cry me a river

Wednesday, 18 September 2013

王

"A person becomes an emperor by order of the heavenly emperor.

Therefore、by heaven's will、only he has the duty to rule this world."

Before the Qin Dynasty、of course、there was no word for "emperor," but this idea seems to have existed before then.

At the time of the founding of the Zhou Dynasty、there was、of course、only the King of Zhou.

However、as time passed、the power of the King of Zhou grew weaker and weaker、while the power of his vassals increased in inverse proportion.

In the end、the lords within Zhou began to hold their positions on their own.

Naturally、the rule of the Zhou king became a thing in name only.

However、even in such a situation, the only king was the Zhou king.

The lords still respected Zhou's royal authority.

・・・・・・・・

By this time、the scope of China (Chūka) had already expanded.

Peoples to participate in China other than the vassals of the Zhou dynasty、such peoples appeared.

It was the Chu and Qin. (楚・So、秦・Shin)

The Chu was the people of the Yangtze River basin (middle basin) in the southern part of the Yellow River.

And the Qin were people who lived in the Weihe basin、an upper tributary of the Yellow River.

"They are 夷."

Initially、it seems that they were ignored by the other lords for this reason.

"Yes、we are 夷.

So we don't have to follow China's authority.

I'm 王."

They began to self-proclaim that way.

"夷 is ignorant and therefore don't know the principle of the thing."

"A person becomes an emperor by order of the heavenly emperor.

Therefore、by heaven's will、only he has the duty to rule this world."

At this point、this concept may have been reinforced.

But "survival of the fittest."

After this、most of the lords began to call themselves '王'、and from here China entered the full-fledged Warring States period.

Thereafter、meaning of "王" in China may have altered.　

Confucius lived the era of that turning point.

※Looking at the Japanese version of the wiki to confirm the land where the Qin people lived、it seems that there is a legend(？) that the ancestor of Qin was a vassal of Zhou.

It seems that Qin proclaimed himself (?) "王" in 324 BC.

Confucius 552 BC or 551 BC - 479 BC 2023010214:41 (japan time).

Thursday, 19 September 2013

ebisu

The kingdoms that became superpowers at the end of the Warring States period were Qin and Chu.

The Zhou Dynasty died out during this period、but it is not known exactly when it actually fell.

The reason these two kingdoms became so powerful is because they were 夷.

It's not like that at all.

Because both kingdoms were located on the outer edge of Chūka. (South and West.)

They had vast tracts of land available for development.

This is an overly simplistic notion、but in fact it seems to be an important factor.

Of course、Chinese advanced technology would have helped in its development.

And in addition to that、Qin seems to had a trade with the west.

Qin is the etymology of ”China” of english.　

"Qin" of Chinese characters is "秦".

Modern Japanese pronunciation of "秦" is "Shin".

And "China" is "Sinis" in Latin.

Note:The concept of this "Chūka" is "living zone of people that share the same civilization consciousness".

Here it mean this.

Chinese characters of "Chūka" is 中華.

And this is the pronunciation of modern Japanese.

・・・・・・・・・

East of Chūka was(is) the sea.

And in the north of Chūka at that time (now)、there was a vast grassland.

Many nomads lived there.

Mid-term of the Warring States period.

Zhao in northern Chūka. (趙・Chou・Chō)

They were suffering from war with nomadic people.

Nomads plundered livestock、grain、and people within Zhao.

They had overwhelming strength in war.

A big reason for that was their cavalry tactics.

And the land was also suitable for cavalry operations.

"They're barbaric.

But they are stronger in war than we are、it is a grim fact.

We need to adopt their cavalry tactics to overcome this.

The King of Zhao at that time persuaded his vassals to do so、and as a first step in military reform、adopted trousers as battle uniforms、just like the nomads.

・・・・・・・・

By the way、it seems that the Chinese did not have the habit of wearing trousers until then.

The clothes of Chūka people were like Japanese kimonos、so were their combat uniforms.

(Origin of kimono is their clothes of course.)

And trousers were nomadic clothing.

(Otherwise they can not ride the horse.)

Although it was eventually adopted、it seems that there was a great deal of opposition to the adoption of trousers as military uniforms.

"It is the clothes of 戎."

They were probably thought so.

One of modern Japanese pronunciation of "戎" is "ebisu".

And one of modern Japanese pronunciation of "夷" is also "ebisu".

In short、it's that sense.