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The term has two meanings. One is the supreme ruler of the universe, also known as the Ruler of Heaven. During the Shang and Zhou dynasties, wizards were the intermediaries between humans and the supreme ruler. They asked for his orders by means of divination and conveyed them to humans. The other meaning is the supreme ruler of an empire or dynasty, that is, the emperor or monarch, including those of remote antiquity and those who had died; each was referred to as Son of Heaven. After Christianity was introduced to China, missionaries used this term as a translation of the word “God.”
Originally, the term referred to the Son of Heaven, dukes or princes, ministers, and senior officials who owned land and ruled the common people. It later referred to ducal monarchs and the emperor only. The Chinese character 君 is composed of two parts, namely, 尹 and 口. The top part 尹 means to run a country and govern its people, and the lower part 口 means to give orders. Ancient Chinese believed that a monarch or nobility must possess four qualities: first, having extraordinary virtues and be competent; second, having the mandate of heaven; third, in possession of land or manor; and fourth, having the ability to govern officials and common people, and enjoying their unfailing loyalty.
The Son of Heaven refers to the emperor or monarch, the supreme ruler of an empire or dynasty. People in ancient times believed that a monarch ruled the world by Heaven’s decree and with its mandate, hence he was called the Son of Heaven. This term asserted that a ruler’s authority was legitimate and sacred, as it was bestowed by Heaven, but to some extent, it also restricted the exercise of this power. This has some similarity to the Western concept of the divine right of kings by the grace of God, but there are fundamental differences. Tian (天), the Chinese word for Heaven, is not the same as the Western term “God.” Rather, the Chinese term also implies the idea of interaction between Heaven and man, which means that the decree of Heaven also embodies popular will and popular support.
Emperor Yan (the Fiery Emperor) and Emperor Huang (the Yellow Emperor), legendary Chinese rulers in pre-dynastic times, were actually tribal leaders. Emperor Yan, whose family name was Jiang, was known as Shennongshi while Emperor Huang, whose family name was Gongsun, was known as Xuanyuanshi. They originally lived in central China where their tribes gradually merged with those in eastern and southern China. People in these tribes proliferated and made up the main body of the Chinese nation (who were referred to as the Han people after the Han Dynasty and Tang people after the Tang Dynasty). Hence, they have been revered as the ancestors of the Chinese nation. Their tribes, and the tribe headed by the Yellow Emperor in particular, achieved the highest level of civilization. Many important cultural advancements and technical innovations in ancient China were believed to be created by these two tribes. They have therefore been seen as the forefathers of the Chinese civilization. In modern times, they have been considered as symbols of the Chinese nation and Chinese culture. Today, Chinese descendants residing in different parts of the world proudly regard themselves as “descendants of the Fiery Emperor and the Yellow Emperor” or simply “descendants of the Yellow Emperor.” In this regard, “Yan and Huang” have become cultural symbols of the Chinese nation.
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