| Chinese Nobility |
Article Index for Chinese |
Website Links For Chinese |
Information AboutChinese Nobility |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT CHINESE NOBILITY | |
| chinese nobilitychinese nobility | |
| nobility by nation | |
| china | |
| imperial china | |
| nobility | |
Although formally The Son of Heaven, the power of the Emperor varied between different emperors and different dynasties, with some emperors being absolute rulers and others being figureheads with actual power in the hands of court factions, Eunuch s, the bureaucracy or noble families. In addition, royal or official titles from one dynasty generally were not carried over to the next dynasty. The title of emperor was transmitted from father to son. Usually the first-born son of the Queen inherited the office, but this rule was not universal and disputed succession was the cause of a number of Civil Wars . Unlike the Emperor Of Japan , traditional Chinese political theory allowed for a change in dynasty, and an emperor could be replaced by a rebel leader. This was because a successful rebel leader was believed to enjoy the mandate of heaven, while the deposed or defeated emperor had lost favour with the gods, and his mandate was over, a fact made apparent to all by his defeat. It was generally not possible for a female to succeed to the throne, so that in history of China there has only been one reigning Empress , the Empress Wu of the Tang Dynasty , although there are numerous cases in which a woman was the actual power behind the imperial throne (see éminence Grise ). PRINCEHOOD AND PEERAGE ''Fengjian'' and ''Zongfa'' of the Zhou Dynasty The social system of the Zhou Dynasty is sometimes referred to as the Chinese proto- Feudalism and was the combination of ''Fengjian'' (Honours and Awards) and ''Zongfa'' (Clan Law). Male aristocracies were classified into, in descending order of rank:
Fengjian (Honours and Awards) divided the Noble class further into (originally) five ranks. The sizes of troops and domains a male noble would command would be determined by his rank of Peerage :
While before the Han Dynasty a Peer with a place name in his title actually governed that place, it had only been nominally true since. Any male member of the nobility or gentry could be called a ''gongzi'' (公子 gōng zǐ) (or ''wangzi'' (王子 wáng zǐ) if he is a son of a king). Zongfa (Clan Law), which applied to all social classes, governed the Primogeniture of rank and succession of other Sibling s. The eldest son of the Consort would inherit the title and retained the same rank within the system. Other sons from the Consort , Concubines and Mistresses would be given titles one rank lower than their father. As time went by, all terms had lost their original meanings nonetheless. ''Qing'', ''Daifu'' and ''Shi'' became Synonym s of court officials. Physician s were often called ''Daifu'' during the Late Imperial China . Referring to a male or self-reference of a male as ''Gongzi'' eventually became a way to raise one's ''mianzi'' (refer to Face (social Custom) ), and would indeed be considered flattery today. Female Nobility Titles of Female members of the aristocracies varied in different dynasties and eras, each having unique classifications for the spouses of the emperor. Any female member excluding a spouse of an emperor can be called a Princess or ''gongzhu'' (公主 gōng zhǔ), and incorporated her associated place into her title if she had one. History Before the Qin Dynasty , '' Wang '' ( King ) was the title for the ruler of whole China. Under him were the ''Zhuhou'' or Nobles , who were the local warlords. They had the duty to support the Zhou king during an emergency. In the Spring And Autumn Period , the Zhou kings had lost most of their powers, and the most powerful ''Zhuhou'' became the De Facto ruler of China. Finally, in the Warring States Period , most ''Zhuhou'' declared themselves ''Wang'' or kings, and regarded themselves as equal to the Zhou king. After Zheng, king of the state of Qin , later known as Qin Shi Huang , defeated all the ''Wang'' and unified China, he took a new title ''Huangdi'' ( Emperor ). The founder of the Han Dynasty , Liu Bang , continued to use the title ''Huangdi''. In order to please his wartime allies, he gave each of them a piece of land as their own "kingdom" ( Wangguo ) and which entitled each of them to be designated ''Wang''. Since then, ''Wang'' became merely the highest hereditary title, which roughly corresponded to the title of Prince , and, as such, was commonly given to relatives of the emperor. The title ''Gong'' also reverted purely to a Peerage title, ranking below ''Wang''. Those who bore such titles were entirely under the auspices of the emperor, and had no ruling power of their own. The two characters combined to form the rank, ''Wanggong'', grew to become Synonym ous with all higher court officials. During the Tang Dynasty , nobles lost most of their power to the Mandarins when Imperial Examination replaced the Nine-rank System . Subsequent dynasties expanded the hereditary titles further. It should be noted, however, that not all titles of peerage are hereditary, and the right to continue the heredity passsage of a very high title was seen as a very high honour; at the end of the Qing dynasty, there were five grades of Prince s. These titles were usually awarded to the relatives of the Emperor:
as well as:
and nine grades of the Peerage awarded for valour, achievement, and distinction:
A few Chinese families enjoyed hereditary titles in the full sense, the chief among them being the Holy Duke Of Yen (the descendant of Confucius ); others, such as the lineal descendants of Wen Tianxiang , ennobled the Duke of Xingguo, not claiming use of their hereditary title. The Imperial Clansmen consisted of those who trace their descent direct from the founder of the Qing Dynasty , and were distinguished by the privilege of wearing a yellow girdle; collateral relatives of the imperial house wore a red girdle. Twelve degrees of nobility (in a descending scale as one generation succeeds another) were conferred on the descendants of every emperor; in the thirteenth generation the descendants of emperors were merged in the general population, save that they retain the yellow girdle. The heads of eight houses, the Iron-capped (or helmeted) princes, maintained their titles in perpetuity by rule of Primogeniture in virtue of having helped the Manchu Conquest of China. All titles of nobility were officially abolished when China became a Republic in 1912 . The Last Emperor was allowed to keep his title but was treated as a foreign monarch until 1924 . OTHER HISTORICAL CHINESE TITLES Protector General (都護; Duhu) – See e.g. Ban Chao . Frederick Lun, 252 curry street ryde, nsw, sydney.Xrm575 STYLES FOR FOREIGN MONARCHS Traditional Chinese political theory held that "all lands under Heaven belong to the emperor" (普天之下，莫非王土). Thus, a foreign monarch would also be referred to as ''Wang'', implying that one was inferior in rank and thus subject to the Chinese Emperor. This practice persisted until the latter half of the 19th Century , when China was overwhelmed by European powers. In modern Chinese, a King is referred to as ''Wang'', while an Emperor would be referred to as ''Huangdi''. The king in those times were referred to as the mandate of heaven. Therefore Victoria Of The United Kingdom was styled ''Nü-Wang'' (Queen) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , and ''Nü-Huang'' (Empress) of India . ''This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica , which is in the public domain.'' |
|
|