1.
Chinese name
–
Chinese personal names are names used by those from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the Chinese diaspora overseas. Prior to the 20th century, educated Chinese also utilized a courtesy name or style name called zi by which they were known among those outside of their family and closest friends. From at least the time of the Shang dynasty, the Han Chinese observed a number of naming taboos regulating who may or may not use a given name. In general, using the given name connoted the speakers authority, peers and younger relatives were barred from speaking it. Owing to this, many historical Chinese figures – particularly emperors – used a half-dozen or more different names in different contexts and those possessing names identical to the emperors were frequently forced to change them. Although some terms in the ancient Chinese naming system, such as xìng and míng, are used today, they were used in different. Commoners possessed only a name, and the modern concept of a surname or family name did not yet exist at any level of society.3 billion citizens. In fact, just the top three – Wang, Li, and Zhang – cover more than 20% of the population. This homogeneity results from the majority of Han family names having only one character. Chinese surnames arose from two separate traditions, the xìng and the shì. The original xìng were clans of royalty at the Shang court, the shì did not originate from families, but denoted fiefs, states, and titles granted or recognized by the Shang court. Apart from the Jiang and Yao families, the original xìng have nearly disappeared, xìng is now used to describe the shì surnames which replaced them, while shì is used to refer to maiden names. The enormous modern clans sometimes share ancestral halls with one another, nonetheless, however tenuous these bonds sometimes are, it remains a minor taboo to marry someone with the same family name. In modern mainland China, it is the norm that a woman keeps her name unchanged. A child usually inherits his/her fathers surname, though the law explicitly states that a child may use either parents or the grandparents. It is also possible, though far less common, for a child to both parents surnames. In the older generations, it was common for a married woman to prepend her husbands surname to her own. This practice is now almost extinct in mainland China, though there are a few such as the name change of Gu Kailai, but survives in some Hong Kong, Macau
Chinese name
–
The signature of
Sun Yat-sen; in English Chinese people usually keep their names in Chinese order unless they live or travel abroad
2.
Chinese surname
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Chinese surnames are used by Han Chinese and Sinicized ethnic groups in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and among overseas Chinese communities. In ancient times two types of surnames existed, namely xing or lineage names, and shi or clan names, Chinese family names are patrilineal, passed from father to children. Women do not normally change their surnames upon marriage, except in places with more Western influences such as Hong Kong, traditionally Chinese surnames have been exogamous. The colloquial expressions laobaixing and bǎixìng are used in Chinese to mean ordinary folks, prior to the Warring States period, only the ruling families and the aristocratic elite had surnames. Historically there was also a difference between clan names or xing and lineages names or shi, Xing were surnames held by the noble clans. They generally are composed of a nü radical which has taken by some as evidence they originated from matriarchal societies based on maternal lineages. Another hypothesis has been proposed by sinologist Léon Vandermeersch upon observation of the evolution of characters in oracular scripture from the Shang dynasty through the Zhou, the female radical seems to appear at the Zhou period next to Shang sinograms indicating an ethnic group or a tribe. This combination seems to designate specifically a female and could mean lady of such or such clan, prior to the Qin Dynasty China was largely a fengjian society. In this way, a nobleman would hold a shi and a xing, after the states of China were unified by Qin Shi Huang in 221 BC, surnames gradually spread to the lower classes and the difference between xing and shi blurred. Many shi surnames survive to the present day, according to Kiang Kang-Hu, there are 18 sources from which Chinese surnames may be derived, while others suggested at least 24. The following are some of the sources, Xing, These were usually reserved for the central lineage of the royal family. Of these xings, only Jiang and Yao have survived in their form to modern days as frequently occurring surnames. Royal decree by the Emperor, such as Kuang, state name, Many nobles and commoners took the name of their state, either to show their continuing allegiance or as a matter of national and ethnic identity. These are some of the most common Chinese surnames, name of a fief or place of origin, Fiefdoms were often granted to collateral branches of the aristocracy and it was natural as part of the process of sub-surnaming for their names to be used. An example is Di, Marquis of Ouyangting, whose descendants took the surname Ouyang, there are some two hundred examples of this identified, often of two-character surnames, but few have survived to the present. Names of an ancestor, Like the previous example, this was also a common origin with close to 500 or 600 examples,200 of which are two-character surnames, often an ancestors courtesy name would be used. For example, Yuan Taotu took the character of his grandfathers courtesy name Boyuan as his surname. Sometimes titles granted to ancestors could also be taken as surnames, seniority within the family, In ancient usage, the characters of meng, zhong, shu and ji were used to denote the first, second, third and fourth eldest sons in a family
Chinese surname
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Many village names in China are linked to surnames. Pictured is Jiajiayuan (贾家源), i.e. "
Jia Family 's Spring", in Honggang Town,
Tongshan County, Hubei
3.
Jin (Chinese surname)
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Jin is the Hanyu pinyin transliteration of a number of Chinese surnames. The most common one, Jīn 金, literally means gold and is 29th in the list of Hundred Family Surnames, as of 2006, it is ranked the 64th most common Chinese surname. The other, less common, surnames that are Jin in pinyin include Jìn and Jìn, Jin is an ancient surname, dating back over 4,000 years. It was first mentioned during the period ruled by the Yellow Emperor, a legendary Chinese sovereign and cultural hero, the legend behind the Jin surname is as follows, The Yellow Emperors son, Yi Zhi, eventually succeeded him. On the same day he was installed as leader, a golden phoenix flew down and his followers reckoned it was an auspicious beginning. They decided to use gold as the emblem of their tribe, Yi Zhi was retitled Jin Tian Shi by his people, and headed the Jin Tian Tribe. Their settlement was located in Qufu, some of his descendants adopted Jin as their surnames and left off the words Tian Shi. The surname also appeared in an area called Pengcheng during the Han Dynasty, Jīn Wang Sun was the first husband of Empress Wang Zhi during the Han Dynasty. Jīn Mi Di was with the Xiongnu people during the Han Dynasty and his father, Xiutu was a general-feudal lord during the Xiongnu Dynasty. Jin Xuan and Jin Yi were some of his descendants, qiang people use the surnames Jīn, Chang, Gong, and Ju-Goo. Some of Qian Lius descendents received the surname Jīn, Jin was among the surnames granted to the Kaifeng Jews by an unnamed Song Dynasty emperor. During the Yuan Dynasty, Chinese Liu clan received the surname Jīn, Jīn Fu Xiang, mongolian Ye clan got surname Jīn at Ming Dynasty Taiwanese aborigines received surname Jīn, Zhang, amongst others, during the Qing Dynasty. Aisin Gioro clan got the surname Jīn, as Aisin means gold in Manchu language, Jin uses the same character as the Korean surname, Kim. Kim is Koreas most common surname and is widely found amongst the ethnic Koreans in China. It was later a clan in the Chu, originally the name was Jian-Jin, but was later changed to Jian-Qian and Jìn. Yue-Sai Kan Jìn (晋 family name originate from Táng Shū Yú the brother of King Wu of Zhou, he founded the state of Jin and his later descendants used the surname Jìn
Jin (Chinese surname)
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Jin
4.
Chinese language
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Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases mutually unintelligible, language varieties, forming a branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many ethnic groups in China. Nearly 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language, the varieties of Chinese are usually described by native speakers as dialects of a single Chinese language, but linguists note that they are as diverse as a language family. The internal diversity of Chinese has been likened to that of the Romance languages, There are between 7 and 13 main regional groups of Chinese, of which the most spoken by far is Mandarin, followed by Wu, Min, and Yue. Most of these groups are mutually unintelligible, although some, like Xiang and certain Southwest Mandarin dialects, may share common terms, all varieties of Chinese are tonal and analytic. Standard Chinese is a form of spoken Chinese based on the Beijing dialect of Mandarin. It is the language of China and Taiwan, as well as one of four official languages of Singapore. It is one of the six languages of the United Nations. The written form of the language, based on the logograms known as Chinese characters, is shared by literate speakers of otherwise unintelligible dialects. Of the other varieties of Chinese, Cantonese is the spoken language and official in Hong Kong and Macau. It is also influential in Guangdong province and much of Guangxi, dialects of Southern Min, part of the Min group, are widely spoken in southern Fujian, with notable variants also spoken in neighboring Taiwan and in Southeast Asia. Hakka also has a diaspora in Taiwan and southeast Asia. Shanghainese and other Wu varieties are prominent in the lower Yangtze region of eastern China, Chinese can be traced back to a hypothetical Sino-Tibetan proto-language. The first written records appeared over 3,000 years ago during the Shang dynasty, as the language evolved over this period, the various local varieties became mutually unintelligible. In reaction, central governments have sought to promulgate a unified standard. Difficulties have included the great diversity of the languages, the lack of inflection in many of them, in addition, many of the smaller languages are spoken in mountainous areas that are difficult to reach, and are often also sensitive border zones. Without a secure reconstruction of proto-Sino-Tibetan, the structure of the family remains unclear. A top-level branching into Chinese and Tibeto-Burman languages is often assumed, the earliest examples of Chinese are divinatory inscriptions on oracle bones from around 1250 BCE in the late Shang dynasty
Chinese language
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The
Tripitaka Koreana, a Korean collection of the
Chinese Buddhist canon
Chinese language
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Hànyǔ (Chinese) written in
traditional (left) and
simplified (right) characters
Chinese language
–
"
Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion " by
Wang Xizhi, written in
semi-cursive style
5.
Pinyin
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Pinyin, or Hànyǔ Pīnyīn, is the official romanization system for Standard Chinese in mainland China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Taiwan. It is often used to teach Standard Chinese, which is written using Chinese characters. The system includes four diacritics denoting tones, Pinyin without tone marks is used to spell Chinese names and words in languages written with the Latin alphabet, and also in certain computer input methods to enter Chinese characters. The pinyin system was developed in the 1950s by many linguists, including Zhou Youguang and it was published by the Chinese government in 1958 and revised several times. The International Organization for Standardization adopted pinyin as a standard in 1982. The system was adopted as the standard in Taiwan in 2009. The word Hànyǔ means the language of the Han people. In 1605, the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci published Xizi Qiji in Beijing and this was the first book to use the Roman alphabet to write the Chinese language. Twenty years later, another Jesuit in China, Nicolas Trigault, neither book had much immediate impact on the way in which Chinese thought about their writing system, and the romanizations they described were intended more for Westerners than for the Chinese. One of the earliest Chinese thinkers to relate Western alphabets to Chinese was late Ming to early Qing Dynasty scholar-official, the first late Qing reformer to propose that China adopt a system of spelling was Song Shu. A student of the great scholars Yu Yue and Zhang Taiyan, Song had been to Japan and observed the effect of the kana syllabaries. This galvanized him into activity on a number of fronts, one of the most important being reform of the script, while Song did not himself actually create a system for spelling Sinitic languages, his discussion proved fertile and led to a proliferation of schemes for phonetic scripts. The Wade–Giles system was produced by Thomas Wade in 1859, and it was popular and used in English-language publications outside China until 1979. This Sin Wenz or New Writing was much more sophisticated than earlier alphabets. In 1940, several members attended a Border Region Sin Wenz Society convention. Mao Zedong and Zhu De, head of the army, both contributed their calligraphy for the masthead of the Sin Wenz Societys new journal. Outside the CCP, other prominent supporters included Sun Yat-sens son, Sun Fo, Cai Yuanpei, the countrys most prestigious educator, Tao Xingzhi, an educational reformer. Over thirty journals soon appeared written in Sin Wenz, plus large numbers of translations, biographies, some contemporary Chinese literature, and a spectrum of textbooks
Pinyin
–
A school slogan asking elementary students to speak
Putonghua is annotated with pinyin, but without tonal marks.
Pinyin
–
In
Yiling,
Yichang,
Hubei, text on road signs appears both in Chinese characters and in Hanyu Pinyin
6.
Courtesy name
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A courtesy name, also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to ones given name. This practice is a tradition in East Asian cultures, including China, Japan, Korea, formerly in China, the zi would replace a males given name when he turned twenty, as a symbol of adulthood and respect. It could be either by the parents or by the first personal teacher on the first day of family school. Females might substitute their given name for a zi upon marriage, one also may adopt a self-chosen courtesy name. In China the popularity of the custom has declined to some extent since the May Fourth Movement in 1919, a courtesy name is not to be confused with an art name, another frequently mentioned term for an alternative name in Asian culture-based context. An art name is associated with art and is more of a literary name or a pseudonym that is more spontaneous. The zì, sometimes called the biǎozì or courtesy name, is a name given to Chinese males at the age of 20. It was sometimes given to females upon marriage, the practice is no longer common in modern Chinese society. According to the Book of Rites, after a man reaches adulthood, it is disrespectful for others of the generation to address him by his given name. The zì is mostly disyllabic and is based on the meaning of the míng or given name. Yan Zhitui of the Northern Qi dynasty believed that while the purpose of the míng was to one person from another. The relation which exists between a persons zì and míng may be seen in the case of Chiang Kai-shek, whose ming was Zhōngzhèng. Thus he was also called 蔣中正（Chiang Chung-cheng）in some context, another way to form a zì is to use the homophonic character zǐ – a respectful title for a male – as the first character of the disyllabic zì. Thus, for example, Gongsun Qiaos zì was Zǐchǎn, and Du Fus and it is also common to construct a zì by using as the first character one which expresses the bearers birth order among male siblings in his family. Thus Confucius, whose name was Kǒng Qiū, was given the zì Zhòngní, the characters commonly used are bó for the first, zhòng for the second, shū for the third, and jì typically for the youngest, if the family consists of more than three sons. General Sun Jians four sons, for instance, were Sun Ce, Sun Quan, Sun Yi, the use of zì began during the Shang dynasty, and slowly developed into a system which became most widespread during the succeeding Zhou dynasty. During this period, women were also given zì, the zì given to a woman was generally composed of a character indicating her birth order among female siblings and her surname. For example, Mèng Jiāng was the eldest daughter in the Jiāng family, prior to the twentieth century, sinicized Koreans, Vietnamese, and Japanese were also referred to by their zì
Courtesy name
–
Courtesy name (Zi)
7.
History of China
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Written records of the history of China can be found from as early as 1500 BC under the Shang dynasty. Ancient historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian and the Bamboo Annals describe a Xia dynasty, with thousands of years of continuous history, China is one of the worlds oldest civilizations, and is regarded as one of the cradles of civilization. Much of Chinese culture, literature and philosophy developed during the Zhou dynasty. This is one of multiple periods of failed statehood in Chinese history, between eras of multiple kingdoms and warlordism, Chinese dynasties have ruled parts or all of China, in some eras control stretched as far as Xinjiang and Tibet, as at present. In 221 BC Qin Shi Huang united the warring kingdoms and created for himself the title of emperor of the Qin dynasty. Successive dynasties developed bureaucratic systems that enabled the emperor to control vast territories directly, in the 21 centuries from 206 BC until AD1912, routine administrative tasks were handled by a special elite, the Scholar-officials. Young men were selected through difficult examinations and were well-versed in calligraphy and philosophy. What is now China was inhabited by Homo erectus more than a million years ago, recent study shows that the stone tools found at Xiaochangliang site are magnetostratigraphically dated to 1.36 million years ago. The archaeological site of Xihoudu in Shanxi Province is the earliest recorded use of fire by Homo erectus, the excavations at Yuanmou and later Lantian show early habitation. Perhaps the most famous specimen of Homo erectus found in China is the so-called Peking Man discovered in 1923–27, fossilised teeth of Homo sapiens dating to 125, 000–80,000 BC have been discovered in Fuyan Cave in Dao County in Hunan. The Neolithic age in China can be traced back to about 10,000 BC, Early evidence for proto-Chinese millet agriculture is radiocarbon-dated to about 7000 BC. The earliest evidence of cultivated rice, found by the Yangtze River, is carbon-dated to 8,000 years ago, farming gave rise to the Jiahu culture. At Damaidi in Ningxia,3,172 cliff carvings dating to 6000–5000 BC have been discovered, featuring 8,453 individual characters such as the sun, moon, stars, gods and these pictographs are reputed to be similar to the earliest characters confirmed to be written Chinese. Chinese proto-writing existed in Jiahu around 7000 BC, Dadiwan from 5800 BC to 5400 BC, Damaidi around 6000 BC, some scholars have suggested that Jiahu symbols were the earliest Chinese writing system. With agriculture came increased population, the ability to store and redistribute crops, Later, Yangshao culture was superseded by the Longshan culture, which was also centered on the Yellow River from about 3000 BC to 2000 BC. Bronze artifacts have been found at the Majiayao culture site, The Bronze Age is also represented at the Lower Xiajiadian culture site in northeast China. Sanxingdui located in what is now Sichuan province is believed to be the site of a ancient city. The site was first discovered in 1929 and then re-discovered in 1986, Chinese archaeologists have identified the Sanxingdui culture to be part of the ancient kingdom of Shu, linking the artifacts found at the site to its early legendary kings
History of China
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History of China
History of China
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Approximate territories occupied by
the various dynasties and states throughout the history of China
History of China
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Oracle bones found dating from the Shang Dynasty
History of China
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Remnants of advanced,
stratified societies dating back to the Shang found primarily in the Yellow River Valley
8.
Han Dynasty
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The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period. Spanning over four centuries, the Han period is considered an age in Chinese history. To this day, Chinas majority ethnic group refers to itself as the Han people and it was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han, and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods, the Western Han or Former Han and the Eastern Han or Later Han, the emperor was at the pinnacle of Han society. He presided over the Han government but shared power with both the nobility and appointed ministers who came largely from the gentry class. The Han Empire was divided into areas controlled by the central government using an innovation inherited from the Qin known as commanderies. These kingdoms gradually lost all vestiges of their independence, particularly following the Rebellion of the Seven States, from the reign of Emperor Wu onward, the Chinese court officially sponsored Confucianism in education and court politics, synthesized with the cosmology of later scholars such as Dong Zhongshu. This policy endured until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 AD, the Han dynasty was an age of economic prosperity and saw a significant growth of the money economy first established during the Zhou dynasty. The coinage issued by the government mint in 119 BC remained the standard coinage of China until the Tang dynasty. The period saw a number of limited institutional innovations, the Xiongnu, a nomadic steppe confederation, defeated the Han in 200 BC and forced the Han to submit as a de facto inferior partner, but continued their raids on the Han borders. Emperor Wu of Han launched several campaigns against them. The ultimate Han victory in these wars eventually forced the Xiongnu to accept vassal status as Han tributaries, the territories north of Hans borders were quickly overrun by the nomadic Xianbei confederation. Imperial authority was seriously challenged by large Daoist religious societies which instigated the Yellow Turban Rebellion. When Cao Pi, King of Wei, usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, following Liu Bangs victory in the Chu–Han Contention, the resulting Han dynasty was named after the Hanzhong fief. Chinas first imperial dynasty was the Qin dynasty, the Qin unified the Chinese Warring States by conquest, but their empire became unstable after the death of the first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. Within four years, the authority had collapsed in the face of rebellion. Although Xiang Yu proved to be a commander, Liu Bang defeated him at Battle of Gaixia. Liu Bang assumed the title emperor at the urging of his followers and is known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu, Changan was chosen as the new capital of the reunified empire under Han
Han Dynasty
–
History of China
Han Dynasty
–
Han dynasty in 1 AD.
Han Dynasty
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A
silk banner from
Mawangdui,
Changsha,
Hunan province. It was draped over the coffin of
Lady Dai (d. 168 BC), wife of the Marquess Li Cang (利蒼) (d. 186 BC), chancellor for the Kingdom of Changsha.
Han Dynasty
–
A
gilded bronze
oil lamp in the shape of a kneeling female servant, dated 2nd century BC, found in the tomb of
Dou Wan, wife of the Han prince
Liu Sheng; its sliding shutter allows for adjustments in the direction and brightness in light while it also traps smoke within the body.
9.
Xiongnu
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The Xiongnu, were a confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Asian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Chinese sources report that Modu Chanyu, the leader after 209 BC. The Xiongnu were also active in areas now part of Siberia, Inner Mongolia, Gansu and their relations with adjacent Chinese dynasties to the south east were complex, with repeated periods of conflict and intrigue, alternating with exchanges of tribute, trade, and marriage treaties. Attempts to identify the Xiongnu with later groups of the western Eurasian Steppe remain controversial, Scythians and Sarmatians were concurrently to the west. The identity of the core of Xiongnu has been a subject of varied hypotheses, because only a few words, mainly titles. The name Xiongnu may be cognate with that of the Huns and/or the Huna, other linguistic links – all of them also controversial – proposed by scholars include Iranian, Mongolic, Turkic, Uralic Yeniseian, or multi-ethnic. Ancient China often came in contact with the Xianyun and the Xirong nomadic peoples, in later Chinese historiography, some groups of these peoples were believed to be the possible progenitors of the Xiongnu people. These nomadic people often had repeated confrontations with the Shang and especially the Zhou. During the Warring States period, the armies from the Qin, Zhao, qins campaign against the Xiongnu expanded the Qin dynastys territory at the expense of the Xiongnu. In 215 BCE, Qin Shi Huang sent General Meng Tian to conquer the Xiongnu and drive them from the Ordos Loop, after the catastrophic defeat at the hands of General Meng Tian, the Xiongnu leader Touman was forced to flee far into the Mongolian Plateau. The Qin empire became a threat to the Xiongnu, which led to the reorganization of the many tribes into a confederacy. Chubei Huyan Lan Luandi Qiulin Suibu In 209 BCE, three years before the founding of Han China, the Xiongnu were brought together in a confederation under a new chanyu. This new political unity transformed them into a formidable state by enabling formation of larger armies. The Xiongnu adopted many of the Chinese agriculture techniques such as labor for heavy labor, wore silk like the Chinese. The reason for creating the confederation remains unclear, to the north he conquered a number of nomadic peoples, including the Dingling of southern Siberia. He crushed the power of the Donghu people of eastern Mongolia and Manchuria as well as the Yuezhi in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu, Modu also reoccupied all the lands previously taken by the Qin general Meng Tian. Under Modus leadership, the Xiongnu threatened the Han Dynasty, almost causing Emperor Gaozu, the first Han emperor, to lose his throne in 200 BCE. By the time of Modus death in 174 BCE, the Xiongnu had driven the Yuezhi from the Hexi Corridor, killing the Yuezhi king in the process and asserting their presence in the Western Regions
Xiongnu
–
Xiongnu
Xiongnu
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Asia in 200 BCE, showing the early Xiongnu state and its neighbors.
Xiongnu
–
Xiongnu among other people in Asia around 1 AD.
Xiongnu
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Bronze seal says "To Han obedient, friendly and loyal chief of Xiongnu of Han (漢 匈奴歸義親 漢 長)"．Bronze seal conferred by the Eastern Han government on a Xiongnu chief.
10.
Emperor Zhao of Han
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Emperor Zhao of Han was an emperor of the Western Han dynasty from 87 to 74 BC. Emperor Zhao was the youngest son of Emperor Wu of Han, by the time Zhao was born, Emperor Wu was already 62. Zhao ascended the throne after the death of Emperor Wu in 87 BC and he was only eight years old. Emperor Wus long reign left the Han Dynasty greatly expanded, however constant warfare had depleted the empires coffers, Emperor Zhao, under the tutelage of Huo, took the initiative and lowered taxes as well as reduced government spending. As a result, citizens prospered and the Han Dynasty enjoyed an era of peace, Emperor Zhao died after reigning for 13 years, at the age of 20. In 94 BC, then-Prince Fuling was born to a concubine of Emperor Wu, Consort Zhao. This led to speculations that he, due to his favor for Consort Zhao and Prince Fuling, wanted to make Prince Fuling crown prince instead of Crown Prince Liu Ju, the son of Empress Wei Zifu. That, in turn, led to conspiracies against Prince Ju and Empress Wei, being misunderstood as a revolt, Prince Ju was defeated and went into exile, and both he and Empress Wei committed suicide soon afterwards. After Prince Jus death, Emperor Wu was forced to consider who would make a good heir, left with no other options, he decided on his youngest son, Prince Fuling, who was only six at that time. He therefore also chose a potential regent in Huo Guang, whom he considered to be capable and he also ordered Prince Fulings mother, Consort Zhao, arrested and executed, in fear that she would become an uncontrollable empress dowager, like Empress Dowager Lü. He entrusted Huo with the regency of Fuling, at Huos suggestion, he also made ethnic Xiongnu official Jin Midi and general Shangguang Jie co-regents. He died on March 2987 BC, shortly after creating Prince Fuling crown prince two days prior on March 27, Crown Prince Fuling then succeeded to the throne as Emperor Zhao at the age of 8. Early in Emperor Zhaos reign, Huo, Jin, and Shangguan served as co-regents, the palace was run by Princess Eyi, Emperor Wus daughter and Emperor Zhaos older sister, who had moved back to the palace to serve as Emperor Zhaos caretaker. Prince Dan of Yan was not happy about the turn in events that led to Emperor Zhaos ascension, in 86 BC, he secretly planned a rebellion, forming a conspiracy with two imperial clan members, Liu Zhang and Liu Ze. The conspiracy was discovered, but Prince Dan was not punished, later that year, Jin, a moderating influence in the co-regency, after being created a marquess on his sickbed, died. Huo and Shangguan were subsequently created marquesses as well, the young couple had a daughter, who was age five in 84 BC, when Shangguan Jie wanted to marry her to the emperor. Huo initially refused, believing her to be too young, Shangguan Jie turned elsewhere for support of his plan. Shangguan An was a friend of Princess Eyis lover, Ding Wairen, Princess Eyi agreed, and later in 84 BC, the young Lady Shangguan was appointed as an imperial consort
Emperor Zhao of Han
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Emperor Zhao of Han
Emperor Zhao of Han
–
The story of
Jin Midi. Wu Liang Shrine, Jiaxiang, Shandong province, China. 2nd century AD. Ink rubbings of stone-carved reliefs as represented in Feng Yunpeng and Feng Yunyuan, Jinshi suo (1824 edition), n.p.
Emperor Zhao of Han
–
Pingling, tomb of Emperor Zhao, in
Xianyang, Shaanxi
11.
Heir apparent
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An heir apparent or heiress apparent is a person who is first in line of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person. An heir presumptive, by contrast, is someone who is first in line to inherit a title, today these terms most commonly describe heirs to hereditary titles, particularly monarchies. They are also used metaphorically to indicate an anointed successor to any position of power, in France the title was le Dauphin. See crown prince for more examples and this article primarily describes the term heir apparent in a hereditary system regulated by laws of primogeniture—as opposed to cases where a monarch has a say in naming the heir. An heir presumptive, by contrast, can always be bumped down in the succession by the birth of more closely related in a legal sense to the current title-holder. The clearest example occurs in the case of a title-holder with no children, if at any time he or she were to produce children, they rank ahead of whatever more distant relative had been heir presumptive. Many legal systems assume childbirth is always possible regardless of age or health, in such circumstances a person may be, in a practical sense, the heir apparent but still, legally speaking, heir presumptive. Adelaide was 44 at the time, so pregnancy was even if unlikely. Daughters may inherit titles that descend according to male-preference primogeniture, thus, normally, even an only daughter will not be heir apparent, since at any time a brother might be born who, though younger, would assume that position. Hence, she is an heir presumptive, for example, Queen Elizabeth II was heir presumptive during the reign of her father, King George VI, because at any stage up to his death, George could have fathered a legitimate son. In a system of absolute primogeniture that disregards gender, female heirs apparent occur, several European monarchies that have adopted such systems in the last few decades furnish practical examples. Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway is heir apparent to her father, Victoria was not heir apparent from birth, but gained the status in 1980 following a change in the Swedish Act of Succession. Her younger brother Carl Philip was thus heir apparent for a few months, then, as the representative of her fathers line she would assume a place ahead of any more distant relatives. Such a situation has not to date occurred with the English or British throne, several times an heir apparent has died, however, there have been several female heirs apparent to British peerages. In one special case, however, England and Scotland had an heir apparent. William, by contrast, was to reign for life only, thus, although after Marys death William continued to reign, he had no power to beget direct heirs, and Anne became the heir apparent for the remainder of Williams reign. She eventually succeeded him as Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland, the position of an heir apparent is normally unshakable, it can be assumed they will inherit. Sometimes, however, extraordinary events—such as the death or the deposition of the parent—intervene
Heir apparent
–
Throngs before the
Imperial Palace in Japan awaiting the appearance of the
Crown Prince Hirohito for the recent proclamation of his official recognition as the heir apparent to the
Japanese Imperial Throne – New York Times, 1916.
12.
Gunchen Chanyu
–
Gunchen Chanyu, whose proper name is unknown, was a Chanyu of the Xiongnu, the successor to Laoshang Chanyu. During his long reign Gunchen Chanyu outlived the Han emperors Wendi Liu Heng 文帝劉恆, Jingdi Liu Qi 景帝 劉啟, all three Chinese emperors confirmed the heqin 和親 peace and kinship treaty with the Huns, pledging to live by its terms. The ambush happened in the 133 BCE, when Gunchen Chanyu was lured inside the border, only a disclosure by a Chinese officer about the planned ambush saved the Chanyu. The next winter,126 BCE, Gunchen Shanyu died, his younger brother, collection of information on peoples in Central Asia in ancient times, vol. 1, Sankt Petersburg,1851, reprint Moscow-Leningrad,1950
Gunchen Chanyu
–
Domain and influence of the Eastern Huns
13.
Ichise Chanyu
–
Ichise Chanyu, whose full title is unknown, was a Chanyu of the Xiongnu, the successor to Gunchen Chanyu. Ichise Chanyu reigned during the reign of the Han emperor Wudi Liu Che 武帝 劉徹, after Wudi broke the heqin 和親 peace, Ichise Chanyu reigned during one of the most aggressive periods in the Chinese history, and one of the many troubled periods in the Hunnic history. To come to the throne, the Eastern Luli-Prince Ichise, a brother of Shanuy Gunchen, had to stage a coup against the next in line to the throne. Yui bi faced Ichise in a battle, was defeated, and fled and submitted to China, the loss was a heavy blow for the Huns, and the war flared up. The next year,125 BC, the Huns in 3 groups, each with 30,000 cavalry, in the spring of 124 BC the Chinese Court appointed Wei Qing a Supreme Commander, and assigned him a 100,000 cavalry. Wei Qing set out against the Huns from the Shuofang, the Chinese army at night surrounded the intoxicated Western Jükü-Prince. The Chinese took prisoner up to 15,000 of both sexes and up to ten lower Princes from Jükü-Prince wing, in the autumn the Huns retaliated with 10,000 cavalry, killed District Chief Chu Yan, and captured up to 1,000 people. In 123 BC Wei Qing campaigned twice from the district Dingxiang, penetrating into the Hun lands to the north a few hundred li, during these campaigns, more than 19 thousand Hun people were killed and captured, but the Han troops suffered heavy losses. A commander of one of them, Su Jian managed to escape, Zhao Xin was a minor Hun prince, who switched to the Han. Once again among his tribesmen, he married the sister of the Shanyu Ichjise and became his chief adviser on matters related to China. On the advice of Zhao Xin, Shanyu moved his headquarters to the north of the Gobi Desert, to avoid direct Chinese assaults, the struggle for the Ordos thus concluded with a complete victory for China. After securing Ordos, the Han dynasty shifted to the west against the Hun nomadic tribes in the territory of the modern Gansu province. In the spring of 121 BC Chinese cavalry division of 10 thousand horsemen headed by a commander Huo Qubing invaded the Hun lands of the Prince Syuchu, after several battles, Huo Qubing captured many prisoners and a golden idol used for sacrifices to the Sky. Shanyu Ichise was angered by two defeats inflicted by Huo Qubing, and ordered two commanders to report to the court. Both Princes were scared of punishment, Prince Hunie wanted them to flee to China, but Prince Syuchu refused, the treason of Hunie considerably improved the balance of power, strengthening Chinese hand. In the Chinese raids between 124 and 119 BC, the Huns lost, per Chinese annals,300,000 killed or captured military, collection of information on peoples in Central Asia in ancient times, vol. 1, Sankt Petersburg,1851, reprint Moscow-Leningrad,1950
Ichise Chanyu
–
Domain and influence of the Eastern Huns
14.
Gansu
–
Gansu is a province of the Peoples Republic of China, located in the northwest of the country. It lies between the Tibetan and Loess plateaus, and borders Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Ningxia to the north, Xinjiang and Qinghai to the west, Sichuan to the south, the Yellow River passes through the southern part of the province. Gansu has a population of 26 million and covers an area of 425,800 square kilometres, the capital is Lanzhou, located in the southeast part of the province. Gansu is a compound of the names of Ganzhou and Suzhou, Gansu is abbreviated as 甘 or 陇, and is also known as Longxi or Longyou, in reference to the Long Mountain east of Gansu. Gansu is a name first used during the Song dynasty of two Sui and Tang dynasty prefectures, Gan and Su. In prehistoric times, Gansu was host to Neolithic cultures, the Dadiwan culture, from where archaeologically significant artifacts have been excavated, flourished in the eastern end of Gansu from about 6000 BC to about 3000 BC. The Majiayao culture and part of the Qijia culture took root in Gansu from 3100 BC to 2700 BC and 2400 BC to 1900 BC respectively, the Yuezhi originally lived in the very western part of Gansu until they were forced to emigrate by the Xiongnu around 177 BCE. The State of Qin, later to become the state of the Chinese empire, grew out from the southeastern part of Gansu. The Qin name is believed to have originated, in part, Qin tombs and artifacts have been excavated from Fangmatan near Tianshui, including one 2200-year-old map of Guixian County. In imperial times, Gansu was an important strategic outpost and communications link for the Chinese empire, the Han dynasty extended the Great Wall across this corridor, building the strategic Yumenguan and Yangguan fort towns along it. Remains of the wall and the towns can be found there, the Ming dynasty built the Jiayuguan outpost in Gansu. By the Qingshui treaty, concluded in 823 between the Tibetan Empire and the Tang dynasty, China lost a part of Gansu province for a significant period. After the fall of the Uyghur Empire, an Uyghur state was established in parts of Gansu that lasted from 848 to 1036 AD, during that time, many of Gansus residents were converted to Islam. Along the Silk Road, Gansu was an important province. Temples and Buddhist grottoes such as those at Mogao Caves and Maijishan Caves contain artistically and historically revealing murals. An early form of paper inscribed with Chinese characters and dating to about 8 BC was discovered at the site of a Western Han garrison near the Yumen pass in August 2006, the province was also the origin of the Dungan Revolt of 1862-77. Among the Qing forces were Muslim generals like Ma Zhanao and Ma Anliang who helped Qing crush the rebel Muslims, the revolt spread into Gansu from neighbouring Qinghai. Frequent earthquakes, droughts and famines have tended to slow progress of the province until recently
Gansu
–
Jiayuguan Fort
Gansu
–
Map showing the location of Gansu Province
Gansu
–
The ruins of a
Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) Chinese
watchtower made of
rammed earth at
Dunhuang, Gansu province, the eastern edge of the
Silk Road
Gansu
–
Semi-arid land, suitable for light grazing
15.
Emperor Wu of Han
–
Emperor Wu of Han, born Liu Che, courtesy name Tong, was the seventh emperor of the Han dynasty of China, ruling from 141–87 BC. His reign lasted 54 years — a record not broken until the reign of the Kangxi Emperor more than 1,800 years later. His reign resulted in vast territorial expansion, development of a strong and centralized state resulting from his governmental re-organization and it was also during his reign that cultural contact with western Eurasia was greatly increased, directly or indirectly. Many new crops and other items were introduced to China during his reign, Emperor Wu successfully repelled the nomadic Xiongnu from systematically raiding northern China, and dispatched his envoy Zhang Qian in 139 BC to seek an alliance with the Yuezhi of Kangju. This resulted in further missions to Central Asia, michael Loewe called the reign of Emperor Wu the high point of Modernist policies, looking back to adapt ideas from the pre-Han period. His policies and most trusted advisers were Legalist, favoring adherents of Shang Yang and these reforms had an enduring effect throughout the existence of imperial China and an enormous influence on neighboring civilizations. Emperor Wu was also known for his employment of shaman advisers, the personal name of Emperor Wu was Liu Che. The use of Han in referring to emperor Wu is a reference to the Han dynasty of which he was a part. His family name is Liu, the family or clan of the Han dynasty shared the family name of Liu, the family name of Liu Bang. The character Di is a title, this is the Chinese word which in imperial history of China means emperor, the character Wu literally means martial or warlike, but is also related to the concept of a particular divinity in the historical Chinese religious pantheon existing at that time. Combined, Wu plus di makes the name Wudi, the posthumous name used for historical and for religious purposes. One of Han Wudis innovations was the practice of changing names every so many years. Thus, the practice for dating years during the reign of Wudi came to be the nth year of the, when they got close to Han borders, She assassinated the general and claimed to Emperor Wu that he had defeated Joseon in battle. Emperor Wu, unaware of his deception, made him the commander of the Commandery of Liaodong. King Ugeo, offended, made a raid on Liaodong and killed She, in response, Emperor Wu commissioned a two-pronged attack against Joseon. Initially, Joseon offered to become a vassal, but peace negotiations broke down by the Chinese forces refusal to let a Joseon force escort its crown prince to Changan to pay tribute to Emperor Wu, Han took over the Joseon lands in 108 BC and established four commanderies. Also in 109 BC, Emperor Wu sent a force against the Kingdom of Dian. When the King of Dian surrendered, it was incorporated into Han territory with the King of Dian being permitted to keep his traditional authority, Emperor Wu established five commanderies over Dian and the other nearby kingdoms
Emperor Wu of Han
–
Emperor Wu of Han
Emperor Wu of Han
–
Emperor Wu dispatching
Zhang Qian to
Central Asia from 138 to 126 BCE,
Mogao Caves mural, 618–712 CE.
Emperor Wu of Han
–
Emperor Wu sent ambassadors to the
Dian Kingdom in
Yunnan. Bronze sculpture depicting Dian people, 3rd century BCE.
Emperor Wu of Han
–
Emperor Wu worshipping two statues of Golden Man (or
Buddha?) in 121 BC,
Mogao Caves,
Dunhuang, ca. 8th century CE.()
16.
Huo Qubing
–
Huo Qubing, was a distinguished military general of the Western Han dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. He was the nephew of the general Wei Qing and Empress Wei Zifu, however, Huo Zhongru did not want to marry a girl from serf background, so he dumped Wei Shaoer and went back to his hometown to marry a local woman instead. Wei Shaoer insisted keeping the child, raising him with help of her siblings, more than a year later, the newly favored concubine Wei Zifu became pregnant with Emperor Wus first child, earning her the jealousy and hatred of Emperor Wus then formal wife, Empress Chen. Empress Chens mother, Eldest Princess Guantao, then attempted to retaliate at Wei Zifu by kidnapping and attempting to murder Wei Qing, who was then serving as a horseman at the Jianzhang Camp. The rest of the Wei family were well rewarded, including the decreed marriage of Wei Shaoers older sister Wei Junru to Emperor Wus personal assistant Gongsun He. At the time, Wei Shaoer was romantically enagaged with Chen Zhang and their relationship was also legitimized by Emperor Wu through the form of decreed marriage. Through the rise of the Wei family, the young Huo Qubing grew up in prosperity, although raised in reasonable wealth during the early glory days of the Wei family, Huo Qubing was nowhere like the good-for-nothing rich kids frequently seen out of noble families. He exhibited outstanding military talent even as a teenager, Emperor Wu saw highly of Huos potential, and made Huo his personal assistant. Zhao Xin defected on the field with his 800 ethnic Xiongnu subordinates, a very impressed Emperor Wu then made Huo Qubing the Marquess of Champion with march of 2,500 households. In 121 BC, Emperor Wu deployed Huo Qubing twice in that year against Xiongnu in the Hexi Corridor, for this achievement, his march was increased by 2,200 households. During the summer of the year, Xiongnu attacked Dai Commandery. Huo Qubing set off from Longxi with over 10,000 cavalry, supported by Gongsun Ao and his march was then increased further by 5,400 households for the victory. Defeated by Qubing, the Xiongnu sang, Losing my Qilian Mountains, made my cattle unthriving, Losing my Yanzhi Mountains, 失我祁連山，使我六畜不蕃息；失我焉支山，使我婦女無顏色。 Huo Qubings victories dealt heavy blows to the tribes of the Xiongnu princes of Hunye and Xiuchu that occupied the Hexi Corridor. Out of frustration, Yizhixie Chanyu wanted to execute those two princes as punishment. The Prince of Hunxie contacted the Han Dynasty in autumn of 121 BC to negotiate surrender, failing to persuade his fellow prince to do the same, he killed the Prince of Xiutu and ordered Xiutus forces to also surrender. When the two went to meet the Han forces, Xiutus forces rioted. Seeing the situation changed, Huo Qubing alone headed to the Xiongnu camp, there, the general ordered the Prince of Hunxie to calm his men and stand down before putting down 8,000 Xiongnu men who refused to disarm, effectively quelling the riot. The Hunxie tribe was then resettled into the Central Plain, the surrender of the Xiutu and Hunxie tribes stripped Xiongnu of any control over the Western Regions, depriving them of a large grazing area
Huo Qubing
–
The "Horse Stomping Xiongnu" statue at Huo Qubing's tomb
17.
Concubine
–
The woman in such a relationship is referred to as a concubine. The prevalence of concubinage and the status of rights and expectations of a concubine have varied between cultures as well as the rights of children of a concubine. Whatever the status and rights of the concubine, they were inferior to those of the wife. Historically, concubinage was frequently entered into voluntarily as it provided a measure of security for the woman involved. Involuntary or servile concubinage sometimes involved sexual slavery of one member of the relationship, nevertheless, sexual relations outside marriage were not uncommon, especially among royalty and nobility, and the woman in such relationships was commonly described as a mistress. However, the children of such relationships were counted as illegitimate and were barred from inheriting the title or estates. While various forms of sexual relationships and co-habitation short of marriage have become increasingly common in the Western world. The terms concubinage and concubine are used primarily when referring to non-marital partnerships of earlier eras. In modern usage, a domestic relationship is commonly referred to as co-habitation. Concubinage was highly popular before early 20th century all over Asia, the main function of concubinage was producing additional heirs, as well as bring males pleasure. Children of concubines had lower rights in account to inheritance, which was regulated by Dishu system, after that, even concubinage has been legally banned, the relationship between mistresses and their men are highly affected by it. In China, successful men often had concubines until the practice was outlawed after the Communist Party of China came to power in 1949, the standard Chinese term translated as concubine was qiè 妾, a term used since ancient times, which means female slave. Concubines resembled wives in that they were recognized sexual partners of a family member and were expected to bear children from him. Unofficial concubines, are of lower status, and children of her are considered illegitimate, in English the term concubine is also used for what the Chinese refer to as pínfēi consorts of emperors, some of very high rank. In premodern China, it was illegal and socially disreputable for a man to have more than one wife at a time, but he could have concubines. At first a man could have as many concubines as he could afford, however, from the Eastern Han onward, the higher ranking and the more noble an identity a man possessed, the more concubines he was permitted to have. A concubines treatment and situation were highly variable and were influenced by the status of the male to whom she was engaged. In the Book of Rites chapter on “The Pattern of the Family” it says, “If there were betrothal rites, she became a wife, and if she went without these, Concubines could be taken without any of the ceremonies used in marriages
Concubine
–
Consorts and children of the
Qianlong Emperor,
Qing dynasty, 18th century
Concubine
–
Illustration from the
Morgan Bible of the Benjaminites taking women of Shiloh as concubines.
Concubine
–
Harem, by
Doroshevich, c. 1905
Concubine
–
Women of the Harem by
Jules Laurens, circa 1847
18.
Lady in waiting
–
A lady-in-waiting or Court Lady is a female personal assistant at a court, royal or feudal, attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe, a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family in good society, although she may or may not have received compensation for the service she rendered, a lady-in-waiting was considered more of a companion to her mistress than a servant. In courts where polygamy was practiced, a lady was formally available to the monarch for sexual services. Lady-in-waiting or court lady is often a term for women whose relative rank, title. The development of the office of lady-in-waiting in Europe is connected to that of the development of a royal court, in the late 12th-century, the queens of France are confirmed to have had their own household, and noblewomen are mentioned as ladies-in-waiting. A number of tribes and cultural areas in the African continent, within certain traditional states of the Bini and Yoruba peoples in Nigeria, the queen mothers and high priestesses were considered ritually male due to their social eminence. Due to this fact, they were often attended on by women who belonged to their harems in much the way as their actually male counterparts were served by women who belonged to theirs. This resulted in a mix of Burgundian and Spanish customs when the Austrian court model was created, the first rank of the female courtiers was the Obersthofmeisterin, who was second in rank after the empress herself, and responsible for all the female courtiers. Second rank belonged to the ayas, essentially governesses of the imperial children, the rest of the female noble courtiers consisted of the Hoffräulein, unmarried females from the nobility who normally served temporarily until marriage. The Hoffräulein could sometimes be promoted to Kammerfräulein, the Austrian court model was the role model for the princely courts in Germany. The German court model in turn became the model of the early modern Scandinavian courts of Denmark. The Kingdom of Belgium was founded in 1830, after which a court was founded. The ladies-in waiting have historically been chosen by the Queen herself from among the Catholic noble houses of Belgium, the chief functions at court were undertaken by members of the higher nobility, involving much contact with the royal ladies. Belgian princesses were assigned a lady upon their 18th birthday, princess Clementine was given a Dame by her father, a symbolic act of adulthood. When the Queen entertains, the ladies welcome guests and assist the hostess in sustaining conversation and this system has formally remained roughly the same. However, in practice, many offices have since then left vacant. For example, in recent times, Maids of Honour have only appointed for coronations. The duties of ladies-in-waiting at the Tudor court were to act as royal companions, Tudor queens often had wide personal latitude in selection of their ladies-in-waiting
Lady in waiting
–
Marie Louise of Savoy-Carignan, Princesse de Lamballe was lady-in-waiting to Queen
Marie Antoinette of France.
Lady in waiting
–
The Countess of Airlie, the lady-in-waiting of
Queen Mary
Lady in waiting
–
Lettice Knollys, Countess of Essex and Leicester
19.
Crown prince
–
A crown prince or crown princess is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The wife of a prince is also titled crown princess. The term is now borne as a title mainly in Asia, Scandinavia, and the Middle East, however, heirs apparent to non-imperial and non-royal monarchies, crown prince is not used as a title, although it is sometimes used as a synonym for heir apparent. g. Former Crown Prince Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, compare heir apparent and heir presumptive. In Scandinavian kingdoms, the heir presumptive to the crown may hold a different title than the heir apparent and it is also the title borne by the heir apparent of Liechtenstein, as well as the heir apparent or presumptive of Monaco. It generally requires a specific conferral by the sovereign, which may be withheld, reza Pahlavi, Crown Prince of Iran. Paras, Crown Prince of Nepal Alexander, Crown Prince of Yugoslavia, Egypt, Prince of the Said, meaning Prince of Upper Egypt Persia, Pahlavi dynasty and Qajar dynasty, the full style was Vala Hazrat-i-Humayun Vali Ahd, Shahzada, i. e. His August Imperial Highness the Heir Apparent, Prince, the above component vali ahd meaning successor by virtue of a covenant was adopted by many oriental monarchies, even some non-Muslim, e. g. g. He was not necessarily the son, wonja. Southeast Asian traditions, Siam Makutrajakuman in Thailand since 1886, krom Phrarajawangboworn Sathanmongkol or Phra Maha Uparaja or commonly called Wang Na in Thailand prior to 1886. Kanjeng Gusti Pangeran Adipati Anom in Yogyakarta sultanate and Surakarta, Indonesia, raja Muda or Tengku Mahkota in the Malay sultanates of Malaysia. org- here napoleonic section
Crown prince
–
Throngs before the
Imperial Palace in Japan awaiting the appearance of the Crown Prince
Hirohito for the recent proclamation of his official recognition as the
heir apparent to the
Japanese Imperial Throne -- New York Times, 1916.
20.
Huo Guang
–
He was the half-brother of renowned Han general Huo Qubing. When Emperor Wu died in 87 BC, Emperor Zhao, then eight years old, was left in the tutelage of Huo, Jin, Emperor Wus will created the three of them as marquesses, but all three declined. Emperor Zhao, as the youngest son of Emperor Wu, drew jealousy from his older brothers, in 85 BC, Huo was created the Marquess of Bowang. In the same year, Jin, an influence in the coregency. After Jins death, Shangguan became increasingly jealous of Huos powers, even though the two had been great friends, and Huo had given his daughter in marriage to Shangguans son Shangguan An. In 84 BC, as a ploy to further strengthen his powers, Shangguan Jie gave his granddaughter, then age five, in marriage to the emperor, then age 11, in 80 BC, the dormant conflict between Huo and Shangguan came to a head. Shangguan formed a conspiracy with Liu Dan the Prince of Yan, the Princess Eyi, however, Emperor Zhao, who trusted Huo, did not act on the allegations. The conspirators then planned a coup detat, but were discovered, most of the conspirators, including Shangguan, were executed, and Liu Dan and the Princess of Eyi were forced to commit suicide. In 74 BC, Emperor Zhao died at age 21 without issue, even though Emperor Zhao had living older brothers, Huo considered them incompetent and unfit for the throne. After some investigation, he settled on making Liu He, Emperor Zhaos nephew, once the Prince of Changyi was installed as the emperor, however, he began to spend incessantly and otherwise act inappropriately during the period of mourning for Emperor Zhao. In response, Huo decided to depose the new emperor—then an unprecedented action in Chinese history, under an edict issued by Empress Dowager Shangguan—Huos granddaughter—Prince He was deposed after just 28 days as emperor and exiled to his old principality of Changyi, but without a princely title. There was no imperial heir in sight who fit Huos standard of a diligent, at the suggestion of another senior official Bing Ji, Huo made a great-grandson of Emperor Wu, Liu Bingyi emperor. 27 days after Prince He was deposed, Liu Bingyi, who then was a commoner with no titles, the emperor also made Huos son Huo Yu and his grandnephews Huo Yun and Huo Shan key officials in his administration. Huo Guangs sons-in-law Fan Mingyou and Deng Guanghan were made high military commanders, during the next few years, Huo and the emperor effectively shared imperial powers. In 71 BC, Huo Guangs wife Xian, in order to make her daughter Huo Chengjun empress, in 70 BC, Huo Chengjun was created empress. In 68 BC, Huo Guang became ill and died, Emperor Xuan and Empress Dowager Shangguan made the nearly-unprecedented act of personally attending Huos wake and built an impressive mausoleum for Huo. After Huos death, his sons, sons-in-law, and grandnephews remained in important posts and were made marquesses and his wife, after a period of mourning, formed a passionate relationship with Huo Guangs slave master, Feng Zidu, himself a former lover of Huo Guang. The Huo family lived luxurious lives on par with the imperial household, Emperor Xuan, unhappy about the Huos perceived arrogance, began to gradually strip their actual powers while formally keeping their titles impressive
Huo Guang
–
Portrait of Huo Guang in
Sancai Tuhui
Huo Guang
–
Huo Guang at the center of an altar in Shanghai
City God Temple
21.
Regent
–
A regent is a person appointed to administer a state because the monarch is a minor, is absent or is incapacitated. The rule of a regent or regents is called a regency, a regent or regency council may be formed ad hoc or in accordance with a constitutional rule. Regent is sometimes a formal title, if the formally appointed regent is unavailable or cannot serve on a temporary basis, a Regent ad interim may be appointed to fill the gap. In a monarchy, a regent usually governs due to one of these reasons and this was the case in the Kingdom of Finland and the Kingdom of Hungary, where the royal line was considered extinct in the aftermath of World War I. In Iceland, the regent represented the King of Denmark as sovereign of Iceland until the country became a republic in 1944, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, kings were elective, which often led to a fairly long interregnum. In the interim, it was the Roman Catholic Primate who served as the regent, in the small republic of San Marino, the two Captains Regent, or Capitani Reggenti, are elected semi-annually as joint heads of state and of government. Famous regency periods include that of the Prince Regent, later George IV of the United Kingdom, giving rise to terms such as Regency era. Strictly this period lasted from 1811 to 1820, when his father George III was insane, as of 1 December 2016, Liechtenstein is the only country with an active regency. The term regent may refer to lower than the ruler of a country. The term may be used in the governance of organisations, typically as an equivalent of director, some university managers in North America are called regents and a management board for a college or university may be titled the Board of Regents. The term regent is used for members of governing bodies of institutions such as the national banks of France. This type of group portrait was popular in Dutch Golden Age painting during the 17th century, in the Dutch East Indies, a regent was a native prince allowed to rule de facto colonized state as a regentschap. Consequently, in the state of Indonesia, the term regent is used in English to mean a bupati. Again in Belgium and France, Regent is the title of a teacher in a lower secondary school. In the Philippines, specifically, the University of Santo Tomas, the Father Regent and they also form the Council of Regents that serves as the highest administrative council of the university. In the Society of Jesus, a regent is a training to be a Jesuit. A regent in the Jesuits is often assigned to teach in a school or some other academic institution as part of the formation toward final vows, list of regents Viceroy, an individual who, in a colony or province, exercised the power of a monarch on his behalf
Regent
–
Regentesses of the Old Men's Almshouse in
Haarlem,
Frans Hals, 1664
22.
Book of Han
–
The Book of Han or History of the Former Han is a history of China finished in 111, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. It is also called the Book of Former Han, the work was composed by Ban Gu, a court official, with the help of his sister Ban Zhao, continuing the work of their father, Ban Biao. They modeled their work on the Records of the Grand Historian, a universal history and it is the best source, sometimes the only one, for many topics in this period. A second work, the Book of the Later Han covers the Eastern Han period from 25 to 220, and was composed in the fifth century by Fan Ye. This history developed from a continuation of Sima Qians Records of the Grand Historian, initiated by Ban Gus father, Ban Biao and this work is usually referred to as Later Traditions, which clearly indicates that the elder Bans work was meant to be a continuation. After Ban Biaos death, his eldest son Ban Gu was dissatisfied with what his father had completed and this distinguished it from Sima Qians history, which had begun with Chinas earliest legendary rulers. In this way, Ban Gu initiated the Jizhuanti format for dynastic histories that was to remain the model for the official histories until modern times. For the periods where they overlapped, Ban Gu adopted nearly verbatim much of Sima Qians material and he also incorporated at least some of what his father had written, though it is difficult to know how much. The completed work ran to a total of 100 fascicles 卷, and included essays on law, science, geography, Ban Gus younger sister Ban Zhao finished writing the book in 111,19 years after Ban Gu had died in prison. An outstanding scholar in her own right, she is thought to have written volumes 13–20 and 26, the Annals section and the three chapters covering the reign of Wang Mang were translated into English by Homer H. Dubs. Other chapters have been rendered into English by A. F. P, sargent, Nancy Lee Swann, and Burton Watson. Ban Gus history set the standard for the writings of later Chinese dynasties and it is regarded as one of the Four Histories 四史 of the Twenty-Four Histories canon, together with the Records of the Grand Historian, Records of the Three Kingdoms and History of the Later Han. Emperors biographies in strict annal form, which offer an overview of the most important occurrences. Each treatise describes an area of effort of the state, the biographies confine themselves to the description of events that clearly show the exemplary character of the person. Two or more people are treated in one article, as they belong to the same class of people. The last articles describe the relations between China and the various peoples beyond the frontiers and it is later recorded that in 57, the southern Wa kingdom of Na sent an emissary named Taifu to pay tribute to Emperor Guangwu and received a golden seal. The seal itself was discovered in northern Kyūshū in the 18th century, according to the Book of Wei, the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago in the third century was called Yamatai and was ruled by the legendary Queen Himiko. Dorneich, Chris M. Chinese sources on the History of the Niusi-Wusi-Asi-Rishi-Arsi-Arshi-Ruzhi, shiji 110/Hanshu 94A, The Xiongnu, Synopsis of Chinese original Text and several Western Translations with Extant Annotations
Book of Han
–
Book of Han
Book of Han
–
History
23.
Zizhi Tongjian
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The Zizhi Tongjian is a pioneering reference work in Chinese historiography, published in 1084, in the form of a chronicle. The task took 19 years to be completed, and, in 1084 AD, the Zizhi Tongjian records Chinese history from 403 BC to 959 AD, covering 16 dynasties and spanning across almost 1,400 years, and contains 294 volumes and about 3 million Chinese characters. The principal text of the Zizhi Tongjian was recorded on 294 juan, the text is a chronological narrative of the history of China from the Warring States to the Five Dynasties. The major contributor, Sima Guang, was active in each step from collecting events and dates from previous works to drafting. Sima Guang left the traditional usage in Chinese historiography, for almost 1,000 years since the Shiji was written, standard Chinese dynastic histories had primarily divided chapters between annals of rulers, and biographies of officials. In Chinese terms, the changed the format of histories from biographical style to chronological style. According to Wilkinson, It had an influence on later Chinese historical writing, either directly or through its many abbreviations, continuations. It remains a useful first reference for a quick and reliable coverage of events at a particular time. The 294 juan sweep through 11 Chinese historical periods and it was one of the largest historical magna opera in history. In the 12th century, Zhu Xi produced a reworked, condensed version of Zizhi Tongjian, known as Tongjian Gangmu, or Zizhi Tongjian Gangmu. This condensed version was later translated into Manchu as ᡨᡠᠩ ᡤᡳᠶᠠᠨ ᡬᠠᠩ ᠮᡠ Wylie, Tung giyan gang mu, Möllendorff, Tung giyan gang mu. This Manchu version was translated into French by French Jesuit missionary Joseph-Anna-Marie de Moyriac de Mailla. His twelve-volume translation, Histoire générale de la Chine, ou Annales de cet Empire, the Zhonghua Shuju edition contains textual criticism made by Yuan Dynasty historian Hu Sanxing. The whole of Zizhi tongjian Volumes 1-8, covering the years 403-207 BCE, have translated into English with copious notes. Some additional sections of Zizhi tongjian pertaining to Chinas relations with the Xiongnu have been translated into English, encyclopedia of China, 1st ed. Bo Yang. Modern Chinese Edition of Zizhi Tongjian, Ltd, vol.1 ISBN 957-32-0795-8 to vol.72 ISBN 957-32-1810-0. Universal Histories, in Essays on the Sources for Chinese History, Donald D. Leslie, Colin Mackerras, Wang Gungwu, columbia, University of South Carolina Press, pp. 64–70. Mirror for Government, Ssu-ma Kuangs Thought on Politics and Government in Tzu-chih tung-chien, in The New, lee, ed. Hong Kong, Chinese University Press, pp. 1–32
Zizhi Tongjian
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Section from one of the original
scrolls of the Zizhi Tongjian
Zizhi Tongjian
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Sima Guang
Zizhi Tongjian
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A section from one of the original
scrolls of the Zizhi Tongjian
Zizhi Tongjian
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The only surviving 8 volumes of the original manuscript are housed in the
National Library of China Ancient Books Library, Beijing
