What was the order of precedence for ancient China nobility ranks?
score:13
Neither, really.
The Zhou Dynasty classed its vassals into five ranks, 公 侯 伯 子 男, which are usually translated into English as Duke, Marquis, Count, Viscount and Baron. The State of Lu held a rank of Marquis (侯). Accordingly, its rulers are properly referred to as Marquis of Lu (魯侯). For example, Marquis Xi of Lu (魯侯戲) whose given name was Xi.
However, within their own realms, all vassal lords may be addressed as "Duke" (公), as an honorific (because dukes are the highest of the five ranks). In addition, when a vassal lord died, he may be given a posthumous name. The title of Duke (公) was typically used for this in conjunction with one or two other words that are meant to summarise their reign.
For instance, Marquis Xi mentioned above is known as Duke Yi of Lu. The "Yi" part comes from it being a posthumous name. When Xi passed away, he was given a posthumous name to commemorate his reign: Yi (懿). Per convention, he then became Duke Yi of Lu (魯懿公).
In Chinese history, rulers who were given posthumous names are typically recorded via that name. Moreover, one of the main sources of historical knowledge on that era came from the Annals of Spring and Autumn, which was the national historical record of the State of Lu. Therefore, seeing their rulers referred to as Dukes (公) are more common than by their actual names.
This has led to them all being translated as dukes. Unfortunately, when the actual rank is lower that Duke, it became a confusing mismatch of "Marquis being hereditary dukes".
Upvote:2
The five-fold correspondence between English and Chinese peerage ranks is merely coincidental. There is nothing special about the number five. The history of European noble ranks, both linguistic and chronological, is informative.
In England, all nobles are by definition Barons - that being the minimum dignity granted following the 1066 conquest granted to all tenants-in-chief of the English crown. In addition a few dozen of these Barons were granted the additional dignity of Earl. Only over time were the additional peerage dignities of Duke (both Royal, non-hereditary and restricted to the Royal family, and Noble), Marquess (Baron of a March), and Viscount, the full suite taking about 400 years to develop. The usage of Lord enters the language also at this time as the semiformal address shared by all Barons.
In Germany (or, if you prefer, the German-dialect-speaking lands of the Holy Roman Empire) the original titles are Graf (or Count, - equivalent to English Earl), Herzog (equivalent to English Duke) and Furst (equivalent to English Prince but a hereditary and not courtesy title). The very many additional German peerage titles largely spring from these, as witness Kurfurst for Prince Elector, Großherzog for Grand Duke, and finally all of Markgraf, Landgraf, Reichsgraf, Burggraf*, and Altgraf* in some sort of correspondence to English Marquess, Earl and Viscount. In German the form of address Graf (technically translated as Count, but in this usage better translated as Lord) is adopted as the semiformal address for many of these peerage ranks.
France, Spain, Poland and other Western European countries all have additional historical quirks in their peerage developments.
Note that in both England and the H.R.E. the peerage levels "built up" from the base of either Baron or Graf, so that the base semi-formal address remains the lower one. It appears that in China the additional peerage ranks "built down" instead, so that the base semi-formal address retained was the original, higher in this instance, one.
More post
- 📝 When did last names start being used, and who introduced the concept?
- 📝 How did Hedy Lamarr acquire scientific education?
- 📝 Is 529 the largest simultanious death penalty verdict ever?
- 📝 Evolution of destroyers
- 📝 How can prices be compared over time?
- 📝 Is this name transcribed correctly from cursive writing from 1866?
- 📝 Were fighters used as a carrier group defense tactic?
- 📝 What was the relative social status of a "grazier" in Victorian England?
- 📝 What was the price of going from England to New England as a passenger in the 1600s?
- 📝 What were the criteria for class ranking at West Point prior to the Civil War?
- 📝 Which French Revolutionary figure thought black slaves could oversee monkeys for labor?
- 📝 Why did Ancient Pueblo peoples build their homes in cliffs?
- 📝 Before WW2, how did Japan pay for imported US oil?
- 📝 Can someone identify this banknote?
- 📝 What was traded on the Chicago Board of Trade in the mid 1800s?
- 📝 What does a leaning cross on a gravestone mean?
- 📝 What impact did Trotsky's armoured train have on the Russian civil war?
- 📝 What was the process of early medieval urban development?
- 📝 What right/legitimacy did Normans have to a kingdom in Southern Italy?
- 📝 What route did the Hindenburg take when traveling from Germany to the U.S.?
- 📝 On the eve of the Democratic Republic of the Congo's independence, the country had virtually zero doctors, or any other intellectuals?
- 📝 Was David Ben-Gurion's marriage to Paula in December 1917 in New York?
- 📝 Help to identify old Firefighter badge
- 📝 Were these two racist quotes written by Marx?
- 📝 Was there a steam locomotive valve gear linked to pistons both in front of and behind the driving wheels, connected to the same set of linking rods?
- 📝 What other war crimes trials, besides those of Nazi war criminals, were held after WWII?
- 📝 What are the causes of the 1773 Boston Tea Party?
- 📝 Did Hans Christian Oersted ever marry?
- 📝 What was the ethnic makeup of Lenin's bodyguards during the assassination attempt?
- 📝 How well can cavalry fight infantry?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What was the order of precedence for ancient China nobility ranks?
- 📝 What is the evidence to claim that political order in ancient Rome was sufficiently different under "kingdom", "republic" and "empire"?
- 📝 What was the ancient Egyptian word for "soldier"?
- 📝 What was the equivalent of "Shoulder Arms, Fire!" for archers in Ancient Rome?
- 📝 What was the Ancient Egyptian's word for eleventh or twelfth?
- 📝 During the breakup of the Soviet Union, on what basis was citizenship granted or withheld for each of the fifteen new republics?
- 📝 What was the reason for Soviet troops to withdraw from Yugoslavia in World War II?
- 📝 If the Ch’in dynasty was so short-lived, why was China named for it?
- 📝 What was the plan for an abort of the Enola Gay's mission to drop the atomic bomb?
- 📝 What was the economic basis for West Berlin?
- 📝 What was the planned line of succession for the Nazi Party in the event that Hitler died?
- 📝 What was the 1970s name for skinny jeans?
- 📝 What was the legal framework in Ancient India?
- 📝 What was it like for a coastal village to experience a Viking raid in around the tenth century?
- 📝 What was the original process for becoming a US citizen?
- 📝 What are the most comprehensive historical references for ancient India?
- 📝 What was the life expectancy of an ancient Roman child and adult?
- 📝 What was the motivation for the Gregorian Calendar?
- 📝 From 1936-45 what was the prescribed punishment in Nazi Germany for failing to join or participate in the Hitler Youth?
- 📝 What was the impetus for some African nations to participate in the slave trade?
- 📝 What was the ancient Jewish pantheon?
- 📝 What was the reason for the Ottoman empire to adopt the crescent moon as its flag/coat of arms?
- 📝 What was the basis for valuating large territorial purchases by USA?
- 📝 What was the actual cause of the disaster for the Royal Navy’s battlecruisers in the Battle of Jutland?
- 📝 What was the penalty for disobeying flu safety regulations in the 1918 epidemic?
- 📝 What was the primary motivation for a historical figure like Xenophon to create an extensive collection of written material?
- 📝 What was the social status of a man who failed the civil service exams in Imperial China ( 1200 - 1800 AD )?
- 📝 What was the congressional level of support for Emancipation Proclamation?
- 📝 What was the timetable for Germany's Invasion of the Low Countries (Fall Gelb) in WW2?
- 📝 What were the requirements for Ancient Greek colonist groups?