Names of Chinese emperors
There is often confusion about the names of Chinese emperors in Western publications . The same historical personality appears in books and articles under often different names, which sometimes make them appear as different people. This is due to a peculiarity of the naming of rulers and their reigns in China, which has also established itself in the neighboring regions of Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Due to this peculiarity, emperors can appear in historical representations under the following names:
- Personal name ( proper name )
- Government currency or era name ( Chinese 年號 / 年号 , Pinyin nianhao )
- Temple name ( Chinese 廟號 / 庙号 , Pinyin miàohào )
- Honorary name / posthumous title ( Chinese 謚 號 / 谥 号 , Pinyin shì hào , also: 諡 號 )
The basis and cause of this form of dealing with denominations of rulership, which is little noticed in the West, but at least completely misunderstood in lay circles, is on the one hand the ancestral cult , which leads to the conferment of temple names with the same title after the death of a ruler, and the custom of giving names to reigns of emperors , the above Government currency: so to speak the motto under which an emperor rules.
Since emperors of later dynasties in particular often only used one government currency for their entire reign - e.g. B. the famous Kangxi emperor - these terms have often been misunderstood as the names of the emperors. So this name has become common, while the personal name is Aisin Gioro Xuanye, the temple name (Qing) Shengzu and the name of honor is Rendi. This would be somewhat comparable to speaking of Chancellor Wende or Blooming Landscapes in German history instead of referring to him by his name, Helmut Kohl .
Remarks
- ↑ Cf. U. Theobald, p. 6, as well as Birgit Kremer, The "Chinese Pocket Watch" ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Note 2
Literature and web links
- Ulrich Theobald, "Aids in Sinology 8 - Time Calculation" (PDF file; 112 kB)
- Zhongguo lishi jinianbiao 中國 歷史 紀年 表, Shanghai 1976.