Wang, originally the title of the supreme ruler of ancient countries, originated in Shang Dynasty (the supreme ruler of Xia Dynasty was called Hou, that is). After defeating the last generation-Gui (Xia Jie) in the battle of Mingtiao, the Shang leader was captured and exiled, and became the son of heaven, calling himself the "king", which was the first king in the history of China. Footwear is soup.
In the 11th year of Zhou Wuwang (about 1046 BC), merchants were destroyed in the week, and princes were widely built to screen the surrounding rooms. Zhou Wuwang and Ji Fa adopted the system of Shang Dynasty, and they also called themselves "sons of heaven" and kings. The princes called the son of heaven "the king of heaven". Zhou Tianwang was made a fifth-class marquis. On the basis of the title of Tianwang, the vassal enjoyed the right to govern the country, land and population, and at the same time he had to bear the obligations of paying tribute to Zhou Tianwang regularly and sending troops to accompany him.
Because the vassals of various countries enjoy absolute sovereignty in the fiefs and exclusive ownership of the fiefs and population, after hundreds of years of continuous merger and expansion, some vassals have become more and more powerful, so that they can threaten King Zhou and stand on their own feet as kings.
In the 16th year of King Huan of Zhou Dynasty (704 BC), Xiong Tong, the monarch of Chu, became king, and posthumously named his dead brother "Li, King of Chu". Xiong Tong was the first monarch in the Spring and Autumn Period and was named "Chu Wuwang" by posthumous title. (Xu Xu Wang Yan won the title of king earlier than Chu Wuwang, but it didn't last long. Many later generations claimed to be. )
From the time when the bear was called the queen to the first year of statehood (585 BC), Shou Meng, the monarch of Wu, was also the king, which was the second vassal state to become the king. In the first year of Zhou Dynasty (5 19 BC), the monarch of Yue was allowed to be the third king. At this point, the three southern vassal States of Chu, Wu and Yue all stood on their own feet as kings. However, the three kingdoms were not traditional fiefs in summer, so their influence was not great.
In the thirty-fifth year of Zhou Xianwang (the first 334 years), it was marked by Qi Weizhi's "Xuzhou Xiangwang", and in the following ten years, almost all the vassals of the vassal States were kings. In addition to the traditional Seven Heroes in the Warring States, Zhongshan and Song became kings respectively, and the title of king is no longer unique to Zhou Tianwang's family.
In the twenty-sixth year of the King of Qin (22 1), Qin eliminated the other six countries in turn and unified the world. The king of Qin boasted that "there are five emperors", so he changed his title to "Emperor" and abandoned his title. At the same time, the enfeoffment system was changed to the county system, and local officials ruled the place. The prince no longer fiefs or confers the title of king. So the Qin dynasty did not seal the king.
By the end of the Qin Dynasty, when there was chaos in the world, the old nobles and the new rebel leaders of the former six countries in Shandong claimed the title of king one after another to show their orthodox inheritance and unite people's hearts. After the destruction of Qin and Han Jian by Gaudi in the Western Chu Dynasty, in order to stabilize the country and reward the meritorious service, a large number of kings with the same surname and different surnames were enfeoffed, and countries were established in all directions. At this time, there is no distinction between high and low, but all princes, that is, kings.
Han dynasty, Wei and Jin dynasties passed down from generation to generation, so did the imperial clan conferring system. In the first year of Taishi (265), Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty proclaimed himself emperor on behalf of Wei. After the establishment of the Jin Dynasty, the imperial clan was sealed, and his uncle Sima Zhou was named King of Dongguan County. This is the first time that the title of "King of Dongguan County" appeared in the history of China. At this point, princes are subdivided into kings (kings) and county kings, but there is no obvious difference between them, as well as etiquette salary and treatment of horses and chariots. During the Southern and Northern Dynasties, all countries basically followed this system.
In the first year of Emperor Wendi (58 1), the Sui Dynasty was formed, and Emperor Wendi even established the imperial clan system. Imperial clan is divided into nine grades, namely, king, county king, lord protector, monarch, Hou, Bo, Zi and Gong. Among them, the baron is the king and the county king. Emperor Yang Dishi of Sui Dynasty kept only three titles of king, duke and marquis, abolished the other six titles, and stipulated the system of conferring the king (prince) on the emperor's uncles, brothers and princes.
In the first year of Wude in Tang Dynasty (6 18), Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty, and the imperial clan system was further strengthened in the Tang Dynasty. Tang system: the emperor's brother and prince were made princes, and the prince's stepson was made kings. Those who made contributions or were especially favored by the emperor were named county kings, and the rest were named princes. All the sons born to the Crown Prince will be crowned county kings (except the great-grandson of the emperor).
There were a large number of Wang with different surnames in the Tang Dynasty (concentrated in the middle and late period). This is because the political struggle in the Tang Dynasty was complicated and serious, and the middle and late period was a long-term situation of the separatist regime in the buffer region. Therefore, in order to encourage them to work for the imperial court, the imperial court rewarded people with titles (of course, An Lushan, Zhu Wen and other anti-thieves also awarded titles, which will not be explained here). However, except DUZH, the King of Wu in the early Tang Dynasty, all the recruited kings were county kings, such as Fenyang King.
After five dynasties of chaos, Song Taizu established the Song Dynasty in the first year of Jianlong (960). The imperial clan title system is based on the Tang system, but it has also been modified. Titles are divided into three categories: king (prince), heir king and county king. In the Song Dynasty, the title of imperial clan did not have much practical significance and material benefits, and it was almost confused with the official title (except the highest-ranking prince). The level of the heir king is almost empty. During the 300 years of the Song Dynasty, only four heirs were awarded, which is a very special title. Like the Tang Dynasty, heroes with different surnames in the Song Dynasty have a high probability of winning the title of county king.
Liao, Jin, Xixia, Yuan and other ethnic minority regimes copied the Central Plains system in the title system, but the title was not very strict and formal, and a large number of different surnames conferred the title of king (prince), which led to political turmoil.
In the first year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1368), Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of the Ming Dynasty, established Daming, which made the most detailed setting for the suzerain-vassal system in history, and stipulated the words "Prince's country name" and "posthumous title"; "County King" and "posthumous title". The prince sealed the prince, and the prince sealed the county king except the prince. Kings are hereditary.
In the early Ming Dynasty, princes (that is, Taizu philosophers) were named after the previous generation, such as Qin, Jin, Yan, Wu (Zhou), Chu and Qi. County kings are named after county names, such as Lintong King, Ninghua King and Levin King.
After that, the imperial clan passed on and the clansmen multiplied, but the big and beautiful titles of the country were all used up, so the titles of governors in the middle and late Ming Dynasty were mainly American titles, such as Rong Wang, Wang Xing, Wang Jing and Axe King.
In the sixth year of Qing Dynasty (1636), Emperor Taizong of Qing Dynasty changed the title of the country to "Qing" and established a system of imperial clan titles, which was divided into nine grades: Prince Heshuo; King of Eldoro County; Sandro Belle; Sigushan Beizi; Five towns and countries; Six auxiliary frenzy; Seven town generals; G-8 generals; General of the State of Jiu Feng. During the founding of the People's Republic of China, everything was the first, so the title system was not subdivided too much, and the name was often changed. Moreover, Wang Jue only added the name of the United States, instead of the previous country name and government name, and at the same time called "a prince and a county king" by rank.
In the sixth year of Shunzhi (1650), the title of imperial clan was increased and ten "General Feng En" was added. In the 13th year of Qianlong reign (1748), Emperor Gaozong promulgated the King James Table, which completely improved the title system of the Qing Dynasty.
The title of imperial clan is subdivided into: Prince Heshuo; The son of the prince; King of doro county; The eldest son of the county king; Dorobel; Lonely mountain shellfish; Feng en Zhen Guo Gong; Serve lord protector; Don't enter Bafen Town; Don't enter the eight-point auxiliary frenzy; General in the town; General of the auxiliary country; General Guo Feng; General bong eun. A total of 12 14 (the prince of a prince and the eldest son of a county king are not ranked, but only the salary. After inheriting the royal title, the identity of the prince and eldest son will be automatically removed. )
In the Qing Dynasty, except for the six founding princes (Dai Shan, Prince does not, Girard Lang of Switzerland, Dourgen of Switzerland, Duoduo, Prince Yu, Haug of Su, Master of Zhuang (Chengze)) and the kings of two counties (King of Keqin County and King Dehun of Shuncheng County) who were knighted (that is, the iron hat king) for military service, only the Prince of Iraq (the king of Yongzheng). ), Prince Chun (Yi Xuan) and Prince Qing (Yi Kuang) were four hereditary princes in Guangxu period. And the county king has no inheritance.
Since the early Qing Dynasty, the colloquial appellation of "Wang Ye" has been very popular. Banners like to address others (or call themselves "Ye"). Over time, the titles of princes and county kings also expanded to "a certain Wang Ye". Even in modern times, the title of prince in film and television cultural works mostly uses the common name of Qing Dynasty, which is called "Wang Ye"
In fact, before the Qing Dynasty, the titles of kings in different dynasties (mainly referring to princes, including heir kings and county kings) were different: they were called "Wang" in the pre-Qin period, "Wang" in the Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, and "His Royal Highness" or "Your Highness" in the Ming Dynasty. Prince (Wang) claimed that from the pre-Qin Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, the title of "I am a widow" was always used in written language (a few of them used "I am lonely"), while in spoken language, it was modestly called "Xiao Wang" or directly used "I". At present, there is no example of the title "Wang Ben" in history books.