In the early Shang and Zhou dynasties, their ruler was a king, and later some big countries began to be kings. In the society at that time, the king had a lofty position. Later, the concept of emperor appeared in Qin and Han Dynasties, and vassals were still noble titles in China. With the improvement of the feudal system, vassals also had different divisions, mainly divided into three categories: vassal, county king and vassal.
How to distinguish prince, county king and vassal king? In fact, it is not easy to distinguish these princes by their names, but there are still obvious differences in power and status between these different princes in the past dynasties. So how should a prince, a county king and a captaincy be distinguished?
prince
First, let's look at the prince. Just from this word, it can be seen that this should be the sovereign of the imperial clan. There were princes in the Qin and Han dynasties, but there was no distinction between princes and county kings at that time, just a vassal packet. Like the early emperors who were enfeoffed by Liu Bang, there were also some active ministers, Han Xin, all vassals with different surnames. They all have their own vassals, regardless of their personal relationships. These kings have great power. Later, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted the law of favor, and they gradually lost their original power. However, during the Han Dynasty, the nobility was not subdivided.
Imperial clan children are regarded as kings to maintain their own rule. During the Western Jin Dynasty, Sima family began to enfeoffment a large number of imperial clan children, and they began to establish the prince system. Like the sons and nephews of the emperor's family, uncles and brothers are all princes. These princes have certain powers and can also hold some important positions in North Korea. As a result, these Sima family governors not only failed to defend the royal family, but also killed each other, leading to the collapse of the country.
After the establishment of the Northern and Southern Dynasties, both sides adopted the gold system, and the children of the royal family remained princes. Since then, this system has continued. In order to stabilize their political power, these royal families in the past dynasties often enfeoffed a large number of royal families as princes at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China. However, with the change of dynasties, the government's restrictions on these princes became more and more strict.
Ming Dynasty pro-Wang Mian
In the Ming Dynasty, the prince system was relatively perfect, and the treatment of princes was similar. The early governors had great power, not only owning their own country, but also holding the domestic military and political power. For example, Judy, the prince of Yan, successfully overthrew Wen Jian and became emperor herself.
But after the prince came to power, he was afraid that others would imitate him, so he tried to weaken the power of these princes. Originally, with the efforts of Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunwen, these princes in China have lost most of their power, and Judy completely put an end to the possibility of the prince seizing power. These Ming dynasty royalty, completely became a group of mixed dead people. They can't be in politics or in power, and there is really nothing useful except their salary and industry.
Distinguishing a prince is simple. Most governors are word kings, such as Qi, Chu, Jin and Qin, and their names have become the most commonly used characters of later governors. As long as they are word kings, they are basically princes.
Wang Jun
As for the county king, this is different from the prince, mainly from the word, often the county king is the word. Also from the Western Jin Dynasty, there was a clear division between the prince and the county king. The county king usually seals some courtiers who have made great contributions, or pursues some courtiers. For example, Guo Ziyi was made king of Fenyang, and Tong Guan was later made king of the county. When some dynasties were weak, they would seal some lords like crazy, like the late Tang Dynasty, and kept sealing some local dignitaries, which led to the proliferation of county kings. Since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, in fact, it is very prudent to seal the king. No matter how much credit the courtiers have, they often seal lord protector and so on.
The baron is different. Even if the county king is not as good as the prince, most people who can become the county king have great prestige and credit in China. Like Guo Ziyi, after he was crowned king, he actually had his own capital to be emperor, and the power of the prince would be restricted everywhere. Because of their own detention, the county king has great real power.
In addition to courtiers, the children of the royal family will also be named county kings. After all, there are too many people in a royal family, so it can't be said that so many people are sealed to the prince. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the children of princes, or some remote royal families, could be named county kings. This kind of county king is different from the county king who is a foreign minister. They may be promoted. After all, it is an imperial clan, so it is natural to have some privileges.
For example, there is a hidden rule in the Song Dynasty. Often these royal children are promoted step by step, and many people rise from duke to county king and then to the last prince. By the Ming dynasty, the rules were strict. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, it is basically said that the prince was made a prince. Later, Judy abolished and changed a batch. Since then, this matter has become a foregone conclusion. The imperial clan is unlikely to change, and the emperor will not seal the prince at will. The courtiers in the DPRK are unlikely to seal the county kings except the marquis, but there are still many county kings in the Ming Dynasty. This is because the princes in these places are also influenced by another kind of grace law. The Ming dynasty stipulated that the eldest sons of these princes inherited the throne, but they were often a bunch of sons, so the children who inherited the throne were princes, and the rest of them were county kings. If the county king continues to inherit the title, he will gradually be demoted, and eventually many children of emperors will be demoted.
captain
Prince and county king can be distinguished from each other in terms of identity, status and appellation. Then there is a kind of king that is more special. This is the captain. Unlike princes and county kings, the definition of captaincy is too broad. First of all, the captaincy can be a prince, a county king, like Judy and the prince himself, but he is often called Fan Yan. In fact, he also belongs to the captaincy. In different periods of ancient times, the division of power between princes and county kings was different, so as long as your princes and county kings owned fiefs, or actually fiefs, they could be called princes.
But more princes and county kings, who don't have their own fiefs, just hang such titles and lead their own wages, can't be called vassals. The captaincy is the group with real power in these two kinds of princes, and it is not much different from the princes and county kings in name.
Another kind of captaincy, they are equivalent to the governors of some special zones. The influence of the ancient Central Plains Dynasty was very great, so many tribes or countries in the Quartet went to the Central Plains Dynasty. They pay tribute to the court and the court will give them a reward. For example, in many places in the southwest, northeast and west, there are many vassal kingdoms. These countries are actually independent and self-made, but nominally belong to the central government.
Therefore, the conferment of their throne, their succession and various major events all need the approval of the central government. These countries dare not call themselves emperors, but they can still be kings. Their royal titles are equivalent to their own establishment, but they are also granted by the central government.
These people belong to the captaincy, so the captaincy, whether domestic or foreign, must have its own fief or country, otherwise it can't be called the captaincy. Mainly from this aspect, it differs from princes and county kings. Generally speaking, although princes and county kings have high status, they often do not threaten the government's rule, but captaincy is different. They hold real power and have their own country, which will threaten their own rule.
Most of the ancient imperial families or local rebellions were provoked by these captives. As for other princes and county kings, even if they rebel, they only collude with some powerful people. As for their own lack of strength, it is difficult to cause any major turmoil, which also led to the strictest management of the vassal kings in previous dynasties and did not give them the opportunity to take power at will.