Nobility titles in the Chunqiu - the elusive 公
The Books of Rites, and similar sources, tell us that China, during the Zhou dynasty, had 5 ranks of nobility, namely
公, gong, duke
侯, hou, marquis
伯, bo, count/earl
子, zi, viscount
男, nan, baronet
These titles, we are told, were conferred to various nobles by the Son of Heaven (天子), the ruler of Zhou, who is also called king (王), later, we are told, some local nobles assume the name of king, thus challenging central authority.
This post explores the way those titles are use in the Spring and Autumns Annals, and, to a lesser extent, in later texts.
In general, the word 公 gong is used as a title in two instances :
- for the rulers of Song, who were said to be descended from the Shang kings.
- for princes of high rank in the Zhou family (we see such people coming for the funerals of deceased lords of Lu)
All other rulers are Hou, Bo, Ji or Nan.
However, the word 公 has two other, consistent usages.
- It is the normal way to refer, in Lu annals, to the lord of Lu. Gong, here means, “our lord”, “our prince”
- It is the way to refer to a deceased lord (from Lu or another state) after he died and was given a posthumous name.
For example :
王正月庚申，曹伯終生卒 On day Gengshen of the first month of the royal calendar, the count of Cao, Zhongsheng, died (Zhongsheng is his given name)
夏，五月，葬曹桓公 In summer, in the fifth month, Duke Huan of Cao was buried (duke being here the formal title for all deceased princes)
Note how the ruler of Cao, who held the title of Count, is referred to by his given name before he was buried: Count of Cao, Zhongsheng, and by his posthumous name followed by Gong : Duke Huan of Cao, afterwards.
Note also the difference in the order of words.
March 26th, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Hi Francois,
Just to add some more information, Lothar Falkenhausen, in his article “The Concept of Wen in the Ancient Chinese Ancestral Cult” in Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), Vol. 18. (Dec., 1996) says of Gong:
“The meaning of gong in ancestral ritual is quite multifarious-in early contexts, it may mean “lineage head” or simply “ancestor.”
Also, “The common translation of gong as “Duke” reflects the systematized set of aristocratic ranks recorded in late pre-Qin texts; inscriptions from earlier parts of the Zhou dynasty, however, fail to reveal
any indication that such a system existed in those times (see Si 1947, Wang 1983, and Sheng 1983). Gong is still used in funerary inscriptions in modem times meaning, generally, “ancestor.”
March 26th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I left a comment. Now its gone!
March 27th, 2008 at 4:39 am
it is not gone, I stupidly left the moderation on… which meant I must read it before you could see it… this is disabled now