| Son of Heaven | |||||||||||||||
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 The Son of Heaven escorted on theYulu (玉輅), the carriage used exclusively by monarchs | |||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 天子 | ||||||||||||||
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| Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||
| Vietnamese alphabet | Thiên tử | ||||||||||||||
| Chữ Hán | 天子 | ||||||||||||||
| Korean name | |||||||||||||||
| Hangul | 천자 | ||||||||||||||
| Hanja | 天子 | ||||||||||||||
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| Japanese name | |||||||||||||||
| Kanji | 天子 | ||||||||||||||
| Hiragana | てんし | ||||||||||||||
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| Manchu name | |||||||||||||||
| Manchu script | ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ ᠵᡠᡳ | ||||||||||||||
| Möllendorff | abkai jui | ||||||||||||||
| Part ofa series on |
| Imperial, royal, noble, gentry and chivalric ranks inEast Asia |
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Son of Heaven, orTianzi (Chinese:天子; pinyin:Tiānzǐ), was the sacred monarchial and imperial title of theChinese sovereign. It originated with theZhou dynasty[1] and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of theMandate of Heaven. Since theQin dynasty, the secular imperial title of the Son of Heaven was "Huangdi".
The title, "Son of Heaven", was subsequently adopted by otherSinospheric monarchs to justify their rule. The nameCelestial Empire (or "Heavenly Dynasty") was also used in reference to the status of the Chinese emperor as the Son of Heaven in the Sinosphere.
The Son of Heaven was the supremeuniversal monarch, who ruledtianxia ("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 inChina andJapan, whose monarchs were referred to asdemigods,deities, or "living gods", chosen bythe gods and goddesses of heaven.[3]
The title "Son of Heaven" (Chinese:天子; pinyin:Tiānzǐ;Middle Chinese:tʰen t͡sɨX;Old Chinese (B-S):*l̥ˤin *tsəʔ) is attested earliest inbronze inscriptions dated to the reign ofKing Kang of Zhou.[1] This title stems from the concept of theMandate of Heaven, created by theZhou dynasty monarchs to justify their having deposed theShang dynasty. They held thatHeaven 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. TheEmperor Taizong of Tang held the title"Son of Heaven", alongside the title "Khan of Heaven" (Tengeri Qaghan) which he had gained afterdefeating theEastern 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 theEmperor of Japan during theAsuka period.[6] Japan sentdiplomatic missions to China, then ruled by theSui dynasty, and formed cultural and commercial ties with China.[7] Japan'sYamato state modeled its government after the Chinese Confucian imperial bureaucracy. A Japanese mission of 607 CE delivered a message from "the Son of Heaven in theland where the sun rises ... to the Son of Heaven in the land where the sun sets."[6] But the Japanese emperor's title was less contingent than that of his Chinese counterpart; there was no divine mandate that would punish Japan's emperor for failing to rule justly. The right to rule of the Japanese emperor, descended from the sun goddessAmaterasu, was absolute.[8]
Based on epitaphs dating to the 4th and 5th centuries,Goguryeo had concepts of the Son of Heaven (天帝之子) andtianxia.[9][10][11] The rulers ofGoryeo used the titles of Holy Emperor-King (신성제왕, 神聖帝王) and Son of Heaven and positioned Goryeo at the center of theHaedong (海東; "East of the Sea")tianxia, which encompassed the historical domain of the "Samhan", another name for theThree Kingdoms of Korea.[12][13]
The title was also adopted in Vietnam, known in Vietnamese asThiên 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.[14] 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 ChineseSinocentric system in East Asia.[15]
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.
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