Emperor and Nine

In ancient China, the number nine was regarded as the extreme of positive numbers, i.e. the maximum of singular. For this reason, it was associated with emperors and matters connected with emperors. The imperial throne was named nine and five. An emperor was called honor of nine and five. Other matters concerning the number nine are listed below:

There was a kind of bronze cooking vessel with nine legs, and emperors established a system of nine ministers.

Of the ancient feudal government officials, there was one called nine-level; there were nine capital armies in the capital city.

There were nine thousand nine hundred and ninety and a half houses in the Forbidden City.

Gate tower of the Tian'an Men has nine bays in width and in length.

Gates of Chinese Forbidden City, imperial gardens and Xanadus were decorated with nine road nail, which meant there were nine doornails both vertically and horizontally in one door, altogether 81 nails.

In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the maharajas of different tribes were required to submit to the emperor eight white horses and one white camel annually, which were named nine white tributes. Most often, other articles of tribute were calculated with reference of the number nine. For instance, in the 13thyear during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, he stipulated that Banners like Ke'erqin Banner should submit to the royalty the following articles of tribute in the quantity of twelve times nine: 108 goats, 108 bottles of koumiss annually; Banners like Erdos should submit 81 goats and 81 bottles of koumiss annually.

During the construction of temples in ancient China weight of golden Buddha was also calculated in nine, usually 81jin(half kilogram) or 72jin, and quantity of figures of Buddha was calculated in nine. For example, in the 45thyear during the reign of Emperor Kangxi, 2,299 times 9 figures of Buddha were built (altogether 20,691) to celebrate his 70th birthday.

The feasts of annual festivals of royal court of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) consisted of 99 kinds of foods including fruit, succade and snacks.

Upon emperors' birthday in the Qing Dynasty, entertainment activities including acrobatics performance, lighting up eternity spring lamps, and so on, would be performed. There should be 9*9 (81) kinds of such entertaining activities, named nine nine big celebration. Foods, entertaining programs and tributes from governmental officials for emperors' birthday and Chinese Spring Festival in the Qing Dynasty were also numbered in nine, meaning to wish the emperor long life. Gradually, the number nine was exclusively used by the emperor; as a result, the ordinary people including high-ranking officials and royal family members were prohibited from using the number nine in their daily life.

Alternative Names of Emperors

In the ages of feudal societies, though emperor was a very distinguished title, his liegemen usually called the emperor his alternative name with his presence, instead of calling him emperor directly.

In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25 -220), the emperor was called the state, for the reason that in the old time, seigneurs were called the state, and officials were called the family; later on people generally called a country state, and since the emperor was an incarnation of a country, people called the emperor state. In the Jin Dynasty (265-420), the appellation was stilled used.

In the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the emperor was called the saint and the dwelling place within the basilica, because his power was as supreme as to taking the whole country as his dwelling place.

In the Song Dynasty (960-1127), the emperors were called by temple and ancestor; for instance, Song Emperor Shenzong and Song Emperor Renzong were referred to as divine ancestor and merciful temple. Apart from this, people called the emperor governor or officer, for there was a Chinese saying Five Emperors governed the whole country, and Three Kings took in charge of the whole nation.

Besides, alternative names of an emperor include a Son of Heaven, your majesty, sovereign, king, flying dragon, head of a county, carriage, gharry, long live, long live sir, supreme honor, master of human being, the sacred, house (in the Northern Dynasty), master of man (in the Liao Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty), etc. Also, name of the year could be used as alternative names for emperors.

History of the Word 'Emperor'

The earliest appellation Emperor was a general designation of Three Kings and Five Emperors. Three Kings were referred to Emperor of Heaven, Emperor of Earth and Emperor of Human, the three ancient emperors in Chinese legends. Originally, Emperor was referred to Emperor of Heaven, the sovereign ruler of everything on earth. Later on, after wars occurred between many states, their rulers called themselves emperor, such as Western Emperor, Eastern Emperor, Mid Emperor, Northern Emperor, and so on, which made the Emperors in the heaven come down into the world and thus became a honorific title in the world. (There was another saying that Five Emperors were referred to the Yellow Emperor, Emperor Yan, Emperor Ciyou, etc. in the tribe age.)
After the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC) unified the whole country, he regarded himself having more virtues than 'Three Kings' and obtaining more achievements than 'Five Emperors', and combined King and Emperor, the two superlative titles in the world, and took it as his appellation. From then on, the Sons of Heaven were called Emperors.

Why China is Called China

China is the appellation of our country given by foreigners.

The porcelain china is the transliteration of the place name Changnan, which was the old name for the porcelain town of today's Jingdezhen (Jingde Town). In the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), people built their cave-houses and cut logs to make pottery. And in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), people combined the advantages of celadon from the southern Yue kiln and white porcelains from the northern Xing kiln, and with the high-quality earth of the Gaoling Mountain in Changnan Town they produced a kind of white & green porcelain. This porcelain was smooth and bright, and hence earned another name of artificial jade. It became famous both home and abroad and exported to Europe in large quantities since people there did not know how to make porcelain before the 18^thcentury.

In Europe, people regarded Changnan porcelain as something precious and delicate and would take proud in possessing one. As time passed, people in Europe forgot the meaning of Changnan and switched the original meaning of porcelain of the word 'china' to the place of its origin ― China. Therefore, Changnan in people's eyes represented porcelain and China. In the Jingde reign of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Emperor Zhenzong loved Changnan porcelain so much that he ordered to build official cave-houses to make porcelain of all kinds. And porcelains paid as tributes to the emperor were required to print with made in the Jinde reign at the bottom. From then on, Changnan Town became Jingde Town and it remained as such until today.

Dragon Has Nine Sons

As the legend goes, dragon has nine sons who are different from each other in terms of temperament, appearance and even jobs. In the ancient buildings and containers we can sometimes find the dragon's sons.

The eldest son looks like a turtle that always likes to carry big stonework on his back and hence is titled the turtle carrying the stonework.

The second son always likes to stand in a high place and watch afar. He is the one we see on the fastigium of palaces.

The third is very small and likes to yell a lot. We can see him on bronze bells.

The fourth looks like a tiger with great power. We can only see him at gates of jails.

The fifth likes to eat and is often seen on bronze containers for food.

The sixth likes to play with water and is often carved on bridges.

The seventh likes to kill and fight and is often carved on hilts.

The eighth is like a lion and likes firework. He can always be found on censers.

The youngest looks like a spiral shell and likes to be quiet. We can always find him on doors.

Folk Dragon and Royal Dragon

The largest stonework in the Forbidden City is 1.7 meters thick and weighs 250 tons. There are nine dragons playing in the clouds floating above the sea. In the feudal society, dragon was a symbol of imperial power.

Liu Bang, the emperor of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-8AD) made up a story which said that his mother dreamed a dream that she united with a dragon and then gave birth to Liu. And it was even said that when Liu got drunk, his dragonhead would emerge. Therefore, Liu became the son of dragon. It was obvious that Liu intended to establish a high image of himself through the legend of dragon and thus to consolidate his position as an emperor. Subsequently, later emperors and those who dreamed to be emperors said that they were the sons of dragon.

After the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), dragon became the symbol of imperial power and represents the emperor. At that time, the body of the emperor was called dragon body, the face dragon face, clothes dragon robe, and even their offspring were titled dragon sons or dragon grandsons.

When it came to the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, those dragons embroidered in emperors' dragon robes and carved in the palace walls all became five-claw. The five-claw dragon was forbidden for use by common people, and those who dared to use them for decoration would be sentenced to death. The emperors in the Ming and Qing dynasties lived in the Forbidden City and therefore, the walls, windows, ceilings and steps were all carved with dragons.

The common people did not like the royal dragon that stood for the imperial power. They liked another kind of dragon which could bring them good luck and happiness. In festivals, people liked to wield dragon lanterns and dance the dragon dance. In the Dragon Boat Festival, people would hold dragon boat race. There are also many beautiful folk legends about dragon, among which last touch added to a drawing and professed love of what one really fears are very popular.

There are a lot of operas, music, paintings and artworks and idioms about dragon. And the names of mountains, rivers and places with the word dragon are countless in China. Dragon is also one of the twelve animals, which represent the twelve Earthly Branches and are used to symbolize the year in which a person is born.

Nowadays, dragon can no longer represent imperial power; however, it is still believed that it can bless people good luck. And Chinese dragon has a new connotation -- it represents Chinese spirit of diligence and striving upwards. Dragon has become the symbol of the Chinese Nation.

Stories about Dragon

Last touch added to a drawing

Once a famous artist Zhang Sengyou drew four dragons on the walls of the Anle Temple, Jinling, but he left the pupils of the dragons unfinished. Someone asked him the reason of the omission. In answer, he said that if he put the pupils therein the dragons would become alive and fly away. The questioner did not believe it and requested him to complete the work. The artist nodded assent. But as soon as the two dots were drawn, all of a sudden, there were thunder and lightning and the dragon became alive and instantly flew away, while the other three without pupils still remained there.

Based on this fairy tale, the last touch added to a drawing is said to be the act of adding pupils to a dragon; that is to say, the last touch in a masterpiece is the most important part of a drawing, or any other important business. And now it becomes a phrase to suggest adding a word or two to clinch the point.

Professed love of what one really fears

In the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), there lived in the Chu state a person named Chu Zhuliang, who addressed himself as "Lord Ye". It is said that this Lord Ye was very fond of dragons. The walls had dragons painted on them. The beams, pillars, doors and windows were all carved with dragons. As a result, his love for dragons was spread out. When the real dragon in heaven heard of this Lord Ye, he was deeply moved. He decided to visit Lord Ye to thank him.

You might think Lord Ye would have been very happy to see a real dragon. But, in fact, at the sight of the creature, he was scared out of his wits and ran away as fast as he could.

From then on, people knew that Lord Ye only loved pictures or carvings that look like dragons, not the real thing