Chinese nobility

The nobility of China represented the upper strata of aristocracy in premodern China, acting as the ruling class until 1000 , and remaining a significant feature of the traditional social structure until the end of the imperial period. The concepts of hereditary sovereignty, peerage titles, and noble families existed as early as the semi-mythical and early historical periods, but the systems of enfeoffment and establishment only developed in the Zhou dynasty, by the end of which a clear delineation of ranks had emerged. This process was a function of the interface between the ancient patriarchal clan system, an increasingly sophisticated apparatus of state, and an evolving geopolitical situation. In the subsequent millennia, this system retained its essential character, albeit with modifications in titles and their relative rankings, and fluctuating power dynamics between the great families, the imperial house, the ministerial and mercantile classes, and other stakeholders in the political economy of the times. After the Song dynasty, most bureaucratic offices were filled through the imperial examination system, undermining the power of the hereditary aristocracy. Historians have noted the disappearance by 1000 of the powerful clans that had dominated China. The last, well-developed system of noble titles was established under the final imperial dynasty, the Qing. The Republican Revolution of 1911 ended the official imperial system. Though some noble families maintained their titles and prestige for a time, new political and economic circumstances forced their decline. Today, this class has virtually disappeared. The apex of the nobility is the sovereign. The title of the sovereign has changed over time, together with the connotations of the respective titles. Three levels of sovereignty could be distinguished: supreme rule over the realm, relatively autonomous local sovereignty, and tributary vassalage. The supreme sovereign is the only office translated into English as the term "emperor".

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Related concepts (49)

Chu (state)

Chu (, Hanyu Pinyin: Chǔ, Old Chinese: *s-r̥aʔ), or Ch'u in Wade–Giles romanization, was a Zhou dynasty vassal state. Their first ruler was King Wu of Chu in the early 8th century BCE. Chu was located in the south of the Zhou heartland and lasted during the Spring and Autumn period. At the end of the Warring States period it was destroyed by the Qin in 223 BCE during the Qin's wars of unification. Also known as Jing (荊) and Jingchu (荊楚), Chu included most of the present-day provinces of Hubei and Hunan, along with parts of Chongqing, Guizhou, Henan, Anhui, Jiangxi, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.

Chinese nobility

Qin (state)

Qin () was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. Traditionally dated to 897 BC, it took its origin in a reconquest of western lands previously lost to the Rong; its position at the western edge of Chinese civilization permitted expansion and development that was unavailable to its rivals in the North China Plain. Following extensive "Legalist" reform in the fourth century BC, Qin emerged as one of the dominant powers of the Seven Warring States and unified the seven states of China in 221 BC under Qin Shi Huang.