mirrored file at http://SaturnianCosmology.Org/ For complete access to all the files of this collection see http://SaturnianCosmology.org/search.php ========================================================== _________________________________________________________________ Emperors of the Sangoku, the "Three Kingdoms," of India, China, & Japan India and China are the sources of the greatest [1]civilizations in Eastern and Southern Asia. Their rulers saw themselves as universal monarchs, thereby matching the pretentions of the [2]Roman Emperors in the West. The only drawbacks to their historical priority were that India suffered a setback, when the Indus Valley Civilization collapsed (for disputed reasons), and China got started later than the Middle Eastern civilizations. By the time India recovered, it was a contemporary of Greece, rather than Sumeria, with many parallel cultural developments, like philosophy. And, curiously, China reached a philosophical stage of development in the same era, the "axial age," 800 to 400 BC. Later, when the West, India, and China all had contact with each other, it was at first India that had the most influence on China, through the introduction of Buddhism. Indian influence on the West, though likely through the skepticism of [3]Pyrrho, and possibly evident in the halos of Christian saints (borrowed from Buddhist iconography), did not extend to anything more substantial. While China then made Buddhism its own, India later endured the advent of [4]Islâm, which introduced deep cultural and then political divisions into the Subcontinent. The only comparable development in China was the application of [5]Marxism by the Communist government that came to power in 1949. While China has now embraced a more liberal economic vision and has outgrown India, it retains the political dictatorship of Communism. India, with a successful history as a democracy, has found its growth hampered by socialist expectations and regulations (the stiffling "License Raj"), with some, but not enough, economic liberalization in the 1990's. The idea that there are "Three Kingdoms" (Sangoku) is a Japanese conceit, placing those peripheral islands on equal standing with the great centers of civilization, India and China. Until the 20th century, there would not have been a shadow of justification for that, except perhaps in subjective judgments about the creativity or originality of Japanese culture, which I am sure would be disputed by Koreans and Vietnamese. However, after a process of self-transformation sparked by American intervention, Japan lept to the status of a [6]Great Power by defeating Russia in 1905. The Empire then spent the next 40 years throwing its weight around, occupying Korea and invading China, ultimately taking on the United States in a disastrous bid for hegemony (1941-1945). Catastrophic defeat slowed Japan down a little, but by the 1980's, the country had vaulted to the highest per capita income in the world, with wealth and economic power that deeply frightened many, even in the United States. Japan remains the only Great Power, in economic terms (as the Japanese military establishment remains low profile), not directly derived from European civilization. Now, even after a decade of economic stagnation, Japan remains the second largest economy in the world (about half the size of the United States, more than 2.5 times the size of Germany, and finally reviving a bit in 2004), although in per capita terms smaller than Luxembourg and, of all places, Bermuda. This all might be thought to justify the Japanese view of themselves as unique, or at least special, certainly geopolitically important, giving us some motivation for the inclusion of Japan in a "Sangoku" page. [7]Philosophy of History _________________________________________________________________ Index * [8]Introduction * [9]Emperors of India + [10]The Mauryas, c.322-184 BC + [11]The Macedonian Kings of Bactria, 256-c.55 BC + [12]The Sakas/Parthians, 97 BC-125 AD o [13]The Saka Era, The Indian Historical Era, 79 AD + [14]The Kushans, c.20 BC-c.260 AD + [15]The Guptas, c.320-550 AD + [16]Thanesar, c.500-647 AD + [17]Maharashtra, 543-1317 AD + [18]Sult.âns of Delhi, 1206-1555 o [19]Mu'izzî or Shamsî Slave Kings, 1206-1290 o [20]Khaljîs, 1290-1320 o [21]Tughluqids, 1320-1414 o [22]Sayyids, 1414-1451 o [23]Lôdîs, 1451-1526 o [24]Sûrîs, 1540-1555 o [25]Sikh Gurûs and the Khâlsâ + [26]Moghul Emperors, 1526-1540, 1555-1858 o [27]Nawwâbs of Bengal, 1704-1765 o [28]British Governors of Bengal and Governors-General of India, 1765-1858 # [29]British Coinage of India, 1835-1947 o [30]Nawwâbs of Oudh, 1722-1856 o [31]Niz.âms of Hyderabad, 1720-1948 + [32]British Emperors and Viceroys, 1876-1947 (1858-1950) o [33]Culmen Mundi o [34]Prime Ministers of India o [35]Prime Ministers of Pakistan * [36]Emperors of China + [37]The Chinese Historical Era, 2637 BC + [38]Shang Dynasty, 1523-1028 + [39]Chou Dynasty, 1027-256 + [40]Ch'in Dynasty, 255-207 BC + [41]Former Han Dynasty, 206 BC-25 AD + [42]Later Han Dynasty, 25-220 AD + [43]The Three Kingdoms, 220-265 + [44]Northern and Southern Empires, 265-589 + [45]Sui Dynasty, 590-618 + [46]T'ang Dynasty, 618-906 + [47]The Five Dynasties, 907-960 + [48]Tartar Dynasties o [49]Liao (Khitan) Dynasty, 907-1125 o [50]Hsi-Hsia (Tangut) State, 990-1227 + [51]Sung Dynasty, 960-1126 + [52]Tartar Dynasties o [53]Western Liao (Qara-Khitaï) Dynasty, 1125-1218 o [54]Kin/Chin (Jurchen) Dynasty, 1115-1234 + [55]Southern Sung Dynasty, 1127-1279 + [56]Yüan (Mongol) Dynasty, 1280-1368 + [57]Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644 + [58]Southern Ming Dynasty, 1644-1662 + [59]Manchu Ch'ing Dynasty, 1644-1912 o [60]Tibet + [61]Republic of China, 1911-present + [62]Communist China, 1949-present + [63]Categories of Chinese Characters + [64]The Dialects of Chinese o [65]Examples of Dialect Differences Between Peking, Shanghai and, Canton o [66]Pronouncing Mandarin Initials o [67]The Contrast between Classical and Modern Chinese + [68]The Solar Terms and the Chinese Calendar o [69]The Chinese 60 Year Calendar Cycle o [70]The Occurrence of the Solar Terms in 1995-2005 o [71]Groundhog Day and Chinese Astronomy * [72]Emperors, Shoguns, & Regents of Japan + [73]The Japanese Historical Era, 660 BC + [74]The Legendary Period, 660 BC-539 AD + [75]The Historical Period, 539-645 + [76]The Yamato Period, 645-711 + [77]The Nara Period, 711-793 + [78]The Heian Period, 793-1186 o [79]Fujiwara Chancellors and Imperial Regents, 858-1867 + [80]The Kamakura Period, 1186-1336 o [81]Hôjô Regents + [82]The Nambokuchô Period, 1336-1392 o [83]Ashikaga Shôguns + [84]The Muromachi Period, 1392-1573 + [85]The Azuchi-Momoyama Period, 1573-1603 o [86]Himeji Castle + [87]The Edo Period, 1603-1868 o [88]Edo Castle, Tôkyô Imperial Palace + [89]The Modern Period, 1868-present o [90]Prime Ministers, 1885-present * [91]The Periphery of China -- Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Burma, Tibet, and Mongolia + [92]Kings of Korea o [93]Kings of Koguryo o [94]Kings of Paekche o [95]Kings of Silla and Korea + [96]Kings and Emperors of Vietnam o [97]Kings of Champa o [98]Kings and Emperors of Annam and Vietnam + [99]Kings of Thailand o [100]Kings of Sukhothai, c.1240-1438 o [101]Kings of Lan Na, 1259-1774 o [102]Chao of Chiang Mai, 1781-1939 o [103]Kings of Ayudhya, 1351-1767 o [104]King of Thonburi, 1767-1782 o [105]Kings of Bangkok, Chakri Dynasty, 1782-present + [106]Kings of Laos o [107]Kings of Vientiane, 1353-1778 o [108]Kings of Luang Prabang, 1707-1975 + [109]Kings of Cambodia, 6th century AD-present + [110]Kings of Burma o [111]Kings of Arakan, 788-1784 o [112]Kings of Pagan, c.900-1325 o [113]Kings of Pinya, 1298-1364 o [114]Kings of Ava, 1364-1555 o [115]Kings of Shan, 1287-1757 o [116]Kings of Taungu, 1531-1751 o [117]Kings of Konbaung/Burma, 1753-1885 + [118]Kings of Tibet and the Dalai Lamas o [119]Culmen Mundi o [120]First Kingdom of Tibet o [121]Mongol Regents o [122]Second Kingdom of Tibet o [123]The Dalai Lamas o [124]The Panchen Lamas + [125]The Mongol Khâns o [126]Index o [127]The Conquests of Chingiz Khân, 1227 o [128]The Great Khâns and the Yüan Dynasty of China o [129]The Grandsons of Chingiz Khân, 1280 o [130]The Chaghatayid Khâns o [131]The Khâns of the Golden Horde # [132]The Khâns of the Blue Horde # [133]The Khâns of the White Horde # [134]The Khâns of the Golden Horde # [135]The Khâns of Kazan # [136]The Khâns of Astrakhan # [137]The Khâns of the Crimea o [138]The Il Khâns # [139]The Jalâyirids, 1340-1432 # [140]The Qara Qoyunlu, 1351-1469 # [141]The Timurids, 1370-1501 # [142]The Aq Qoyunlu, 1396-1508 o [143]Shibânid Özbegs, 1438-1599 o [144]Kazakhs, 1394-1748 o [145]Toqay Temürids, 1599-1758 o [146]Mangïts of Bukhara, 1747-1920 [147]Philosophy of History _________________________________________________________________ Emperors of India _________________________________________________________________ India has had less of a tradition of political unity than China or Japan. Indeed, most of the names for India ("India," "Hindustân") are not even Indian. As Yule & Burnell say in their classic A Glossary of Colloquial Anglo-Indian Words and Phrases ["Hobson-Jobson," Curzon Press, 1886, 1985, p. 433]: It is not easy, if it be possible, to find a truly native (i.e. Hindu) name for the whole country which we call India; but the conception certainly existed from an early date. Bhâratavarsha is used apparently in the Purânas with something like this conception. Bhâratavars.a meant the "division of the world" (vars.a) of the Bhâratas -- the heroes of the great [148]Mahâbhârata epic. An independent India in 1947 decided to officially become Bhârat (the short final "a" not being pronounced in Hindi). When a unified state has occurred in Indian history, it has had varying religious, political, and even linguistic bases: e.g. Hindu, Buddhist, Islâmic, and foreign. The rule of the Sult.âns of Delhi and the Moghul Emperors was at once Islâmic and foreign, since most of them were Turkish or Afghani, and the Moghul dynasty was founded directly by incursion from Afghanistan. The surpremely foreign unification of India, of course, was from the British, under whom India achieved its greatest unity, although that was lost upon independence to the religious division between India and Pakistan. The Moghuls and British, of course, called India by its name in their own languages (i.e. "Hindustân" and "India"). With a unified state in India a rare phenomenon, often under foreign influence, and with only a derivative indigenous name for the country as a whole, one might wonder if the term "Emperor," with its implications of unique and universal monarchy, is aptly applied to Indian rulers. However, from an early date there was a notion of such monarchy, which depended only on a conception of the world, whether India itself was clearly conceived or not. The universal monarch was the Cakravartin, "Who Turns the Wheel of Dominion." Thus, the prophecy was that Siddhartha Gautama might have become the [149]Buddha, or a Cakravartin, a world ruler. The word was ambiguous, since the term can mean simply a sovereign, but its use is paralleled by the Latin word Imperator, which simply means "Commander" and grew, by usage, into a term for a unique and universal monarch. As it happened, many of the monarchs who began to claim ruler over all of India did usually use titles that were translations or importations of foreigns words. Thus, the [150]Kushans used titles like Râjatirâjâ, "King of Kings," and Mahârâjâ, "Great King," which appear to be translations from older Middle Eastern titles. While the original "Great King" long retained its uniqueness, thanks to the durability of the [151]Persian monarchy, the title in India experienced a kind of grade inflation, so that eventually there were many, many Mahârâjâs. With Islâm came a whole raft of new titles. One was Sult.ân, which originally was an Arabic title of [152]universal rule itself but had already experienced its own grade inflation. Persian titles, like Pâdeshâh, centuries after the Achaemenids, were now borrowed rather than translated. With the [153]Moghuls, however, the names of the Emperors, more than their titles, reflected their pretentions: like Persian Jahângir, "Seize (gir) the world (jahân)." The most remarkable title borrowed from the West is probably Kaisar, but the Latin title itself arrived with Queen [154]Victoria, IND IMP, Imperatrix Indiae, in 1876. The last Imperator Indiae was King George VI, until 1947. In addition to these complications, Indian history is also less well known and dated than that of China or Japan. Classical Indian literature displays little interest in history proper, which must be reconstructed from coins, monumental inscriptions, and foreign references. As Jan Nattier has said recently [A Few Good Men, The Bodhisattva Path According to the Inquiry of Ugra (Ugraparipr.cchâ), University of Hawai'i Press, 2003]: ...the writing of history in the strict sense does not begin in India until the 12th century, with the composition of Kalhan.a's Râjataran^.gin.î. [p.68] Because of this, even the dating of the Mauryas and the Guptas, the best known pre-Islâmic periods, displays small uncertainties. The rulers and dates for them here are from Stanley Wolpert's A New History of India [Oxford University Press, 1989] and [155]Bruce R. Gordon's Regnal Chronologies -- Gordon had the only full lists I'd ever seen for the Mauryas, Kushans, and Guptas; but the Mauryas and Guptas can now be found in the Facts On File Encyclopedia of World History (George Philip Ltd., 2000, p.520). Besides Wolpert, another concise recent history of India is A History of India by Peter Robb [Palgrave, 2002]. It is becoming annoying to me that scholarly histories like these are almost always but poorly supplemented with maps and lists of rulers, let alone genealogies (where these are known). Both Wolpert and Robb devote much more space to modern India than to the ancient or mediaeval country, and this preference seems to go beyond the paucity of sources for the earlier periods. The "Saka Era," as the Indian historical era, significantly starts rather late (79 AD) in relation to the antiquity of Indian civilization. Indeed, like Greece (c.1200-800 BC) and Britain (c.400-800 AD), India experienced a "Dark Ages" period, c.1500-800 BC, in which literacy was lost and the civilization vanished from history altogether. Such twilight periods may enhance the vividness of quasi-historical mythology like the Iliad, the Arthurian legends, and the [156]Mahâbhârata. The earliest history of India is covered separately at "[157]The Earliest Civilizations" and "[158]The Spread of Indo-European and Turkish Peoples off the Steppe." The affinities of Indian languages are also covered at "[159]Greek, Sanskrit, and Closely Related Languages." Readers should treat with caution some scholarship and a great deal of the material on the internet about the Indus Valley Civilization and its relationship to Classical Indian civilization, or all of civilization. The claims have progressed to the point now where not only are all of Indian civilization and all of its languages regarded as autochthonous (with [160]Indo-European languages said to originate in India, and derived from Dravidian languages, rather than arriving from elsewhere and unrelated to Dravidian), but the civilization itself is said to extend back to the Pleistocene Epoch (before 10,000 BC), with any ruins or artifacts conveniently covered by rising sea levels. The urge towards inflated nationalistic claims is familiar. Particular claims about India are treated here in several places but especially in "[161]Strange Claims about the Greeks, and about India." THE MAURYAS, c.322-184 BC Chandragupta (Gk. Sandrokotos) c.322-301 Bindusara 301-269 Ashoka 269-232 Kunala 232-225 Dasaratha 232-225 Samprati 225-215 Salisuka 215-202 Devadharma/ Devavarman 202-195 Satamdhanu/ Satadhanvan 195-187 Brihadratha 187-185 The Mauryas are the beginning of historical India. This inception is particularly dramatic when we realize that Chandragupta seems to have actually met [162]Alexander the Great in person. Perhaps realizing that there were no historians writing down his deeds, the greatest king of the Dynasty, Ashoka, commemorated himself with monumental inscriptions, especially on a series of pillars erected around India. The most famous of these is at Sarnath, where the Buddha began preaching. The lion capital of the pillar at Sarnath is now used as the official crest of modern India, with the Wheel of the Law (Dharmachakra) on it (as at right) on the flag of India. Indeed, Ashoka is the most famous for converting to [163]Buddhism and sending missionaries abroad. Ashoka can be rather well dated because he sent letters to the contemporary [164]Hellenistic monarchs, Antigonus II Gonatas (Antikini) of [165]Macedonia , Antiochus II Theos (Anityoka) of the [166]Seleucid Kingdom, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (Turamaya) of [167]Egypt, Alexander II (Alikasudara) of [168]Eprius, and Magas (Maga) of Cyrene, urging them to convert to Buddhism themselves. Greek history contains no record of these requests. MACEDONIAN KINGS OF BACTRIA 256-c.55 BC The decline of the Mauryas coincided with the rise of a neighboring Greek Kingdom in [169]Bactria. This was also important for the history of Buddhism, as the Kings became converts. A classic of Buddhist literature, the "Questions of Milinda," (Milindapañha) records the convertion of one King in particular, Menander Soter Dikaios (Milinda, 155-130). This is part of the history of India, but the kingdom is listed with other [170]Hellenistic monarchies. It now seems like one of the oddest things in history that there was once a kingdom of Greek Buddhists in Afghanistan. There are no Greeks or Buddhists in [171]Afghanistan now. The Greek rulers then survive well into the period of the Sakas and Parthians, as follows. THE SAKAS, c.130 BC Maues 97-58 BC Vonones Spalyris Spalagademes Spalirises Azes I c.30 BC Azilises Azes II THE PARTHIANS/SUREN Pakores Orthagnes Gudnaphar (Gondophernes) c.19-45 AD Abdagases Sasas Arsaces Theos Nahapa 119-124 AD The Sakas (or Shakas) were an [172]Iranian steppe people who descended into India, much as the [173]Arya had earlier -- indeed, it is a pattern that would be repeated again and again until the [174]Moghuls. The Sakas spoke an Iranian language. This is classified as "South-Eastern" Iranian, which geographically locates where the Sakas ended up, but not where they began, which was on the steppe north and east of the Aral Sea. The "North-Eastern" Iranian languages, Sarmatian and Scythian (which are poorly attested), ended up in the far North-West, north of the Caspian Sea and in the Ukraine, respectively. From the Sarmatians came the Alans, whose language survives in the Caucasus as [175]Ossetian. Also North-Eastern Iranian was Sogdian, which remained North-East and continued to be an important Central Asian language until the [176]Arab conquest. It has a small survivor in the [177]Pamirs, Yaghnobi. After the arrival of the Kushans, the Sakas were simply driven further into India, into Rajasthan, where they became assimilated as Hindu [178]Kshatriyas. Since Rajasthan later became famous for its warriors, this may indicate the cultural preservation of Saka nomadic fierceness. There are no historical documents or preserved naratives from this period, and the rulers are mostly known from coins, which may have dates, THE SAKA ERA, THE INDIAN HISTORICAL ERA 79 AD 2000 AD - 78 = 1922 Annô Sakidae but in eras or reckonings that often cannot be identified. Since 1957, the National Calendar of India uses the Saka Era (78 AD = year 0), but the origin of this benchmark is itself unknown (cf. Explandatory Supplement to the Astronomical Almanac, edited by P. Kenneth Seidelmann, University Science Books, 1992, pp.591-594). It is certainly representative of the problems with Indian history that its own historical era dates an unknown event in a period, long after the beginning of Indian history, that itself is all but innocent of dates and historical evidence. Simultaneously with the descent of Sakas into India, [179]Parthians (Pahlavas) or Suren appear from the west, and some of them become established in India independent (or not) of the Parthian King. The Parthians spoke a "North-Western" Iranian language, though its origin was far south of the Scythians. The sources are sometimes confused about which Indian rulers are Sakas and which are Parthians, since they are never attested as which. Gudnaphar (Greek Gondophernes), who traditionally is supposed to have welcomed the Apostle Thomas to India, seems to have been Parthian. The legend of the mission of Thomas to India is now of renewed interest because of the discovery of the text of the Gospel of Thomas, one of the [180]Gnostic Gospels, in Egypt in 1945. THE KUSHANS Kujula Kadphises c.20 BC-c.30/64 AD Wima/Welma Taktu c.30-c.80 Welma Kadphises c.80-c.103 Kanishka I c.103-c.127 AD Vasishka I c.127-c.131 Huvishka I c.130-c.162 Vasudeva I c.162-c.200 Kanishka II c.200-c.220 Vasishka II c.220-c.230 Kanishka III c.230-c.240 Vasudeva II c.240-c.260 Vasu late 3rd century Chhu late 3rd century Shaka 3-4th century Kipanada 4th century The Kushans also began as an Indo-European [181]steppe people, known to the Chinese as the Yuèzhi (Yüehchih), the "Moon Tribe." They seem to have been a group who moved far east on the steppe very early, speaking a language with many archaic features. By attacking the [182]Hsiung-nu [Xiongnu], probably the later Huns, the Chinese of the [183]Han Dynasty drove them back into the Yuèzhi, who then migrated (170 BC) into the Tarim Basin (the Lesser Yuèzhi) and Transoxania (the Greater Yuèzhi), areas which they dominated c.100 BC-300 AD. The language of the Lesser Yuèzhi is attested in Buddhist texts in two dialects of "Tocharian." The Greater Yuèzhi, as the Kushans, followed other steppe people down into India. Some small uncertainty continues over the identification of the Yuèzhi with the Kushans and the writers of Tocharian, but the recent discovery of well-preserved, European-looking mummies along the Silk Road serves to affirm the Indo-European bona fides of the still illiterate (from a period long before Tocharian) local culture. Although the dates are still very uncertain, historical information in India is rather better than for the preceding period. Of special importance is King Kanishka, under whom the Fourth Great Buddhist Council is supposed to have been held, as the Third was under Ashoka. Kanishka is said to have been converted to Buddhism by the playwright Ashvaghosha. The earliest actual images of Buddhas and Boddhisattvas date from his reign. Also of interest are the Kushan royal titles, Maharaja Rajatiraja Devaputra Kushâna. Rajatiraja, "King of Kings," is very familiar from Middle Eastern history, since monarchs from the [184]Assyrians to the Parthians had used it. Maharaja, "Great King," is very familiar from later India but at this early date betrays its Middle Eastern inspiration, since it was originally used by the [185]Persian Kings. Devaputra, "Son of God," sounds like the Kushans claiming some sort of Christ-like status, which is always possible, but it may actually just be an Sanskrit version of a title of the Chinese Emperor, "Son of Heaven." THE GUPTAS, c.320-550 AD Gupta 275-300 Ghatotkacha 300-320 Chandra Gupta I 320-335 Samudra Gupta 335-370 Rama Gupta 370-375 Chandra Gupta II 375-415 Kumara Gupta I 415-455 Skanda Gupta 455-467 Kumara Gupta II 467-477 Budha Gupta 477-496 Chandra Gupta III ? 496-500 Vainya Gupta 500-515 Narasimha Gupta 510-530 Kumara Gupta III 530-540 Vishnu Gupta 540-550 This was one of the classic ages of Indian history, for whose culture we have a rather full description by the Chinese [186]Buddhist pilgrim Fa-Hsien, who was in India between 399 and 414, in the time of Chandra Gupta II. This was the last time that India, or at least the North, would be united by a culturally indigenous power. The Guptas patronized the Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain religions equally. Towards the end of the period, the Guptas began to experience inroads from the Huns (Huna), the next steppe people, whose appearance in Europe, of course, pressured German tribes to move into the [187]Roman Empire. By 500, Huns controlled the Punjab and in short order extended their rule down the Ganges. They don't seem to have founded any sort of durable state. The Huns were the last non-Islamic steppe people to invade India. While the name of Chandragupta, the founder of the [188]Mauryas, is usally given as one word, the "Gupta" ("guarded, protected") element in names of the Gupta dynasty is usually, but not always, written as a separate word. Thanesar Naravardhana c. 500-? Rajyavardhana I Adityavardhana Prabhakaravardhana c.580-c.605 Rajyavardhana II c.605-606 Harsha Vardhana 606-647 In the political fragmentation of the following period, Harsha Vardhana, from Thanesar, north of Delhi, was one ruler who for a time united most of the North of India again, and, as luck would have it, we have the account of Hsüan-tsang (Xuánzang, 600-664), another Chinese [189]Buddhist pilgrim, who went to India between 629 and 645, during his time. Maharashtra Châlukyas Pulakeshin I 543-566 Kirtivarman I 566-597 Mangalesa 597-609 Pulakeshin II 609-642 killed in battle by Narasimha Varman I of Pallava; interregnum, 642-655 Vikramaditya I 655-680 Vinayaditya 680-696 Vijayaditya 696-733 Vikramaditya II 733-746 Kirtivarman II 746-757 Rashtrakutas Dantidurga 754-768 Krishna I 768-783 Govinda I 768-? Dhruva Govinda II 793-814 Amoghavarsha I 814-877 Krishna II 877-915 Indra I 915-917 Amoghavarsha II 917-918 Govinda III 918-934 Amoghavarsha III 934-939 Krishna III 939-968 Khottiga 968-972 Karka Amoghhavarsha IV 972-973 Indra II 973-982 Châlukyas Taila Ahavamalla 973-997 Satyasraya Irivabedanga 997-1008 Vikramaditya I 1008-1014 Ayyana 1014-1015 Jayasimha 1015-1042 Somesvara I 1042-1068 Somesvara II 1068-1076 Vikramaditya II 1076-1127 Somesvara III 1127-1138 Jagadekamalla 1138-1151 Tailapa 1151-1156 Kalachuris Bijjala 1156-1168 Somesvara 1168-1177 Sankama 1177-1180 Ahavamalla 1180-1183 Singhana 1183-1184 Harsha enjoyed a long reign but then was defeated by forces from Maharashtra ("Great country"), in the Deccan. Pulakeshin II, also visited by Hsüan-tsang, declared himself "Lord of the Eastern and Western Waters." Although Maharashtrans never united the north and dominating the country like the Guptas or Harsha, I have included them to span the period down to the Sult.âns of Delhi. There were many other states of similar size and power during this era, but I take Maharashtra as representative and with a titular priority derived from the defeat of Harsha. [190][LINK] Indian Buddhism, although patronized by Harsha, already seemed to be in decline to Hsüan-tsang, and, indeed, the contemporary development of [191]Tantrism was obscuring the differences between Hinduism and Buddhism. It was also during this period that we begin to get identifiable individual Indian philosophers, like Shankara (c.780-820), from whom we have a classic formulation of the doctrine of the [192]Vedanta School. With the period of the Classical Empires over, it is striking that only now do individuals appear in the light of history in Indian philosophy. There is speculation that Shankara already represents a reaction to the arrival of Islâm on the borders of India. The following period, then, is the calm before the full force of Islâm burst on the country with the invasions of [193]Mah.mûd of Ghazna, from 1001 to 1024. While Shankara's views were later criticized as too influenced by Buddhism, they are more faithful to the [194]Upanishads than the theism of the critics, who themselves seem increasingly influenced by the monotheism of Islâm. There also appears to be a decisive influence from Islâm on Indian dress. While in Classical India women are typically shown bare breasted, as at left, the rigors of the Middle Eastern nudity taboo came into full force in modern India, at least for women. I am not aware just when this transition occurs. By the 19th century Krishna's lover Radha is shown in a full shoulder to floor woven dress. Someone could easily chronicle the transition by cataloguing such sculpture. The Châlukya dynasty, residing at Badami, suffered a severe reverse when Pulakeshin II was killed in battle by Narasimha Varman I of Pallava, and Badami occupied. After reestablishing themselves, they were eventually overthrown by their own vassals, the Rashtrakutas, who moved the capital to Ellora. The Rashtrakutas were then deposed by new Châlukyas, who established themselves at Kalyâni. A couple more brief changes of dynasty occur before the area is annexed by Delhi in 1317. The rulers of Maharashtra are entirely from [195]Bruce R. Gordon's Regnal Chronologies, where they seem to have been added recently. Details of the period are from Wolpert's A New History of India (pp.95-103). There seems to be some uncertainty about the dates, since Wolpert has Krishna I, patron of the remarkable Kailasanatha temple to Shiva, reigning 756-775, while Gordon has 768-783. This is, of course, not too surprising, given the problems with Indian historiography. Châlukya Somesvara IV 1184-1200 Yadava Singhana 1200-1247 Krishna 1247-1261 Mahadeva 1261-1271 Amana 1271 Ramachandra 1271-1311 Sankaradeva 1311-1313 Harapaladeva 1313-1317 To Delhi, 1317 SULT.ÂNS OF DELHI (DILHÎ) Mu'izzî or Shamsî Slave Kings Aybak Qut.b adDîn Malik in Lahore for [196]Ghûrids, 1206-1210 Ârâm Shâh 1210-1211 Iltutmish Shams adDîn Sult.ân in Delhi, 1211-1236 Fîrûz Shâh I 1236 Rad.iyya Begum Sult.âna, 1236-1240 Bahrâm Shâh 1240-1242 Mas'ûd Shâh 1242-1246 Mah.mud Shâh I 1246-1266 Balban Ulugh Khân viceroy since 1246 1266-1287 Kay Qubâdh 1287-1290 Kayûmarth 1290 Khaljîs Fîrûz Shâh II Khaljî 1290-1296 Ibrâhîm Shâh I Qadïr Khân 1296 Muh.ammad Shâh I 'Alî Garshâsp 1296-1316 'Umar Shâh 1316 Mubârak Shâh 1316-1320 Khusraw Khân Barwârî 1320 Tughluqids Tughluq Shâh I 1320-1325 Muh.ammad Shâh II 1325-1351 Fîrûz Shâh III 1351-1388 Tughluq Shâh II 1388-1389 Abû Bakr Shâh 1389-1391 Muh.ammad Shâh III 1389-1394 Sikandar Shâh I 1394 Mah.mûd Shâh II 1394-1395, 1401-1412 Nus.rat Shâh 1395-1399 Dawlat Khân Lôdî 1412-1414 Sayyids Khid.r Khân 1414-1421 Mubârak Shâh II 1421-1434 Muh.ammad Shâh IV 1434-1443 'Âlam Shâh 1443-1451 Lôdîs Bahlûl 1451-1489 Sikandar II Niz.âm Khân 1489-1517 Ibrâhîm II 1517-1526 [197]Moghul Rule, 1526-1540 Sûrîs Shîr Shâh Sûr 1540-1545 Islâm Shâh Sûr 1545-1554 Muh.ammad V Mubâriz Khân 1554 Ibrâhîm III Khân 1554-1555 Ah.mad Khân Sikandar Shâh III 1555 Islâm came to India in great measure in the person of [198]Mah.mûd of Ghazna, who began raiding the country at the turn of the Millennium. This progressed to permanent occupation under his successors, the [199]Ghurids, whose slave viceroys became independent at the beginning of the 13th century, founding the Sult.ânate of Delhi. This began an Islâmic domination of India that lasted until the advent of the British. The consequences of his can hardly be underestimated. Up to a quarter of all Indians ended up converting to Islâm. Buddhism disappeared. Some of the greatest monuments of Indian architecture, like the Taj Mahal, really reflect Persian and Central Asian civilization rather than Indian. Indian Moslems became accustomed, as was their right under Islâmic Law, to be ruled by a Moslem power. In practical terms, that meant that they did not want to be ruled by Hindus, when and if India should become independent. Today, the separation of Pakistan and Bangladesh from the Republic of India, with ongoing strife between them, and the occasional riot between Hindus and Moslems in India itself, are all the result of this. Sikhism, from Pâli sikkha (Sanskrit shis.ya), "follower," was a new religion that attempted to reconcile and replace Hinduism and Islâm. Sikh Gurûs 1 Nânak 1469-1539 2 An^.gad 1539-1552 3 Amar Dâs 1552-1574 4 Râm Dâs Sod.hi 1574-1581 5 Arjun Mal 1581-1606 6 Hargobind 1606-1644 7 Har Râi 1644-1661 8 Hari Krishen 1661-1664 9 Tegh Bahâdur 1664-1675 10 Gobind Râi Singh 1675-1708 Khâlsâ, 1699 Bandâ Singh Bahâdur 1708-1716 Khâlsâ Râj, Punjab, 1761 Ranjît Singh 1780-1839 Kharak Singh 1839-1840 Nao Nehal Singh 1840 Chand Kaur 1840-1841 Sher Singh 1841-1843 Duleep Singh 1843-1849, d. 1893 First Sikh War, 1845-1846; Second Sikh War, 1848-1849; annexed by British, 1849 Although there are some 18 million Sikhs today, this never made much of a dent in the numbers of Hindus or Moslems, and long earned the Sikhs little but hositility from both. After the Fifth Gurû ("Teacher") was executed by the Moghuls, the Sixth rejected Moghul authority and was forced to flee to the mountains. When the Ninth Gurû was later again executed by the Moghuls, the Tenth, Gobind Râi, took things a step further by transforming the community into an army, the Khâlsâ, "Pure." Every Sikh became a Singh, "Lion." The succession of Gurûs was then ended. At first this transformation did not seem to improve things much. Gobind Singh and his temporal successor, Bandâ Singh Bahâdur, both died violent deaths, and the community fragmented. But with the decline of Moghul power, opportunity knocked. The Khâlsâ was soon again unified and installed in Lahore, under Ranjît Singh, who became Mahârâjâ of the Punjab. Henceforth the Sikhs, although never more than a minority, were the greatest military power in northern India. The death of Ranjît, however, led to a chaotic succession and conflict among his heirs. Two sharp wars with the British led to the annexation of the Punjab, after which Sikh warlike ambitions could be directed through membership in the British Indian Army, where the Sikhs stood out with their characteristic turbans and beards. In modern India a movement began for Sikh independence from India, with the Indian Punjab becoming Khâlistân. Led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindrânwale, this led to a catastrophic showdown in 1984 when the Golden Temple in Armitsar, the fortified center of the Sikh Faith, was stormed by the Indian Army, and Bhindrânwale killed. When Prime Minister Indria Gandhi was assassinated later the same year by Sikh bodyguards, few doubted that this was an act of revenge. Sikh nationalism continues to trouble India. MOGHUL EMPERORS Great Moghuls Bâbur 1498-1500, 1500-1501 in [200]Transoxania 1526-1530 Humâyûn 1530-1540, 1555-1556 Akbar I 1556-1605 Jahângîr 1605-1627 Dâwar Bakhsh 1627-1628 Shâh Jahân I Khusraw 1628-1657, d. 1666 Awrangzîb 'Âlamgîr I 1658-1707 Shâh 'Âlam I Bahâdur 1707-1712 Jahândâr Mu'izz adDîn 1712-1713 Farrukh-siyar 1713-1719 Shams adDîn Râfi' adDarajât 1719 Shâh Jahân II Râfi' adDawla 1719 Nîkû-siyar Muh.ammad 1719 Muh.ammad Shâh Nâs.ir adDîn 1719-1748 Looting of Delhi by [201]Nâdir Shâh, 1739 Ah.mad Bahâdur Shâh I 1748-1754 'Azîz adDîn 'Âlamgîr II 1754-1759 Shâh Jahân III 1759 Shâh 'Âlam II 1759-1788, 1788-1806 Bîdâr-bakht 1788 Mu'în adDîn Akbar II 1806-1837 English replaces Persian, 1828; Moghul authority replaced by Britain, 1827; Suttee illegal, 1829; suppression of Thugee launched, 1836 Sirâj adDîn Bahâdur Shâh II 1837-1858 Great Sepoy Mutiny, 1857-1858; [202]British Rule, 1858-1947 Moghul is Persian (Mughûl in Arabic) for "Mongol" -- although the Moghuls were rather more Turkish than Mongol. An alternative pronunciation in Persian is Moghol, which, with a different final vowel, would give a Hindi-Urdu pronunciation of Mughal, which now tends to be used by historians. Pretentions to universal rule, which figure in Indian mythology, in Persian imperial tradition, and in the titles of earlier Indian rulers, figure in many of the actual names of Moghul emperors. "Akbar" in Arabic is "Greatest." "Jahângir" in Persian means to "seize" (gir) the "world" (jahân). "Shâh Jahân" is also Persian for "World King." "'Âlamgir" and "Shah 'Âlam" both simply substitute the Arabic word for "world," 'âlam, for the Persian word. As the Moghul state decays in the 18th century, of course, these names and pretentions become increasingly farcical. Almost from the first, Moghul policy was to tolerate and win the cooperation of Hindus, especially the warriors of Rajasthan. With Akbar this approached a policy of positive toleration and religious syncretism, which earned Akbar the disfavor of Moslem clerics but, like Ashoka, the esteem of modern liberal opinion. Even the most basic elements of this policy, however, were reversed by Awrangzîb (or Aurangzeb), who briefly brought the Empire to its greatest extent but whose measures against Hindus and Sikhs (the execution of the ninth [203]Sikh Gurû) fatally weakened the state. Non-Moslems no longer had any reason to support the Moghuls, and in short order the Empire was only a shell of its former strength and vigor, with the Persians sacking Delhi itself (1739), under the Emperor, Muh.ammad Shâh, who had done somewhat well at maintaining things. Henceforth, the shell of Moghul authority would stand just until a new conquering power would appear. That turned out to be the British, who, however, only gradually conceived the notion of actually replacing nominal Moghul authority with an explicit British Dominion in India. Although the last Moghul was deposed in 1858, the full process was not complete until Queen Victoria was proclaimed Empress of Indian in 1876. The British Râj would then last exactly 71 more years -- testimony to the rapidity of modern events after the 332 years of the Moghuls. How durable the British heritage will be is a good question. The form of government in India, which has in general remained democratic, is far more British than that of other former British possessions. And English, with its own distinctive Indian accent, remains the only official language of the country that does not provoke communal conflict. What the British hertiage thus tends to stand for is something unifying, fair, and evenhanded -- a plus for India and a tribute to the British. Nawwâbs & Kings of Oudh (Awadh), 1722-1856 Sa'âdat Khân Burhân alMulk 1722-1739 Abû Mans.ûr Khân S.afdâr Jang 1739-1754 H.aydar Shujâ' adDawla 1754-1775 Âs.af adDawla 1775-1797 Wazîr 'Alî 1797-1798, d. 1817 Sa'âdat 'Alî Khân 1798-1814 H.aydar I Ghâzî adDîn 1814-1827; King, 1819 H.aydar II Sulaymân Jâh 1827-1837 Muh.ammad 'Alî Mu'în adDîn 1837-1842 Amjad 'Alî Thurayyâ Jâh 1842-1847 Wâjid 'Alî 1847-1856; d. 1887 Deposed by British, Oudh annexed to British India, 1856; Great Sepoy Mutiny, 1857-1858 Barjîs Qadïr 1857, during the Mutiny [204]British Rule, 1858-1947 Oudh was a Moghul province that drifted into independence. The growth of British influence after 1764 led to a treaty in 1801 that required "sound government." British judgment that there wasn't such government became the pretext for deposing the king and imposing direct British rule in 1856. This and other resentments over British rule in India helped spark the Great Mutiny of British Sepoy troups in 1857-1858. Oudh was a center of the rebellion. The British were beseiged in Cawnpore and Lucknow. The seige of Cawnpore ended in a massacre of the whole British garrison, women and children included -- to which the British retaliated with their own massacre later. The seige of Lucknow ended better. One relief force simply joined the beseiged, then another rescued the garrison but abandoned the city. Finally the city was retaken in 1858. This all led to a transformation of British rule in India, with the East India Company being disbanded and the [205]Royal Government taking responsibility for the country. Niz.âms of Hyderabad, (Haydarâbâd) 1720-1948 Chin Qïlïch Khân Niz.âm alMulk 1720-1748 Nâs.ir Jang 1748-1751 Muz.affar Jang 1751-1752 S.alâbat Jang 1752-1762 Niz.âm 'Alî Khân 1762-1803 Farkhanda 'Alî Khân Nâs.ir adDawla 1829-1857 Mîr Mah.bûb 'Ali I Afd.al adDawla 1857-1869 Mîr Mah.bûb 'Ali II 1869-1911 Mîr 'Uthmân 'Alî Khân Bahâdur Fath. Jang 1911-1948 Annexation by [206]Dominion of India, 1948 Hyderabad, originally most of the Deccan plateau, was another Moghul province (under a s.ûbadâr) that drifted into independence. Despite the collapse of Moghul power, becoming surrounded by the British, and becoming allies of the British, the Niz.âms still listed the Moghul Emperors on their coins all the way until the end of the line in 1858. British sovereignty was not acknowledged until 1926. Although Hyderabad was relatively improverished compared to the surrounding British territories, the last Niz.âm eventually accumulated enough wealth to be considered the richest man in the world. He did not outlive British rule by long. When India was partitioned, the Moslem Niz.âm chose to go with Pakistan, from whose other parts he was separated by hundreds of miles. Since Hyderabad was overwhelmingly Hindu, the new Dominion of India, ironically with [207]King George VI of England still as official Head of State, already fighting with Pakistan over Kashmir, soon invaded and attached Hyderabad to India by force. Nawwâbs of Bengal, 1704-1765 Murshid Qulî Khân 'Alâ' adDawla 1704-1725 Shujâ' Khân Shujâ' adDawla 1725-1739 Sarfarâz Khân 'Alâ' adDawla 1739-1740 'Alîwirdî Khân Hâshim adDawla 1740-1756 Mîrzâ Mah.mûd Sirâj adDawla 1756-1757 Defeated & dethroned by Robert Clive, Battle of Plassey, 1757 Mîr Ja'far Muh.ammad Khân Hâshim adDawla 1757-1760 1763-1765 Mîr Qâsim 'Alî 1760-1763 British East India Company Rule, 1765-1858, Presidency of Calcutta Robert Clive Governor, 1755-1760, 1764-1767 Henry Verelst 1767-1770 Cartier 1770-1772 Originally the Moghul governors (dîwân) of Bengal, the decline of Moghul power resulted in effective independence for the Nawwâbs. The clash with British power, however, spelled the end of independence and the beginning of British India. Clive became the effective founder of the British Empire in India, and the Battle of Plassey one of the supreme moments of British Imperial history. The titular line of Nawwâbs actually continued, however, even until the present day. The title also passed into English, as "nabob," which became a name for successful British merchants in India, especially those who in the early days had somewhat assimilated to Indian culture and practices. Bengal became one of the three "Presidencies" through which direct British rule in India was effected (with different arrangements for the Princely States, which remained nominally under local rule). The others were Bombay and Madras. However, Bengal was also the seat of general British authority; and when the Governor of Bengal became the actual Governor-General of India, his seat continued to be in Calcutta. The capital of India was not moved to Delhi until rather late in British rule, in 1912. New Delhi became the capital in 1931. British Governors-General of India Warren Hastings Governor-General 1772-1785 John MacPherson 1785-1786 Lord Cornwallis 1786-1793 & 1805 Sir John Shore 1793-1798 Lord Mornington 1798-1805 Sir G. Barlow 1805-1807 Lord Minto 1807-1813 Lord Moira (Lord Hastings) 1813-1823 Gurkha War, 1814-1816 Lord Amherst 1823-1828 First Burmese War, 1824-1826; Moghul authority replaced by Britain, 1827 Lord Bentinick 1828-1835 English replaces Persian, 1828; Suttee illegal, 1829; name of Moghul Emperor removed from coinage, 1835 Lord Metcalfe 1835-1836 Lord Auckland 1836-1842 suppression of Thugee launched, 1836; First Afghan War, 1839-1842 Earl of Ellenborough 1842-1844 Lord Hardinge 1844-1848 First Sikh War, 1845-1846 Earl of Dalhousie 1848-1856 Second Sikh War, 1848-1849; Punjab annexed, 1849; Second Burmese War, 1852; Oudh annexed, 1856 Lord Canning 1856-1858 Viceroy, 1858-1862 Great Sepoy Mutiny, 1857-1858; [208]British Rule, 1858-1947 The very odd thing about this period is the ambiguity about just who owned British possessions in India and who the real sovereign authority was. Originally British Indian coins simply said "East India Company," the chartered British company that was the ruler of British India. Since Bengal had been a possession of the Moghul Emperors, this fiction was maintained at least until 1827. The Moghul court language, Persian, was replaced by English in 1828. In 1835, the face of the King of England (William IV) began appearing on East India Company coins, but this implication of sovereignty does not seem to have been accompanied by a formal claim of sovereignty. This was not settled until 1858, when the last Moghul was deposed, the East India Company was abolished, and the Governor-General became the Viceroy, the sovereign agent for Queen Victoria. Nevertheless, another ambiguity continued, which is what kind of entity India was, simply a "Crown Colony" or something else? This was cleared up in 1876, when Victoria was proclaimed Empress of India, meaning that India itself was an Empire, as it was presumed to be under the Moghuls. Two remarkable undertakings in this period were the suppression of Suttee and of Thugee. Suttee was the burning of widows on the pyres of their husbands. This was supposed to be voluntary, as an act of devotion, as Sita did for her husband Rama (though a correspondent has denied this), but it mainly became an act of murder, by which the husband's family could rid themselves of an unwanted daughter-in-law. The Thugs were devotees of the [209]goddess Kali, who murdered and then robbed in her name (the practice of Thugee). Since the Thugs were a secret society, exposing and arresting them was a more difficult and protracted process. That these practices were worthy of suppression provides an interesting subject for arguments about cultural [210]relativism. At the time they did raise fears that the British intended to replace native religion with Christianity, which helped provoke the Great Mutiny. The list of British Viceroys is compiled from The British Conquest and Dominion of India, Sir Penderel Moon [Duckworth, Indiana University Press, 1989]. Most or all of them have biographies at the [211]Encyclopaedia Britannica. Lord Reading was actually Jewish, probably the highest ranking Jew in the history of the British Empire, where the Viceroy of India, always raised to the Peerage for his office, held the highest Office of State next to the Throne itself. [212]BRITISH EMPERORS OF INDIA Viceroys & Governors- General of India Victoria Queen, 1858-1901 Lord Elgin 1862-1863 Lord Lawrence 1863-1869 Lord May 1869-1872 Lord Northbrook 1872-1876 Empress, 1876-1901 Lord Lytton 1876-1880 Second Afghan War, 1878-1881 Lord Rippon 1880-1884 Lord Dufferin 1884-1888 Lord Landsdowne 1888-1894 Third Burmese War, 1885 Lord Elgin 1894-1899 Lord Curzon 1899-1905 Edward (VII) 1901-1910 Lord Minto 1905-1910 George (V) 1910-1936 Lord Hardinge 1910-1916 Lord Chelmsford 1916-1921 Third Afghan War, 1919 Lord Reading 1921-1926 Lord Irwin (Lord Halifax) 1926-1931 Lord Willingdon 1931-1936 In explicitly assuming the sovereignty of India, Queen Victoria assured her new Subjects that their religions would be respected. The British had been shaken, however, and units of the Indian Army, for instance, were never again trusted with artillery. When India became independent in 1947, it legally became a British Dominion, which means that the King of England was still the formal Head of State. Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy, was asked by Jawaharlal Nehru, the new Prime Minister, to stay on as Governor-General of the Dominion. There was then only one Indian Governor-General before the country was declared a Republic in 1950. The first Governor-General of Pakistan, which similarly became a Dominion, was the Moslem nationalist leader, Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Jinnah died of cancer in 1948, and there were several Pakistani Governors-General before the country became a Republic in 1956. [213]British Coinage of India, 1835-1947 Edward (VIII) 1936 Lord Linlithgow 1936-1943 George (VI) Emperor, 1936-1947 Lord Wavell 1943-1947 Lord Mountbatten 1947 King; India 1947-1950, Pakistan 1947-1952 Governor- General of [214]India, 1947-1948 Mohammad Ali Jinnah Governor- General of [215]Pakistan, 1947-1948 Chakravarti, Rajagopalachari Governor- General of India, 1948-1950 Khwaja Nazimuddin Governor- General of Pakistan, 1948-1951 India becomes a Republic, 1950 Elizabeth (II) Queen, Pakistan, 1952-1956 Ghulam Mohammad Governor- General of Pakistan, 1951-1955 Iskander Mirza Governor- General of Pakistan, 1955-1956 Pakistan becomes a Republic, 1956 [216][LINK] [217]Prime Ministers of India [218]Prime Ministers of Pakistan [219]The Sun Never Set on the British Empire [220]The Kings of England, Scotland, & Ireland [221]Dreadnought [222]British Coins before the Florin, Compared to French Coins of the Ancien Régime [223]The Bank of England [224]Bibliography and Suggested Reading [225]Sangoku Index [226]Philosophy of History [227]Home Page Copyright (c) 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004 [228]Kelley L. Ross, Ph.D. All [229]Rights Reserved _________________________________________________________________ Emperors of China _________________________________________________________________ The list of Chinese Emperors is mainly from Mathews' Chinese-English Dictionary [Harvard University Press, 1972, pp. 1165-1175], [230]O.L. Harvey's pamphlet The Chinese Calendar and the Julian Day Number [1977], the Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors by Ann Paludan [Thames & Hudson, London, 1998], and the Oxford Dynasties of the World by John E. Morby [Oxford University Press, 1989, 2002]. Other details of Chinese history are from A Concise History of China by J.A.G. Roberts [Harvard University Press, 1999], The Horizon History of China by C.P. Fitzgerald [American Heritage Publishing, 1969], A Short History of the Chinese People by L. Carrington Goodrich [Harper Torchbooks, 1943, 1963], A History of Chinese Civilization by Jacques Gernet [translated by J.R. Foster, Cambridge University Press, 1972, 1982, 1990], The Glory and Fall of the Ming Dynasty by Albert Chan [U. of Oklahoma Press, 1982], The Southern Ming, 1644-1662 by Lynn A. Struve [1984], and various books and documentaries that I have not kept track of or that are referenced at various points below. Wade-Giles writings are usually used, consistent with the older sources. But [231]Pinyin versions are occasionally given, especially for the dynasties. Superscript numbers are given for the tones in Pinyin, when HTML codes are not available for them (i.e. the lst & 3rd tones). Note that Wade-Giles "ho" and "he" can both be found for Pinyin "he" -- as other writings sometimes reflect older Mandarin pronunciations (e.g. "Peking" itself). While newer sources use Pinyin exclusively, I think this is improper, like teaching Chinese with only the "simplified" characters. Simplified characters themselves are not given here because they are (1) ugly, (2) ahistorical, (3) not used in older sources, and (4) not used in Taiwan or by many or most overseas Chinese communities (though, I understand, this is changing). It may be too late to stop the simplified character bandwagon, but the attempt should be made. While the idea was that simplified characters would make literacy easier, it actually makes larger literacy more difficult when traditional characters must be learned anyway to read older books, historical inscriptions, overseas Chinese, or Japanese kambun ( ), i.e. written Chinese from Japanese writers who didn't actually speak Chinese (a similar phenomenon was formerly found in [232]Korea and [233]Vietnam). A break with the past was certainly one motivation for the simplification -- though Mao Tse-tung (Zedong) then published his own poetry in traditional characters! Curiously, The Pinyin Chinese-English Dictionary [Editor-in-chief Wu Jingrong, The Commercial Press, Beijing, Hong Kong, & John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1979, 1985], which gives the simplified character for in the text [p.266] and in the Chinese Foreword [p.2], nevertheless has the traditional character on the front of the book and on the title page. The traditional Chinese dates for the Emperors are usually for the first full year of the reign. This can be a little confusing, and sources on Chinese history are not always consistent. The convention is even applied to the Chinese Republic, which is often said to have begun in 1912, even though the [234]Ch'ing Dynasty was overthrown in 1911. The convention also makes it possible that Emperors who do not survive beyond their initial calendar year may not even be counted, which is the case, creating some confusion, with a couple of the [235]Mongols. As in Mathews', only the first year of a reign is ordinarily given. THE CHINESE HISTORICAL ERA, short count 2637 BC 1998 AD + 2637 = 4635 Annô Sinarum THE CHINESE HISTORICAL ERA, long count 2852 BC 1998 AD + 2852 = 4850 Annô Sinarum The Legendary Period, Age of the Five Rulers 647 years Hsia [Xià] Dynasty 1962-1523 (2205-1766) The "short count" Chinese historical era is given in the Astronomical Almanac [U.S. Government Printing Office, various annual editions]. The "long count" is from the list of Dynasties in Mathews'. Like the era of the City of Rome (A.U.C.), the Chinese historical era really has not been used for dating. Citing the era as the Chinese "year" seems to be a very recent phenomenon. The maps are based on L. Carrington Goodrich, A Short History of the Chinese People [Harper Torchbooks, The University Library, 1963], The Anchor Atlas of World History, Volume I [Hermann Kinder, Werner Hilgemann, Ernest A. Menze, and Harald and Ruth Bukor, 1974], Michael Prawdin, The Mongol Empire, its Rise and Legacy [Free Press, 1961], The [London] Times Concise Atlas of World History, edited by Geoffrey Barraclough [Times Books Ltd, Hammond Inc., 1988], and a few other sources I've lost track of. Paludan's Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors, although an excellent book in every other way, is suspiciously deficient in maps, with a glaring mistake on one that is given -- the absence of the trans-Amur Maritime Province, later lost to Russia, on the map of the Ch'ing Empire [p.11]. There seem to be considerable uncertainties, or at least disagreements, about the boundaries in many periods, even well documented ones, like the T'ang and Ming. The [236]Thought Police are hereby informed that the color yellow is used for the tables and maps for China, not because China is the racial "Yellow Peril," but because the color yellow is associated with the [237]element earth (tu^3, at left) in Chinese philosophy, which implies the direction "center" -- with China itself, the "Middle Kingdom" (Chung^1-kuo^2) at the center. Also, at least from the Ming Dynasty, yellow tiles were reserved for use on the roofs of Imperial palaces, and so the color came to mean the Emperor himself. While the "Middle Kingdom" gives China a central place in the world, another locution, , "Under Heaven," can mean both China and the entire World -- all under heaven. Since the title , "Emperor," when introduced in the [238]Ch'in, signified uniqueness, supremacy, and universal monarchy, "Emperor," Latin Imperator, is a suitable translation in relation to Roman ideology of universal monarchy over the Cosmopolis, the world state. To all the countries [239]around China, as to Imperial Princes, the Emperors bestowed no more than the title , "King." This was not graciously received in courts, like [240]Japan, where the Monarch was regarded as the equal of the , "Son of Heaven." Shang [Shang^1] Dynasty 1523-1028 (1766-1122) Ch'êng-t'ang T'ai-chia Wu-ling T'ai-kêng Hsiao-chia Yung-chi T'ai-wu Chung-ting Wai-jên Tsien-chia Tsu-yi Tsu-hsin Ch'iang-chia Tsu-ting Nan-kêng Hu-chia P'an-kêng Hsiao-hsin Hsiao-yi Wu-ting Tsu-kêng Tsu-chia Lin-hsin K'ang-tin Wu-yi Wên-wu-ting Ti-yi Ti-hsin The Shang, a splendid Bronze Age [241]civilization, is the true beginning of Chinese history, emerging just as India was falling into its own Dark Ages period (1500-800 BC). The system of writing we see developing in the Shang already displays most of the characteristics of Chinese [242]characters and was destined to be the only ancient system of ideographic writing to survive into modern usage, both in China and Japan. However, Shang writing is known mainly from oracle bones. There is no surviving literature, documents, or monumental inscriptions from the period. Data like the list of Shang kings or the excavation of Shang royal tombs thus leaves us pretty much in the dark about historical events, though this is not much different from what is often the case with contemporary Egypt or Mesopotamia. The sophistication of Shang culture, on the other hand, may be inspected directly in the magnificient bronzes that are featured in many of the world's museums. The beginning of Chinese civilization in the North, in the Hwang Ho (or Huang He) valley, means that, among many things, the Chinese diet was not at first what we would expect. Rice only grows further South, where there is much greater rain. The Huang He valley is semi-arid. Even today it is wheat that is grown there. Of course, wheat was used for another characteristic Chinese food: Noodles -- which Marco Polo is supposed to have brought back to Italy. Chinese characters in the Shang were still pictographic in form. At right are some examples of common modern characters with their Shang antecedents. The pronunciation, of course, is [243]modern. There is little evidence about the pronunciation of Chinese at this early period. Chinese at this point may not even have had tones. There are no tones in related languages, like Tibetan, but there are tones in unrelated regional languages, like Vietnamese. Chinese may have picked up tones as part of a Southeast Asian Sprachbund, where, as in the [244]Balkans, unrelated or distantly related languages borrow features from each other. Chou [Zhou^1] Dynasty 1027-256 (1122-255) Western Chou 1027-722 Early Chou 1027-771 Wu Wang Chêng Wang K'ang Wang Chao Wang Mu Wang Kung Wang I Wang Hsiao Wang I Wang Li Wang 878 841, first solid date in Chinese chronology Hsüan Wang 827 Yu Wang 781 Middle Chou 771-473 P'ing Wang 770 Spring and Autumn Period 722-481 Huan Wang 719 Chuang Wang 696 Hsi Wang 681 Hui Wang 676 Hsiang Wang 651 Ch'ing Wang 618 K'uang Wang 612 Ting Wang 606 Chien Wang 585 Ling Wang 571 Ching Wang 544 Ching Wang 519 Warring States Period 481-221 Late Chou 473-256 Yüan Wang 475 Chêng-ting Wang 468 K'ao Wang 440 Wei-lieh Wang 425 An Wang 401 Lieh Wang 375 Hsien Wang 368 Shên-ching Wang 320 Nan Wang 314-256 Over the long history of the Chou Dynasty (commonly pronounced "Joe" in English), China went from a period even more obscure than the Shang to a flourishing, fully documented historical civilization. The changes were so drastic that the dynasty is typically divided into three parts, though there are different versions of exactly how to do this. The Early Chou presents us with the least satisfactory material, since things seem to have rather declined after the fall of the Shang. Of much greater interest is what happens when the central authority of the state actually collapses, which moves us into the Middle Chou or the Spring and Autumn Period. The country breaks up into small domains, which separately become vigorous and expansive, and the Chou kings are reduced to ruling a small county on the Huang He River. We finally get into a period with secure historical dating. The name of the Spring and Autumn Period itself is derived from the Spring and Autumn Annals, one of the Chinese [245]classics, which was a chronicle of the state of Lu, the birthplace of Confucius. Suddenly we have the beginning of Chinese literature, history, and philosophy, curiously at about the same time as the beginnings of [246]Greek and [247]Indian philosophy also. The following links deal with matters in Chinese philosophy. * [248]The "Six Schools" of China * [249]The Chinese Elements and Associations * [250]Confucius [K'ung-fu-tzu or Kongfuzi] * [251]The Six Relationships and the Mandate of Heaven * [252]The Confucian Chinese Classics * [253]Yin & Yáng and the I Ching * [254]Comments on the Tao Te Ching Although Confucius hoped to end the warfare between the small states of his time, things actually got worse after he died. The following time thus is often called the "Warring States" period. As time went on, however, one of the Warring States began to win, and to conquer the others. This was the state of Ch'in (Qin), which lay in Shensi (Shaanxi) Province, in the great bend of the Huang He river. In 256, the ruler of Ch'in, Chao-Hsiang, dethroned the last Chou king. Although the Warring States period was not over, the Chou Dynasty was. Ch'in [Qín] Dynasty 255-207 BC Chao-hsiang Wang (302) 255 Hsiao-wên Wang 250 Chuang-hsing Wang 249 Wang Chêng (changes his name to) Shih-huang-ti/ Shihuangdi 247 221 End of Warring States Period, 221 Erh-shih-huang-ti 209 The ruler who accomplished the unification of China may not even have been of the Ch'in royal house. While Wang Chêng was the son of the wife of Chuang-Hsiang, she may have already been pregnant, previously having been the concubine of another man, like the Empress Eudocia Ingerina at the beginning of the [255]Macedonian Dynasty of Romania. Whatever his origins, Wang Chêng conquered most of the other Warring States and by 221 brought the country together for the first time since the Early Chou. And a much larger and more sophisticated country it now was, too. Although one might say that he was a combination, for Chinese history, of [256]Alexander the Great and [257]Julius Caesar, nevertheless he was not a great general himself, just the ruler. One of the first things he decided to do was come up with a more appropriate title. Previously, Chinese rulers had been styled , or "king" (ô in Japanese, wang in Korean). This was not going to be good enough. So Wang Chêng made up a new title, , the "August God," or, as we would say, the Emperor. Later, either one of these characters could be used individually to mean "emperor," as the latter became a suffix for the names of many [258]Han Emperors. The whole expression would become kôtei in Japanese (hwangje in Korean), but much more commonly in Japanese only the first character was used (kô or ô), suffixed to "heaven," , as Tennô in Japanese, "heavenly" or "divine" Emperor. This distinction is even preserved in Vietnamese, where hoàng-ðê´ is "emperor" but thiên-hoàng is "Emperor of Japan." The Emperor could also simply be the "Son of Heaven," , tenshi in Japanese, thiên-tù^. in Vietnamese. The new "Emperor" of China then decided that he would simply be known as the "First Emperor," and that all rulers after him would continue the sequence, "Second Emperor," etc. This made him (Shih^3-huang^2-ti^4), which he is still usually called. After the "Second Emperor," however, nobody bothered with the numbering. Wàng came to be used for foreign rulers and Imperial Princes. Thus, the "Prince of Fu" who resisted the Manchus as the first Emperor of the [259]Southern Ming, was really Fu Wang, "King of Fu." The rulers of [260]Japan didn't like being called this, but it stuck for [261]Siam/Thailand. Until the Ming, Chinese Emperors are usually known by postumous names, which frequently describe something characteristic of the Emperor or his reign. Until the [262]T'ang, these names are "memorial titles" (shih), most frequently ending in ti , "Emperor." Starting with the T'ang, the postumous names are "temple names" (miao hao), and the final character is most commonly tsu , "Founder," or tsung , "Ancestor." "Founder" is used at the beginning of the Dynasty, or after an event like a refounding during it. The last Emperor in a Dynasty (or before another kind of hiatus) gets a memorial rather than a temple name, since, at the end, he is not an ancestor. Personal names, which are not used after ascending the Throne (a reigning Emperor is simply the "Present Emperor"), are given for many of the following Emperors. They are identifiable because they begin with the family name of the Dynasty, e.g. Liu for the Han (both of them), Yang for the Sui, Li for the T'ang, and Chu for the Ming. The [263]Mongols and [264]Manchus did not use Chinese family names -- and with both of them we get two "Founders" because Chinese historians officially began the dynasties only when they considered them the legitimate rulers of China. With the [265]Ming, Emperors start being known by the name they chose themselves for their Era (nien hao). Earlier there usually were several Eras per reign, so this was not a convenient device, but the Ming Emperors stuck to one, a practice maintained by the Ch'ing and adopted by the [266]Japanese in 1868. The Founder of the Ming, Chu Yüan-chang, thus was given the temple name T'ai Tsu ("Great Founder"), but instead is usually known as the "Hung-wu [Vast Military Power] Emperor." Similarly, Hirohito is now the "Shôwa Emperor." Shih-huang-ti had a ferocious and ruthless disposition that found the advice of the [267]Legalist philosopher Li Szu [Li Si] agreeable. In 213, on Li Szu's urging, Shih-huang-ti outlawed all other schools of thought and began to burn their books. This may be why more is not know about the "Hundred Schools" reputed to have existed under the Chou Dynasty. Scholars who resisted the order were executed: 346 (or more) are supposed to have actually been buried alive. The fall of the Ch'in Dynasty soon thereafter was later seen as proof of the working of the [268]Mandate of Heaven. Mao Tse-tung is reported as saying in 1958: What's so unusual about Emperor Shih Huang of the Chin Dynasty? He had buried alive 460 scholars only, but we have buried alive 46,000 scholars....We are 100 times ahead of Emperor Shih of the Chin Dynasty in repression of counter-revolutionary scholars. Mao is often compared, not surprisingly, to Shih-huang-ti. Elsewhere, the Emperor's ruthlessness was evident in his construction of the Great Wall of China, which is supposed to have cost many lives per mile. A wall in the North, however, was reasonable when nothing but desert and nomads lay beyond. In the South, he sent an army, which for the first time extended the county down to the South China Sea. It would take some years before the enclosed coastal mountains were settled and pacified by the Chinese. If these things were more good than bad for China, Shih-huang-ti also set in motion some real reforms, like a simplification of the writing system and the end of feudal tenure in farmland. While Mao is gone, his political heirs still favor positive portrails of Shih-huang-ti. We see this in a recent movie, Hero [Yingxióng], by director Zhang Yimou. This was released in China in 2002, and DVD's of it were soon available elsewhere. The movie was not released to theaters in the United States until 2004. It was said to be "presented by" director Quentin Tarantino, with the hope perhaps that Tarantino's well known enthusiam for martial arts movies would help draw in audiences. They needn't have worried, since the movie opened in the number one position. The story is about how assassins attempting to kill Shih-huang-ti become converted to his cause. Although the King of Ch'in himself says that many people think of him as a tyrant, we do not yet see the degree to which his ruthlessness later went. Instead, we are given to understand that, whatever he does, it is simply for the sake of unifying the country and bringing peace. The key element in the conversion of the assassins are the two characters . These are not actually shown in the film, simply read by the lead assassin. In the Chinese DVD, which did have English subtitles, it is literally translated "under heaven," and means the world or, the practical equivalent, China. This represents the unifying program of Ch'in. However, the subtitles of the film as released in the United States rather awkwardly translate it as "our country," which may indeed be a suitable translation but does have a very different feel to it. We lose the Chinese sense of the universality of its civilization, or of the universal sovereignty of the Emperor. Probably this was not thought suitable for foreign audiences. Much of the enduring interest in Shih-huang-ti is because of his tomb. This is not far from the modern city of Sian (Xian), which was the capital of China, Ch'ang-An, in several periods. The mound of the tomb has never been excavated. It was robbed after the Dynasty fell, but it was described by historians, with a sarcophagus surrounded by a pool of mercury and other marvels. But a surprise came in the 1970's, when a farmer digging a well near the mound found the first figure in what became an entire army of terracotta soldiers, buried in orderly rows to defend the tomb. These amazing figures appear to be individual portraits, and they show the grooming and appearance of Chinese military men of the 3rd century BC. In the Shang Dynasty, such men had themselves been buried with the kings. Now, even the ruthless Frist Emperor made do with copies. Shih-huang-ti is a good example the [269]Taoist ruler who is successful from fear. When he died, however, his success could not endure. A plot at the court faked a message to the Crown Prince, ordering him to kill himself, which he did. A weak younger brother become the "Second Emperor," but he was the tool of manipulators who did not know how to actually govern the country, which began to slip into rebellion. It was a former peasant, Liu Pang, who soon took the capital and founded a new dynasty. Former (Western) Han [Hàn] Dynasty 206 BC- 25 AD Kao Tsu Liu Pang 206 Hui Ti Liu Ying 194 Lu Hou Lu Chih regent 187 Wên Ti Liu Heng 179 Ching Ti Liu Ch'i 156 Wu Ti Liu Ch'e 140 Chao Ti Liu Fu-ling 86 Hsüan Ti Liu Ping-i 73 Yüan Ti Liu Shih 48 Ch'eng Ti Liu Ao 32 Ai Ti Liu Hsin 6 BC P'ing Ti Liu Chi-tzu 1 AD Ju-tzu Liu Ying 6 Wang Mang (Hsin [Xin] Dynasty) 9 Huai-yang Wang 23 The importance of the Han Dynasty should be evident in the circumstance that this is what the Chinese have called themselves ever since, , the "Han People." The Chinese language is the (kango in Japanese), "Han speech"; and Chinese characters are called the (Kanji in Japanese, Hanja in Korean), the "Han letters." The expression can mean "Chinese writing," or "literature of the Han Dynasty," or the "Han Emperor Wên Ti." In Japanese, however, where it is pronounced Kambun, it usually means Chinese as written by Japanese writers, who usually did not speak Chinese. We see the combination of the second characters wén and zì in (moji or monji in Japanese), which can mean "characters, script, writing." (Be warned that there is a simplified character now used for "Hàn" in China.) The greatest Emperor of the Former Han Dynasty was probably Wu Ti. This name means "Martial Emperor," because of the success of Chinese arms in the occupation of the Tarim Basin; but the cultural heritage of his long reign was far more durable. The present definition of the Chinese [270]New Year, as the second New Moon after the Winter Solstice, dates from the inception of the T'ai-ch'u Era in 103 BC. The establishment of [271]Confucianism as the official moral and political ideology of the state was due to the advice of Wu Ti's minister Hung Kung-sun (d.121). In 136 official experts in each of the [272]Five Classics were appointed at court, and in 124 they took on fifty students. By 50 BC this palace school had 3000 students, and by 1 AD graduates staffed the bureaucracy. Also at Wu Ti's court was the historian Szu-ma Ch'ien [Si^1ma^3 Qian^1] (145-86 BC). Szu-ma angered the Emperor in some way and was ordered castrated. Ordinarily, this humiliation would have led to suicide, but the historian lived with his shame in order to finish the first great Chinese history, the Shih Chi [Shi^3jì], "Historical Records," which covers the Ch'in and early Han Dyansties. This established the standard for subsequent official Chinese dynastic histories. By a curious coincidence, the Chinese Emperor whose brief reign begins with the year 1 AD is called P'ing Ti, the "Peaceful Emperor." Later (Eastern) Han [Hàn] Dynasty 25- 220 AD Kuang-wu Ti Liu Hsiu 25 Ming Ti Liu Yang 58 Chang Ti Liu Ta 76 Ho Ti Liu Chao 89 Shang Ti Liu Lung 106 An Ti Liu Yü 107 Shun Ti Liu Pao 126 Ch'ung Ti Liu Ping 145 Chih Ti Liu Tsuan 146 Huan Ti Liu Chih 147 Ling Ti Liu Hung 168 Hsien Ti Liu Hsieh 190 The Later Han is often called the "Eastern" Han because the capital was moved down the Huang He valley, back to where the capital of the Chou had been. This location was actually more easily supplied than the area of Ch'ang-An. Since the previous dynasty is often called the "Former" Han, it seems like the new one should be the "Latter" rather than the "Later" Han, but the usage is established and, after all, it is "later" that is a translation from Chinese, since the "Former Han" is traditionally simply called the "Han." The change of dynasty was mainly because of rebellion against the "dictator" Wang Mang at the end of the Former Han. The Throne was successfully seized by a distant Han cousin, who retained the Dynastic name. Eventually, the Later Han Emperors returned to the Tarim Basin, conquered Hainan, Tonkin, and Annam, and even moved north of the Great Wall into Mongolia. Like Szu-ma Ch'ien before him, the compiler of the History of the Former Han Dynasty [simply the Han Shu, "Han History," in Chinese], Pan Ku (Ban Gu, 32 AD-92), ran afoul of the Emperor, in this case actually dying in prison. Nevertheless, this confirmed the tradition of the history of each dynasty being written under the following one. The Three Kingdoms, 220-265 Minor Han [Shu Hàn] Dynasty, 221-263 Chao-lieh Ti 221 Hou Chu 223 Wei [Wèi] Dynasty, 220-264 Wen Ti Ts'ao P'i [Cao Pei] 220 Ming Ti 227 Shao Ti 240 Kao Kuei Hsiang Kung 254 Yüan Ti 260 Wu [Wú] Dynasty, 222-280 Wu Ti 222 Fei Ti 252 Ching Ti 258 Mo Ti 264 The period of the "Three Kingdoms" is a brief interlude before things settle down for a while in the dynamic of the following period. It may be remembered now with special attention because of a literary source, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms (from the 14th century). The Minor Han (Shu Han) is supposed to derive from the previous dynasty. I have always been intrigued that the Shu Han is shown by L. Carrington Goodrich (A Short History of the Chinese People, Harper Torchbooks, 1959, 1963, p.59) occupying an area of Yunnan that had only been partially occupied by the Han, is missing from many maps of the T'ang, and was only properly settled by Chinese with veterans at the beginning of the Ming. J.A.G. Roberts, in A Concise History of China [Harvard, 1999], more resonably identifies the area as Szechwan [Sichuan, north of the Yangtze], but then doesn't provide a map of the period (the maps he does provide jump directly from Confucius to the T'ang). Ann Paludan (Chronicle of the Chinese Emperors, Thames & Hudson, 1998) provides a nice map of the Three Kingdoms, though, mysteriously, none of the Sui or T'ang, showing somewhat less, thought still substantial, territory south of the Yangtze. Be that as it may, the kingdom is eventually absorbed by the Wei. The Wei is replaced by the founder of the Western Tsin [or Chin, Pinyin Jìn], Sima Yan, who conquers Wu in 280, reunifying the country. This doesn't last, as civil war breaks out in 290. Barbarians, the Hsiung-nu [Xiongnu], sacked the capital of Luoyang in 311. Debate continues whether the Hsiung-nu are none other than the Huns who later (within two centuries) invaded [273]Europe and [274]India. Whether they are or not, they inaugurate an era when barbarians dominate the North. The Northern and Southern Empires 265-589 The Six Southern Dynasties 1. Western Tsin/Chin [Jìn] Dynasty, 265-316 Wu Ti Ssu-ma/Sima Yan 265 Hui Ti 290 Huai Ti 307 Min Ti 313, d.318 2. Eastern Tsin/Chin [Jìn] Dynasty, 317-419 Yüan Ti Ssu-ma Jui 317 Ming Ti 323 Ch'êng Ti 326 K'ang Ti 343 Mu Ti 345 Ai Ti 362 Fei Ti, Hai-hsi Ti 366 Chien-wên Ti 371 Hsiao-wu Ti 373 An Ti 397 Kung Ti 419 3. Anterior Sung [Liu Sòng] Dynasty, 420-479 Wu Ti Liu Yü 420 Fei Ti, Ying-yang Wang Liu I-fu 423 Wen Ti Liu I-lung 424 Hsiao-wu Ti Liu Chün 454 Ming Ti Liu Yü 465 Fei Ti, Ts'ang-wu Wang Liu Yeh 473 Shun Ti Liu Chün 477 4. Southern Ch'i [Qí] Dynasty, 479-501 Kao Ti Hsiao Tao-ch'eng 479 Wu Ti Hsiao Tse 483 Ming Ti Hsiao Luan 494 Tung Hun Ho Hsiao Pao 499 Ho Ti 501 5. Southern Liang [Liáng] Dynasty, 502-556 Wu Ti Hsiao Yan 502 Chien-wên Ti Hsiao Kan 550 Yü-chang Wang 551 Yüan Ti Hsiao I 552 Ching Ti Hsiao Fang-chih 555 6. Southern Ch'ên [Chén] Dynasty, 557-589 Wu Ti Ch'en Pa-hsien 557 Wên Ti Ch'en Ch'ien 560 Fei Ti, Lin-hai Wang Ch'en Po-tsung 567 Hsuan Ti Ch'en Hsü 569 Hou Chu Ch'en Shu-pao 583 For a while, Imperial China looked like it would suffer the same fate as the Roman Empire. After the Fall of the Han, the brief interlude of the Three Kingdoms, and the even briefer reunification under the Western Tsin, the country split into North and South, with the North overrun by Barbarians. However, the major difference was that no geographical barriers would inhibit a reunited South from regaining the North, and no massive external invasion, like the advent of [275]Islâm, would inhibit the process. Northern, usually Barbarian, Dynasties the Sixteen Dynasties of the Five Barbarians Early Chao, Northern Han Dynasty, 304-329 (Hsiung-nu) fell to Later Chao Ch'eng Han Dynasty 304-347 (Ti) Eastern Chin Sack of Loyang, 311 Later Chao Dynasty, 319-352 (Chieh) Early Yen Early Liang Dynasty, 313-376 (Chinese) Early Ch'in Later Liang Dynasty, 386-403 (Ti) Later Ch'in Southern Liang Dynasty, 397-404, 408-414 (Hsien-pei) Western Ch'in Northern Liang Dynasty, 397-439 (Hsiung-nu) Northern Wei Western Liang Dynasty, 401/5-421 (Chinese) Northern Liang Early Yen Dynasty, 349-370 (Hsien-pei) Early Ch'in Later Yen Dynasty, 384-408 (Hsien-pei) Northern Yen Southern Yen Dynasty, 398-410 (Hsien-pei) Eastern Chin Northern Yen Dynasty, 409-436 (Chinese) Northern Wei Early Ch'in Dynasty, 351-394 (Ti) Western Ch'in Fu Chien 357-385 Later Ch'in Dynasty, 384-417 (Ch'iang) Eastern Chin Western Ch'in Dynasty, 385-390, 409-431 (Hsien-pei) Hsia Hsia 407-431 (Hsiung-nu) Northern Wei Western Yen Dynasty? 384-396 (Hsien-pei) Later Liang Dynasty? 555-587 the Five Northern Dynasties Northern Wei [Wèi] Dynasty, 386-534 (Hsien-pei) Tao Wu Ti T'o-pa Kuei 386-409 Ming Yüan 409-423 T'ai Wu Ti 423-452 Nan-an Wang 452 Wên Ch'êng Ti 452-465 Hsien Wên Ti 465-471, d.476 Hsiao Wên Ti 471-499 Hsüan Wu Ti 499-515 Hsiao Ming Ti 515-528 Lin-t'ao Wang 528 Hsiao Chuang Ti 528-530, d.531 Tung-hai Wang 530-531, d.532 Chieh Min Ti 531-532 An-ting Wang 531-532 Hsiao Wu Ti 532-535 Western Wei [Wèi] Dynasty, 535-556 (Hsien-pei) Wên Ti T'o-pa Pas-chü 535-551 Fei Ti 551-554 Kung Ti 554-557 Eastern Wei [Wèi] Dynasty, 534-550 (Hsien-pei) Hsiao Ching Ti T'o-pa Shan-chien 534-550, d.552 Northern Ch'i [Qí] Dynasty, 550-577 Wên Hsüan Ti Kao Yang 550-559 Fei Ti 559-560, d.561 Hsiao Chao Ti 560-561 Wu Ch'êng Ti 561-565, 569 Hou Chu 565-577 Yu Chu 577 Northern Chou [Zhou] Dynasty, 557-581 (Hsien-pei) Hsiao Min Ti Yü-wên Chüeh 557 Ming Ti 557-560 Wu Ti 560-578 Hsüan Ti 578-579, d.580 Ching Ti 579-581 overthrown by Yang Chien, 581 Chinese historians regarded the Southern Dynasties as the legitimate succession of the Chinese Throne, which is why the period is reckoned to extend down to 589, and the Sui begun in 590, even though Yang Chien came to a unified Northern Throne in 581. All sources tend to neglect listing the rulers of the Northern Dynasties, or even many of the Northern Dynasties themselves. The latter neglect tends to follow a division, between the less Chinese, more ephemeral, and so less noteworthy "Sixteen Dynasties," and the "Five Northern Dynasties" which last longer, become much more Sinified, and which lead, by way of the Northern Chou, to the reunification of the country. The Sixteen Dynasties are of the "Five Barbarians," i.e. five barbarian peoples. These were the Hsiung-nu [Xiongnú], the Chieh, the Hsien-pei [or Hsien-pi, Xianbei], the Ch'iang, and the Ti. The Ch'iang and the Ti, like the later [276]Hsi-Hsia kingdom, were early groups of [277]Tibetan or Tangut peoples, all speaking languages ultimately related to Chinese in the Sino-Tibetan language family. The other groups were all speaking Altaic languages, closely related to Turkish, Mongolian, and Manchu. The Indo-European speaking Yüeh-chih [Yuezhi] are probably long gone (appearing as the Kushans in Central Asia and [278]India). As noted above, a reasonable speculation holds that the Hsiung-nu are none other than the Huns, whose linguistic affinity was probably with Mongolian, though some sources say Turkish. The Hsien-pei [Xian Bei], in turn, appear to have been Turkish. A few of the Northern Dynasties were evidently Chinese, but all became increasingly Sinified both in culture and, through intermarriage, ethnically. Note that two additional Dynasties, mentioned by L. Carrington Goodrich [A Short History of the Chinese People, Harper Torchbooks, 1943, 1963], have been added to the Sixteen -- a Western Yen and an additional (and much later) Later Liang. There are some minor differences in dates for the Sixteen between Goodrich and Jacques Gernet [A History of Chinese Civilization, translated by J.R. Foster, Cambridge University Press, 1972, 1982, 1990]. The rulers of the Five Northern Dynasties I have only found in the Oxford Dynasties of the World, by John E. Morby [Oxford University Press, 1989, 2002, pp.217-218]. One thing that weakened government made possible was basic cultural innovation. [279]Buddhism took a while to catch on in China. [280]Confucians would really never accept a teaching that advised people to abandon their families and become dependants on society, as Buddhist monks and nuns did. Buddhism had arrived during the Later Han, not always attracting negative official notice, but basic Confucian hostility was only overcome by weaking of central authority with the now fragmented nature of the country, especially under the barbarian Northern dynasties, where undiscriminating "barbarian" tastes perhaps didn't know any better. It was from the Northern Wei that the fabulous Buddhist cave shrines began to be carved and painted at Dunhuang, on the Silk Road in western Kansu [Gansu]. There was also a change in Buddhism itself: [281]Mahâyâna Buddhism had become less hostile to the world than earlier forms, and this was altogether more agreeable to the Chinese. The popularity of Buddhism ushered in the great era of missionaries and pilgrims. Buddhist missionaries arrived to spread the dharma. One of these was Kumârajîva (344-413), the great translator of the Lotus Sutra, who arrived in China in 401. Another was the semi-mythical Bodhidharma (died circa 528), who founded the [282]Ch'an (Zen) School of Buddhism, which combined Buddhism with Chinese ideas from Taoism. This missionary effort was reciprocated by Chinese pilgrims who travelled to India, like Fa-Hsien, whose route, overland going (on the Silk Road), by sea returning, is shown above. The purpose of the pilgrams was usually not just to visit holy sites but to learn Sanskrit and fetch back texts to translate into Chinese. It is under the Anterior Sung Dynasty (420-479) that the tradition of dynastic histories was continued, with the publication of the History of the Later Han Dynasty (the Hou Han Shu) by Fan Ye (398-455). Sui [Suí] Dynasty, 590-618 Wên Ti Yang Chien 581/590 Yang Ti Yang Kuang 605, d.618 Kung Ti Yang Yü 617-618, d.619 Yang Chien was rather like the Chinese [283]Justinian, with some important exceptions: (1) He began in the Barbarian North (as a general of the Northern Chou, grandfather and regent for the Chou King (Ching Ti) whom he deposed in 581) and conquered the Chinese South; and (2) he completely restored the Empire. Justinian's work began from the remaining Empire and was incomplete. If [284]Charlemagne had reunited the entire Roman Empire, the effect would have similar to what we see in China. Yang Chien was raised a Buddhist; and on assuming the Northern Throne in 581, he announced that his rule would be like that of a Cakravartin, the universal monarch of Indian ideology, promoting the "ten Buddhist virtues." There could be no more striking a testimony to the legitimization of Buddhism as a Chinese religion. Besides reuniting the country, the Sui is particularly famous for the building of the Grand Canal. This took essentially the entire duration of the Dynasty, and aroused great resentment from the severity of the forced labor. More than 3,000,000 workers were impressed, and those evading service were executed. The project was pursued by the Emperor Yang Kuang, who also provoked opposition with disastrous attempts to conquer Korea. Then, when rebellions broke out, he did little to suppress them and was eventually killed by the captain of his own guard. Meanwhile, the T'ang had become established at Ch'ang-an. T'ang [Táng] Dynasty, 618-906 Kao Tsu Li Yüan 618 T'ai Tsung Li Shih-min 627 Legendary life of Ti Jen-chieh (Di Renjie) [285]Judge Dee, 630-700; [286]Nestorian missionaries arrive in Ch'ang-an, 635; Conquest of Tarim Basin, 645 Kao Tsung Li Chih 650 Transoxania occupied, 659-665; Korea occupied, 668-676 Chung Tsung Li Che 684 Jui Tsung Li Tan 684 Wu Hou, "Empress Wu," (Chou [Zhou^1] Dynasty) 690 Chung Tsung (restored) 705 Jui Tsung (restored) 710 Hsüan Tsung Li Lungchi 712 Battle of Talas, 751; [287]Arabs defeat Chinese, under Kao Hsien-chih, but advance no further into Central Asia Su Tsung Li Yü 756 Loss of Tarim Basin to Tibetans, Ch'ang-An occupied by Tibetans, 763 Tai Tsung Li Yü 763 Tê Tsung Li Shih 780 Battle of T'ing-chou, Kansu lost to Tibetans, 791 Shun Tsung Li Sung 805 Hsien Tsung Li Ch'un 806 Mu Tsung Li Heng 821 Ching Tsung Li Chan 825 Wen Tsung Li Ang 827 Wu Tsung Li Yen 841 Persecution of Buddhism, 845 Hsüan Tsung Li Ch'en 847 Yi Tsung Li Wen 860 Hsi Tsung Li Yen 874 Chinese ports closed to foreigners, 878; rebel Huang Ch'ao seizes Ch'ang-an, 881 Chao Tsung Li Chieh 889 Chao-hsüan Ti, Ai Ti Li Chu 904 The T'ang may very well have been the greatest Chinese dynasty. None other, for a time, so dominated its surroundings or so influenced its neighbors. [288]Japanese civilization, for instance, basically came into existence under T'ang influence. Similarly, the mountainous coastal regions of the South of China were first integrated into the state. A remaining artifact of this is that in [289]Cantonese, the Chinese people are not the "Han People," , but the "T'ang People," -- Tong^4yen^4, as pronounced in Cantonese itself. The Founder of the dynasty was more or less a figurehead for his great son, Li Shih-min, the real creator of the T'ang state, and the mastermind of rebellion against the Sui while only 16 years old. This, at least, is what Li Shih-min later said, and some scepticism is now expressed about it. Nevertheless, while Emperor himself, remembered as T'ai Tsung, with the realm well established, Li Shih-min created the system of civil service examinations in the [290]Classics that would choose China's bureaucrats for nearly the next 1300 years. Buddhism, which became entrenched during the period of the Northern and Southern Empires, was finally accepted (probably with ill grace by Confucian officials) as a properly Chinese religion (the third of the "Three Ways") during the Sui and T'ang. Chinese pilgrims, like Hsüan-tsang, continued to brave the Silk Road and the Pamirs to travel to India to learn Sanskrit and bring back Buddhist texts. One of T'ai Tsung's own concubines seduced his weak son on his succession and, as the Empress Wu, dominated the next 45 years of Chinese history. Consort of Kao Tsung, mother of Chung Tsung and Jui Tsung, effectively the sole ruler from 684 to 705, and ruler in her own name from 690, she was the only woman to thus rule China in all of Chinese history. Her career was very similar to that of the Empress [291]Irene, who was the first Roman Empress to rule in her own name, and the only one to seriously exercise power on her own initiative. Thus, like Irene, the Empress Wu had a relatively weak willed husband; and, when he died, she acted first as regent for one son, dethroned him, then for another, and then assumed the throne in her own right. While Irene had her son blinded, an injury from which he died, and ruled only briefly in her own right, Wu did not harm her sons and then ruled for fifteen years (when each followed her). Both Wu and Irene ruled rather well, but were then deposed, without being killed. At that point Wu herself may have just been too old to resist. Subsequently, misogynistic Confucians portrayed Wu as consumed with bloody and immoral appetites. Irene's reign gave Pope [292]Leo III justification for crowning [293]Charlemagne Roman Emperor, since neither believed that a woman could be a legitimate Roman ruler. The Empress Wu's grandson Hsüan Tsung was the last great figure of the dynasty, also known as "Ming Huang," or the "Bright [or brilliant] Emperor." Unfortunately, Hsüan Tsung's long reign ended troubled by rebellion, which substantially impaired the strength of the state for the rest of the history of the dynasty. Nevertheless, important innovations continued to occur. Books began to be printed in the 9th century, porcelain became common, and tea began to be made regularly, not just used as a medicine. The wine drinking of Judge Dee's day gave way to the more sober potable. Judge Ti (Di, Dee; 630-700) became the hero of later Chinese detective fiction. Such stories always featured a District Magistrate as the protagonist; and since the Magistrate was also the Police Chief, Prosecutor, and Judge in his District, this allowed for dimensions of crime fiction that now in Western fiction would usually belong to separate genres. Judge Ti was brought into modern fiction by the Dutch diplomat and linguist Robert van Gulik (1910-1967). Van Gulik first translated a Chinese story, the Di Gongàn ("Ti Cases"), as the Celebrated Cases of Judge Dee in 1949. He hoped this would spark a revival of such stories in Chinese and Japanese; but when it didn't, he began writing a series of such stories himself. This is examined in more detail [294]elsewhere. The culture of van Gulik's Dee stories, and the costumes he illustrated in his own drawings, were more of Ming times than of T'ang, however, since van Gulik was more familiar with that. Tartar Dynasties Liao [Liáo] (Khitan) Dynasty 907-1125 T'ai Tsu, Yeh-lü A-pao-chi 907-926 T'ai Tsung 927-947 Shih Tsung 947-951 Mu Tsung 951-969 Ching Tsung 969-982 Shêng Tsung 982-1031 Hsing Tsung 1031-1055 Tao Tsung 1055-1101 Yeliuy Tianzo, T'ien-tso Ti 1101-1125, d.1128 displaced by the [295]Kin/Chin; relocated to Sinkiang as [296]Western Liao The Hsi-Hsia [Xixia] (Tangut) 990-(1032) -1227 Li I-chao 933-935 Li I-hsing 935-967 Li Chi-jui 968-978 Li Chi-Chun 978-979 Li Chi-feng 980-1004 Li Chi-Ch'ien 982-1004 Li Te-ming 1004-1032 Li Yüan-hao, Ching Tsung 1032-1048, Emperor, 1038 Li Liang-tzu I Tsung 1048-1068 Li Ping-Ch'iang Hui Tsung 1068-1086 Li Ch'ien-shun Ch'ung Tsung 1086-1139 Li Jen-Hsiao Jen Tsung 1139-1194 Li Ch'un-yu Huan Tsung 1194-1206 Mongol vassal, 1206-1227 Li An-Ch'üan Hsien Tsung 1206-1211 Li Tsun-hsu Shen Tsung 1211-1223 Li Te-wang Hsien Tsung 1223-1226 Li Hsien 1226-1227 conquered by Mongols, 1226-1227 In the decline of the T'ang, [297]Tibet becomes a major factor. It was the Tibetans who drove the T'ang out of the Tarim Basin (763) and then even took Kansu (791). This collapse even included an brief occupation of Ch'ang-An itself by the Tibetans (763). Tibetans remained in Kansu, later founding the durable Tangut or [298]Hsi-Hsia state, which survived until the Mongol conquest. The irony of these Tibetan successes is now considerable, in light of recent events. Some might think of present Chinese claims and policies in Tibet as little more than a long delayed revenge for the Tibetan humiliation of the T'ang. The Five Dynasties, 907-960 1. Posterior Liang [Liáng] Dynasty, 907-923 T'ai Tau, T'ai Tsu Chu Wen 907 Mo Ti 915 2. Posterior T'ang [Táng] Dynasty, 923-935 Chuang Tsung 923 Ming Tsung 926 Min Ti, Fei Ti 934 3. Posterior Tsin [Jìn] Dynasty, 936-947 Kao Tsu 936 Ch'u Ti 943 4. Posterior Han [Hàn] Dynasty, 947-951 Kao Tsu 947 Yin Ti 948 5. Posterior Chou [Zhou^1] Dynasty, 951-960 T'ai Tsu 951 Shih Tsung 944 In this transition period some basic Chinese customs of later history are supposed to have originated. Previously people sat on floor mats, as the Japanese continued to do, but now chairs came into common use. Also, the bizarre and disturbing custom of binding the feet of women began, an affectation, as with the long fingernails of the Mandarin bureaucrats, to display one's freedom from physical labor. Unfortunately, a long fingernail seems merely ridiculous, and can easily be cut off in need, but ruined feet cannot be remade without extensive modern reconstructive surgery. Interestingly, when the [299]Manchurians came to power, footbinding was prohibited among their own people; but the tyranny of fashion, or the desire to assimilate to the Chinese, meant that the prohibition eroded in practice. The Five Dynasties were all in the North. In the South were the "Ten Kingdoms," whose rulers do not seem to be given in the common lists of Emperors. One of the rulers of the Kingdom of Shu, in Szechwan, was Wang Chien (907-918). As at the end of the [300]Northern and Southern Empires, a coup against the last Northern Dynasty ushered in the unification of the country, under the Sung. (Northern) Sung [Sòng] Dynasty, 960-1126 T'ai Tsu Chao K'uang-yin 960 T'ai Tsung Chao Kuan-i 976 Chên Tsung Chao Te-ch'ang 998 Jên Tsung Chao Chen 1023 Observation of Crab Nebula Supernova, 1054 Ying Tsung Chao Shu 1064 Shên Tsung Chao Hsü 1068 Chê Tsung Chao Hsü 1086 Hui Tsung Chao Chi 1101 Ch'in Tsung Chao Huan 1126 displaced by the Kin/Chin, 1126 The Sung restored the unity of China, but it would never have the power or empire of the T'ang. "[301]Tartar" states, the Hsi Hsia and Liao, hemmed it in from the north, forshadowing the era of barbarian domination that would overwhelm the Huang He valley under the Jurchen and then all of China under the Mongols. Nevertheless, the Sung would be remembered along with the T'ang as the classic period of Chinese civilization, so that Chu Yüan-chang, founder of the [302]Ming, would promise the restoration of "the T'ang and the Sung." Of great interest during the Sung was the observation of a supernova in the constellation Taurus. Unlike Western astronomers at the time, the Chinese did not believe that the heavens were unchanging, and they were always on the lookout for what they called "guest" stars, i.e. novas (nova stella in Latin, "new star") and supernovas. It would not be understood until modern astronomy that these were exploding stars. The guest star of 1054 was an extraordinarily bright and enduring supernova. A supernova can shine for a while with light equivalent to the whole rest of the galaxy. The remnant of the explosion today is the Crab Nebula, with an active Pulsar, or Neutron Star, at its center. Tartar Dynasties Western Liao [Liáo] Dynasty (Qara-Khitaï) 1125-(1141) -1218 John Yeliuy Dashi 1124-1144 defeat of [303]Seljuks, [304]Khwârazm, and [305]Qarakhânids, occupation of Transoxania, 1141 Elias Yeliuy I-lich 1144-1151 T'a-Pu-Yen 1151-1177 Shao-Hsing 1151-1163 Ch'eng-T'en-Hou 1163-1178 George Yeliuy Zhuikhu 1177-1211, 1213 David Kuchlug 1211-1218, d.1229 conquered by Mongols, 1217-1218 Kin/Chin [Jin^1] Dynasty (Jurchen/Nü-chên) 1115-1234 T'ai Tsu, Wan-yen A-ku-ta 1115-1123 T'ai Tsung 1123-1135 Hsi Tsung 1135-1150 Hai-ling Wang 1150-1161 Shih Tsung 1161-1189 Chang Tsung 1189-1208 Wei-shao Wang 1208-1213 Hsüan Tsung 1213-1224 Ai Tsung 1224-1234 Mo Ti 1234 conquered by Mongols, 1230-1234 "Tartar" is a European rendering of Persian Tâtâr. The extra "r" seems to have crept in from Greek/Latin Tartarus, the deepest region of Hades, i.e. Hell. This reflects the judgment that the Tartars were like demons from Hell, which is more or less what the Chinese and ultimately other objects of Mongol conquest would have thought themselves. The earlier "Tartar" dynasties [306]above and at right were not in the same league as the Mongols, and were ultimately Mongol victims, but were regarded as no less alien by the Chinese. Southern Sung [Sòng] Dynasty, 1127-1279 Kao Tsung Chao Kou 1127 Hsiao Tsung Chao Po-tsung 1163 Kuang Tsung Chao Tun 1190 Ning Tsung Chao K'uo 1195 Li Tsung Chao Yü-chü 1225 Tu Tsung Chao Meng-ch'i 1265 Kung Tsung Chao Hsien 1275 Tuan Tsung Chao Shi 1276 Ping Ti Chao Ping 1279 conquered by Mongols, 1267-1279 The Southern Sung is inevitably remembered mainly as the victim of Mongol conquest. It is noteworthy, however, that the Sung gave the Mongols the hardest time of any of their ultimate conquests. The final campaign by Qubilai Khân took twelve long years, when most people were lucky if they could resist the Mongols for twelve weeks. One explanation of this is that the Mongols were definitely out of their preferred element. The saying in China is that "in the north, you go by horse; in the south, you go by boat." The Mongols undoubtedly were more comfortable with horses than with boats. The southern terrain posed a challenge that the Mongols could not meet with their accustomed cavalry tactics. The Sung state was also more formidably organized than many opponents of the Mongols. The Sung had resources unavailable to the Russians or the Khawarizm Shâhs. But the wages of resistance to the Mongols was, of course, death. On one account, Qubilai Khân, in the course of his conquest and rule over China, killed "more than 18,470,000 Chinese" (R.J. Rummel, Death by Government, Transaction Publishers, 1995, p. 51). This would put him in the same league, at least, as Adolph Hitler Readily available histories of China never seem to give any of the actual "Tartar" dynasty rulers, despite their importance in this era. The rulers of the Liao and the Kin/Chin Dynasties are from the Oxford Dynasties of the World, by John E. Morby [Oxford University Press, 1989, 2002, p.219]. Here the Hsi-Hsia rulers are taken from [307]Ah Xiang's Xi Xia page and [308]Bruce R. Gordon's Regnal Chronologies. I also discovered a list of the Qara-Khitaï (Western Liao) rulers at Gordon. The names are fascinating for their combination of Christian, Chinese, and Turkic elements. The Christian elements are due to the effect of the [309]Nestorian missionaries who converted many in Central Asia in this period. Because of this, the Syriac alphabet ended up being adopted for many Central Asian languages, including Mongolian and Manchu, although written vertically, like Chinese, rather than right to left. The first name given by Gordon antedates the beginning of the Qara-Khitaï state, which is a little perplexing since the Western Liao was simply the relocation of the Liao. Since the Liao was breaking up under Jurchen attack, my suspicion is that John Yeliuy Dashi begins as a bit of a rebel. Morby's comment on this would have been nice, but the Oxford Dynasties is innocent of narrative. The closest we get is a note that "Chinese dates for Western Liao (here omitted) are unreliable" [p.221]. OK. Yüan [Yuán] (Mongol) Dynasty, 1280-1368 Temüjin Chingiz Khân T'ai Tsu 1206-1227 Western Liao conquered, 1217-1218; The Hsi-Hsia State conquered, 1226-1227 Ögedei Khân T'ai Tsung 1229-1241 Kin/Chin Dynasty conquered, 1230-1234 Töregene Khâtûn, regent 1241-1246 Güyük Khân Ting Tsung 1246-1248 Oghul Ghaymish, regent 1248-1251 Möngke Khân Hsien Tsung 1251-1259 Yünnan conquered, 1253/54; Annam invaded, 1257-1258; Southern Sung invaded, 1257-1259 Qubilai Khân Shih Tsu 1260-1294 1280 Southern Sung conquered, 1267-1279; [310]Japan invaded, 1274, 1281 Temür Öljeytü Khân Ch'êng Tsung 1294-1307 1295 Qayshan Gülük Hai-Shan Wu Tsung 1307-1311 1308 Ayurparibhadra Ayurbarwada Jên Tsung 1311-1320 1312 Suddhipala Gege'en Shidebala Ying Tsung 1320-1323 1321 Yesün-Temür Tai-ting Ti 1323-1328 1324 Arigaba Aragibag 1328 Jijaghatu Toq-Temür Wen Tsung 1328-1329 1329-1332 1330 Qoshila Qutuqtu Ming Tsung 1329 1329 Rinchenpal, Irinjibal Irinchibal Ning Tsung 1332-1333 Toghan-Temür Shun Ti 1333-1370 1333 Mongols expelled from China, 1368 Togus-Temür 1370-1388 Altan Khan 1507-1582 line continues in Mongolia until [311]Manchurian Conquest, 1696 Although it is understandable that the Mongols chose an auspicious name, Yüan [Yuán], "Beginning," rather than a traditional Chinese regional name for their Dynasty, this creates a precedent that lasts for the rest of Chinese Imperial history -- though certainly the [312]Ch'ing [Qing^1] as foreigners also were in a similar situation. This character is now familiar for the monetary unit of the [313]People's Republic of China. As such it replaces, and simplifies, the traditional character for "dollar," which meant "round" and was applied to the Spanish silver dollars that were brought to Manila every year from [314]Mexico and distributed across East Asia. A silver coinage had never existed in China, and the Spanish dollars established a monetary standard all over the Orient. Thus, the [315]Japanese ¥en was also originally a silver dollar, long debased. In Japan now a special simplified character is used for the yen, and, as it happens, the "y" in the old Romanization never was pronounced -- just as the "y" in Mandarin is not pronounced either (cf. John DeFrancis, Beginning Chinese, Yale U. Press, 1963, 1966, p.xxvii note). While Mongol occupation and rule is an important chapter in the history of China, the Mongol domain, which extended all the way to Hungary and Egypt, is a much larger topic, covered separately under the "[316]The Mongol Khâns." * [317]Index * [318]The Conquests of Chingiz Khân, 1227 * [319]The Great Khâns and the Yüan Dynasty of China * [320]The Grandsons of Chingiz Khân, 1280 * [321]The Chaghatayid Khâns * [322]The Il Khâns + [323]The Jalâyirids, 1340-1432 + [324]The Qara Qoyunlu,