enfeoffed by his own ancestor, Gaozu.[12]:76–84
Apart from a few very energetic monarchs, the emperor usually delegated the majority of decision making to the civil bureaucracy (chiefly the chancellery and the Central Secretariat), the military, and in some periods the censorate. Paranoid emperors, like Emperor Wu of Han and the Ming's Hongwu Emperor, would cycle through high government officials rapidly, or simply leave top-ranking posts vacant, such that no one could threaten their power. During other reigns, certain officials in the civil bureaucracy wield more powerful than the emperor himself.[13]
The emperor's position, unless deposed in a rebellion, was always hereditary, usually by agnatic primogeniture. As a result, many emperors ascended the throne while still children. During minority reigns, the Empress Dowager, the emperor's mother, would usually possess significant political power, along with the male members of her birth family. In fact, the vast majority of female rulers throughout Chinese Imperial history came to power by ruling as regents on behalf of their sons; prominent examples include Empress Lü Zhi of the Han, as well as the empress dowagers Cixi and Ci'an during the Qing, who for a time ruled jointly as co-regents. Where Empresses Dowager were too weak to assume power, or her family too strongly opposed, court officials often seized control. Court eunuchs had a significant role in the power structure, as emperors often relied on a few of them as confidants, which gave them access to many court documents. In a few places, eunuchs wielded vast power; one of the most powerful eunuchs in Chinese history was Wei Zhongxian during the Ming. Occasionally, other nobles seized power as regents.
The actual area ruled by the emperor of China varied from dynasty to dynasty. In some cases, such as during the Southern Song dynasty, political power in East Asia was effectively split among several governments; nonetheless, the political fiction that there was but one ruler was maintained.
Heredity and succession
An 18th century depiction of Wu Zetian, the only female emperor of China
The title of emperor was hereditary, traditionally passed on from father to son in each dynasty. There are also instances where the throne is assumed by a younger brother, should the deceased emperor have no male offspring. By convention in most dynasties, the eldest son born to the Empress consort (嫡长子; 嫡長子) succeeded to the throne. In some cases when the empress did not bear any children, the emperor would have a child with another of his many wives (all children of the emperor were said also to be the children of the empress, regardless of birth mother). In some dynasties the succession of the empress' eldest son was disputed, and because many emperors had large numbers of progeny, there were wars of succession between rival sons. In an attempt to resolve after-death disputes, the emperor, while still living, often designated a crown prince (太子). Even such a clear designation, however, was often thwarted by jealousy and distrust, whether it was the crown prince plotting against the emperor, or brothers plotting against each other. Some emperors, like the Yongzheng Emperor, after abolishing the position of Crown Prince, placed the succession papers in a sealed box, only to be opened and announced after his death.
Unlike, for example, the Japanese monarchy, Chinese political theory allowed for a change in the ruling house. This was based on the concept of the "Mandate of Heaven". The theory behind this was that the Chinese emperor acted as the "Son of Heaven" and held a mandate to rule over everyone else in the world; but only as long as he served the people well. If the quality of rule became questionable because of repeated natural disasters such as flood or famine, or for other reasons, then rebellion was justified. This important concept legitimized the dynastic cycle or the change of dynasties. This principle made it possible even for peasants to found new dynasties, as happened with the Han and Ming dynasties, and for the establishment of conquest dynasties such as the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and Manchu-led Qing dynasty. It was moral integrity and benevolent leadership that determined the holder of the "Mandate of Heaven".
As the emperor had, by law, an absolute position not to be challenged by anyone else, his or her subjects were to show the utmost respect in his or her presence, whether in direct conversation or otherwise. When approaching the imperial throne, one was expected to kowtow before the emperor. In a conversation with the emperor, it was considered a crime to compare oneself to the emperor in any way. It was taboo to refer to the emperor by his or her given name, even for the emperor's own mother, who instead was to use Huangdi (皇帝), or simply Er (儿; 兒 'son', for a male emperor). The given names of all the emperor's deceased male ancestors were forbidden from being written, and were avoided (避諱) by the use of synonyms, homophones, or leaving out the final stroke of the taboo character. This linguistic feature can sometimes be used to date historical texts, by noting which words in parallel texts are altered.
The emperor was never to be addressed as you. Instead, one used Bixia (陛下 'bottom of the steps'), corresponding to "Your Imperial Majesty", Huangshang, Shengshang (圣上; 聖上 'holy highness') or Tianzi (天子 'Son of Heaven'). The emperor was also alluded to indirectly through reference to the imperial dragon symbology. Servants often addressed the emperor as Wansuiye (万岁爷; 萬歲爺 'lord of ten thousand years'). The emperor referred to himself as zhen (朕), the original Chinese first-person singular pronoun arrogated by Qin Shi Huang, functioning as an equivalent to the royal we. In front of subjects, the emperor may also refer to themselves self-deprecatingly as Guaren (寡人 'the morally-deficient one') or Gu (孤 'lonely one').
In contrast to the Western convention of using a regnal or personal name (e.g. George V) to refer to a sovereign, the emperor was referred to in the third person simply as Huangdi Bixia (皇帝陛下 'His Majesty the Emperor') or Dangjin Huangshang (当今皇上; 當今皇上 'present emperor above'). Under the Qing, the emperor was usually styled 'His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, Son of Heaven, Lord of Ten Thousand Years', though this varied considerably. In historical texts, the present emperor was almost universally referred to as Shang (上).
Generally, emperors also ruled with an era name (年号; 年號). Since the adoption of era names by Emperor Wu of Han and up until the Ming dynasty, the sovereign conventionally changed the era name semi-regularly during his or her reign. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, emperors simply chose one era name for their entire reign, and people often referred to past emperors with that title. In earlier dynasties, the emperors were known with a temple name given after their death. Most emperors were also given a posthumous name which was sometimes combined with the temple name (e.g. Emperor Shengzu Ren 圣祖仁皇帝; 聖祖仁皇帝 for the Kangxi Emperor). The passing of an emperor was referred to as Jiabeng (驾崩; 駕崩 'collapse of the imperial chariot') and an emperor that had just died was referred to as Daixing Huangdi (大行皇帝 'the emperor of the great journey').
Consorts and children
The imperial family was made up of the emperor and the empress (皇后) as the primary consort and Mother of the Nation (国母; 國母). In addition, the emperor would typically have several other consorts and concubines (嫔妃; 嬪妃), ranked by importance into a harem, in which the Empress was supreme. Every dynasty had its set of rules regarding the numerical composition of the harem. During the Qing dynasty, for example, imperial convention dictated that at any given time there should be one Empress, one Imperial Noble Consort, two Noble Consort, four Consort and six Concubine, plus an unlimited number of Noble Lady, First Class Attendant and Second Class Attendant. Although the emperor had the highest status by law, by tradition and precedent the empress dowager (皇太后) usually received the greatest respect in the palace and was the decision maker in most family affairs. At times, especially when a young emperor was on the throne, she was the de facto ruler. The emperor's children, the princes (皇子) and princesses (公主), were often referred to by their order of birth—e.g. Eldest Prince or Third Princess. Princes were often given titles of peerage once they reached adulthood. The emperor's brothers and uncles served in court by law, and held equal status with other court officials (子). The emperor was always elevated above all others despite any chronological or generational superiority.
Recent scholarship is wary of applying present-day ethnic categories to historical situations. Most Chinese emperors have been considered members of the Han ethnicity, but there were also many Chinese emperors who were of non-Han ethnic origins. The most successful of these were the Khitans of the Liao dynasty, the Jurchens of the Jin dynasty (1115–1234), who later ruled the Qing dynasty as the Manchus, and the Mongols of the Yuan dynasty. The orthodox historical view sees these as dynasties as sinicized polities as they adopted Han culture, claimed the Mandate of Heaven, and performed the traditional imperial obligations such as annual sacrifices to Heaven for rain and prosperity. The revisionist New Qing History school, however, argues that the interaction between politics and ethnicity was far more complex and that elements of these dynasties differed from and altered "native Chinese" traditions concerning imperial rule.[14]
↑ Huang (皇) and Di (帝) were also terms applied to the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, mythical godly rulers and culture heroes credited with feats like ordering the sky and forming the first humans out of clay, as well as the invention of agriculture, clothing, astrology, music, etc.
Related Research Articles
The history of China spans several millennia across a wide geographical area. Each region now considered part of the Chinese world has experienced periods of unity, fracture, prosperity, and strife. Chinese civilization first emerged in the Yellow River valley, which along with the Yangtze basin constitutes the geographic core of the Chinese cultural sphere. China maintains a rich diversity of ethnic and linguistic people groups. The traditional lens for viewing Chinese history is the dynastic cycle: imperial dynasties rise and fall, and are ascribed certain achievements. Throughout pervades the narrative that Chinese civilization can be traced as an unbroken thread many thousands of years into the past, making it one of the cradles of civilization. At various times, states representative of a dominant Chinese culture have directly controlled areas stretching as far west as the Tian Shan, the Tarim Basin, and the Himalayas, as far north as the Sayan Mountains, and as far south as the delta of the Red River.
The Chinese sovereign was the ruler of a particular monarchical regime in the historical periods of ancient China and imperial China. Sovereigns ruling the same regime, and descended from the same paternal line, constituted a dynasty. Several titles and naming schemes have been used throughout Chinese history.
A posthumous name is an honorary name given mainly to revered dead people in East Asian culture. It is predominantly used in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments or reputation, the title is assigned after death and essentially replaces the name used during life. Although most posthumous names are given to royalty, some posthumous names are given to honour significant people without hereditary titles, such as courtiers or military generals.
Wu Zetian, personal name Wu Zhao, was Empress of China from 660 to 705, ruling first through others and then in her own right. She ruled first as empress consort, through her husband Emperor Gaozong and then as an empress dowager, through her sons Emperors Zhongzong and Ruizong, from 660 to 690, not unprecedented in Chinese history. She subsequently founded and ruled as female emperor of the Wu Zhou dynasty of China from 690 to 705. She was the only female sovereign in the history of China widely regarded as legitimate. Under her 45-year reign, China grew larger, becoming one of the great powers of the world, its culture and economy were revitalized, and corruption in the court was reduced. She was eventually removed from power during a coup and died a few months later.
Hong Taiji, also rendered as Huang Taiji and sometimes referred to as Abahai in Western literature, also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizong of Qing, was the second khan of the Later Jin dynasty and the founding emperor of the Qing dynasty. He was responsible for consolidating the empire that his father Nurhaci had founded and laid the groundwork for the conquest of the Ming dynasty, although he died before this was accomplished. He was also responsible for changing the name of the Jurchen ethnicity to "Manchu" in 1635, and changing the name of his dynasty from "Great Jin" to "Great Qing" in 1636. The Qing dynasty started to rule over China proper in 1644, which lasted until 1912. Hong Taiji could have been a Manchu of Mongolian origin, being the son of Yehe Nara Monggo Jerjer, or genetically related to the Mongols as a member of the Aisin-Gioro clan.
The consort kin were the kin or a group of people related to an empress dowager or a consort of a monarch or a warlord in the Sinosphere. The leading figure of the clan was either a sibling, cousin, or parent of the empress dowager or consort.
The nobility of China represented the upper strata of aristocracy in premodern China, acting as the ruling class until c. 1000 CE, and remaining a significant feature of the traditional social structure until the end of the imperial period.
For most of its history, China was organized into various dynastic states under the rule of hereditary monarchs. Beginning with the establishment of dynastic rule by Yu the Great c. 2070 BC, and ending with the abdication of the Xuantong Emperor in AD 1912, Chinese historiography came to organize itself around the succession of monarchical dynasties. Besides those established by the dominant Han ethnic group or its spiritual Huaxia predecessors, dynasties throughout Chinese history were also founded by non-Han peoples.
Taizu is a temple name typically, but not always, used for Chinese monarchs who founded a particular dynasty, may refer to:
After Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu and proclaimed himself emperor of the Han dynasty, he followed the practice of Xiang Yu and enfeoffed many generals, noblemen, and imperial relatives as kings, the same title borne by the sovereigns of the Shang and Zhou dynasties and by the rulers of the Warring States. Each king had his own semi-autonomous kingdom. This was a departure from the policy of the Qin dynasty, which divided China into commanderies governed by non-hereditary governors.
The Heirloom Seal of the Realm, also known in English as the Imperial Seal of China, was a Chinese jade seal allegedly carved out of the Heshibi, a sacred piece of jade. The Seal was created in 221 BC, shortly after Qin Shi Huang unified China and established the Qin dynasty, China's first imperial dynasty. The Heirloom Seal served as the imperial Chinese seal throughout the next millennium of Chinese history, and its possession was seen as a physical symbol of the Mandate of Heaven.
The Old History of the Five Dynasties was an official history mainly focusing on Five Dynasties era (907–960), which controlled much of northern China. And it also includes some history of other south states during the era. It was compiled by the Song dynasty official-scholar Xue Juzheng in the first two decades of the Song dynasty, which was founded in 960. It is one of the Twenty-Four Histories recognized through Chinese history.
Li Ezi, later Buddhist nun name Changbei (常悲), was an empress dowager of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Zhou dynasty. She was the mother of Emperor Xuan.
The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China. It followed the Qin dynasty, which had unified the Warring States of China by conquest. It was founded by Liu Bang. The dynasty is divided into two periods: the Western Han and the Eastern Han, interrupted briefly by the Xin dynasty of Wang Mang. These appellations are derived from the locations of the capital cities Chang'an and Luoyang, respectively. The third and final capital of the dynasty was Xuchang, where the court moved in 196 CE during a period of political turmoil and civil war.
In Chinese history, a Taishang Huang or Taishang Huangdi is an honorific and institution of a retired emperor. The former emperor had, at least in name, abdicated in favor of someone else. Although no longer the reigning sovereign, there are instances where the retired emperor became a power behind the throne, often exerting more power than the reigning emperor.
Prince or King of Yan was a Chinese feudal title referring to the ancient Chinese State of Yan and to its fiefs including the capital Yanjing.
Empress Yuan, personal name unknown, was briefly an emperor of the Xianbei-led Chinese Northern Wei dynasty. She bore the surname Yuan, originally Tuoba. Yuan was the only child of Emperor Xiaoming, born to his concubine Consort Pan. Soon after her birth, her grandmother the Empress Dowager Hu, who was also Xiaoming's regent, falsely declared that she was a boy and ordered a general pardon. Emperor Xiaoming died soon afterwards. On 1 April 528, Empress Dowager Hu installed the infant on the throne for a matter of hours before replacing her with Yuan Zhao the next day. Emperor Xiaoming's daughter was not recognised as a legitimate emperor (huangdi) by later generations. No further information about her or her mother is available.
Emperor at home, king abroad was a system of conducting relations between states within the Chinese cultural sphere. Rulers of lesser regimes would adopt the title of emperor and/or other imperial titles domestically, and adopt the title of king when dealing with the dominant Chinese regime. Instead of using the styles Imperial Majesty and Majesty (陛下), rulers of lesser realms were styled as Highness (殿下). This system was applicable to Japan, Korea and Vietnam, as well as less powerful Chinese states, among others.
References
↑ Dillon, Michael, ed. (2017). Encyclopedia of Chinese History. Routledge. p.182. ISBN978-0-415-42699-2.
↑ Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian, "Gaozu's Basic Annals", 61
↑ Sima Qian (author) & Burton Watson (translator) (1971). Records of the Grand Historian of China "Volume I: The Early Years of the Han dynasty from 209 to 141 B.C. Part III: The Victor - The Basic Annals of Emperor Kao-tsu (Shih-chi 8)" p. 108-109.
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