Son of Heaven
| Son of Heaven | |
|---|---|
| Chinese name | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Tiānzǐ |
| Middle Chinese | |
| Middle Chinese | tʰen t͡sɨX |
| Old Chinese | |
| Baxter–Sagart (2014) | *l̥ˤin *tsəʔ |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Romanization | tenshi |
Son of Heaven, or Tianzi (Chinese: 天子; pinyin: Tiānzǐ), was the sacred monarchial and imperial title of the Chinese sovereign. It originated with the Zhou dynasty[1] and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven. Since the Qin dynasty, the secular imperial title of the Son of Heaven was "Huangdi".
The title, "Son of Heaven", was subsequently adopted by other
The Son of Heaven was the supreme universal monarch, who ruled tianxia (means "all under heaven"). His status is rendered in English as "ruler of the whole world."[2] The title, "Son of Heaven", was interpreted literally only in China and Japan, whose monarchs were referred to as demigods, deities, or "living gods", chosen by the gods and goddesses of heaven.[3]
History and adoption
The title "Son of Heaven" (Chinese: 天子; pinyin: Tiānzǐ; Middle Chinese: tʰen t͡sɨX; Old Chinese (B-S): *l̥ˤin *tsəʔ) is attested earliest in bronze inscriptions dated to the reign of King Kang of Zhou.[1] This title stems from the concept of the Mandate of Heaven, created by the Zhou dynasty monarchs to justify their having deposed the Shang dynasty. They held that Heaven had revoked its mandate from the Shang and given it to the Zhou in retribution for Shang corruption and misrule. Heaven bestowed the mandate on whoever was most fit to rule. The title held the monarch responsible for the prosperity and security of his people by the threat of taking away his mandate.[3] "Son of Heaven" was often one of several titles adopted by Sinospheric monarchs. The Emperor Taizong of Tang held the title "Son of Heaven", alongside the title "Khan of Heaven" (Tengeri Qaghan) which he had gained after defeating the Eastern Turkic Khaganate.[4] Japanese monarchs likewise used a second title, tennō (天皇, "Heavenly Emperor"), that, like "Son of Heaven", appealed to the emperor's connection to Heaven.[5]
The title carried widespread influence across East Asia as the ancient Chinese monarchical title, tianzi (天子), "Son of Heaven", was later adopted by the
Based on epitaphs dating to the 4th and 5th centuries, Goguryeo had concepts of the Son of Heaven (天帝之子) and tianxia.[9][10][11] The rulers of Goryeo used the titles of emperor and Son of Heaven and positioned Goryeo at the center of the Haedong (海東; "East of the Sea") tianxia, which encompassed the historical domain of the "Samhan", another name for the Three Kingdoms of Korea.[12]
The title was also adopted in Vietnam, known in Vietnamese as Thiên tử (Chữ Hán: 天子). A divine mandate gave the Vietnamese emperor the right to rule, based not on his lineage but on his competence to govern.[13] Vietnam's adoption of a Confucian bureaucracy, presided over by Vietnam's Son of Heaven, led to the creation of a Vietnamese tributary system in Southeast Asia, modeled after the Chinese Sinocentric system in East Asia.[14]
See also
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- Chinese sovereign
- Emperor of China
- Monarchy of China
- Emperor of Japan (Tennō)
- Emperor at home, king abroad
- Little China (ideology)
- Manifestation of God (Baháʼí Faith)
- Devaraja
- Divine Right of Kings
- Sinocentrism
- Chinese Tributary System
- Pax Sinica ("Chinese peace")
- Tian (Heaven) / Shangdi (God)
- All under Heaven)
- Dynasty of Heaven)
- Tian Kehan (Khan of Heaven)
- Tian Ming (Mandate of Heaven)
- Tian Zi(Son of Heaven)
- Zhou dynasty
- Chanyu, title used by the Xiongnu's supreme leaders, prefaced with Chinese transcription 撐犁孤塗; Chēnglí gūtú which was glossed as "Son of Heaven" by Book of Han.[15]
References
- ^ a b Eno, Robert (2012). "Inscriptional records of the Western Zhou". IUScholarWorks. p. 18. Archived from the original on Oct 16, 2023.
Note that it is during the reign of King Kang that the custom of referring to the King as the Son of Heaven (Tian) first begins.
- ^ Ebrey 2010, p. 179.
- ^ a b Dull 1990, p. 59.
- ^ Twitchett 2000, p. 124.
- ^ Ooms 2009, pp. 154–156.
- ^ a b Huffman 2010, p. 15.
- ^ Inoue 1993, p. 182.
- ^ Beasley 1999, p. 29.
- from the original on Apr 30, 2021. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ "고구려의 천하관". 우리역사넷 (in Korean). National Institute of Korean History. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ "장수왕의 남진 정책". 우리역사넷. National Institute of Korean History. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
- ISBN 978-0822353720. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
- ^ Woodside 1971, p. 9.
- ^ Woodside 1971, pp. 234–237.
- ^ Book of Han, Vol. 94-I, 匈奴謂天為「撐犁」，謂子為「孤塗」，單于者，廣大之貌也.
General references
- ISBN 978-0-520-22560-2.
- ISBN 978-0-520-06441-6.
- ISBN 978-0-521-12433-1.
- Huffman, James (2010). Japan in World History. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-979884-1.
- Inoue, Mitsusada (1993). "The Century of Reform". The Cambridge History of Japan. Cambridge University Press. pp. 163–220. ISBN 978-0-521-22352-2.
- Ooms, Herman (2009). Imperial Politics and Symbolics in Ancient Japan: The Tenmu Dynasty, 650–800. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3235-3.
- ISBN 978-90-04-11774-7.
- Woodside, Alexander (1971). Vietnam and the Chinese Model: A Comparative Study of Vietnamese and Chinese Government in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-93721-5.