# 天子
## Chinese

* 天子 (Written Standard Chinese)
* Son of Heaven (English)

### Etymology

Attested earliest in the bronze inscriptions dated to King Kang of Zhou's reign.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): tiānzǐ
    (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄗˇ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): tin$^1$ zi$^2$
* Hakka (Sixian, PFS): thiên-chṳ́
* Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thian-chír / thian-chú
* Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): $^1$thi-tsy$_5$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: tiānzǐ
*** Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄗˇ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: tianzǐh
*** Wade–Giles: tʻien$^1$-tzŭ$^3$
*** Yale: tyān-dž
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tiantzyy
*** Palladius: тяньцзы (tjanʹczy)
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: tin$^1$ zi$^2$
*** Yale: tīn jí
*** Cantonese Pinyin: tin$^1$ dzi$^2$
*** Guangdong Romanization: tin$^1$ ji$^2$
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰiːn⁵⁵ t͡siː³⁵/
* Hakka
** (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Neipu)
*** Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thiên-chṳ́
*** Hakka Romanization System: tien$^ˊ$ zii$^ˋ$
*** Hagfa Pinyim: tian$^1$ zi$^3$
*** Sinological IPA: /tʰi̯en²⁴ t͡sɨ³¹/
* Southern Min
** (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian-chír
*** Tâi-lô: thian-tsír
*** IPA (Quanzhou): /tʰiɛn³³ t͡sɯ⁵⁵⁴/
** (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī: thian-chú
*** Tâi-lô: thian-tsú
*** Phofsit Daibuun: tienzuo
*** IPA (Taipei): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡su⁵³/
*** IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻²² t͡su⁵³/
*** IPA (Kaohsiung): /tʰiɛn⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡su⁴¹/
* Wu
** (Northern: Shanghai)
*** Wugniu: $^1$thi-tsy$_5$
*** MiniDict: thi$^平$ tsy$^去$
*** Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): $^1$thi-tsr$_2$
*** Sinological IPA (Shanghai): /tʰi⁵⁵ t͡sz̩²¹/
* Middle Chinese: then tsiX
Rime :
| Character | 天 | 子 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 透 (6) | 精 (13) |
| Final (韻) | 先 (85) | 之 (19) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) | Rising (X) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | IV | III |
| Fanqie | 他前切 | 即里切 |
| Baxter | then | tsiX |
| Reconstructions |||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /tʰen/ | /t͡sɨ$^X$/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /tʰen/ | /t͡sɨ$^X$/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /tʰɛn/ | /t͡sie$^X$/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /tʰɛn/ | /t͡sɨ$^X$/ |
| Li Rong | /tʰen/ | /t͡siə$^X$/ |
| Wang Li | /tʰien/ | /t͡sĭə$^X$/ |
| Bernhard Karlgren | /tʰien/ | /t͡si$^X$/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | tiān | zǐ |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | tin$^1$ | zi$^2$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥ˤi[n]|l̥ˤi[n] tsəʔ/
    (Zhengzhang): /*qʰl'iːn ʔslɯʔ/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 天 | 天 | 子 |
| Reading # | 1/2 | 2/2 | 2/2 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | tiān | xiān | zǐ |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ then › | ‹ xen › | ‹ tsi$^X$ › |
| Old Chinese | /*l̥ˁi[n]/ | /*l̥ˁi[n]/ (W dialect: l̥ˁ- > Hàn-time *xˁ- > MC x-) | /*tsəʔ/ |
| English | heaven | heaven | child; gentleman, master |
| Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary. ||||
Zhengzhang system (2003) :
| Character | 天 | 子 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| No. | 12387 | 17857 |
| Phonetic component | 天 | 子 |
| Rime group | 眞 | 之 |
| Rime subdivision | 1 | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 天 | 子 |
| Old Chinese | /*qʰl'iːn/ | /*ʔslɯʔ/ |

### Noun

天子
* Son of Heaven; emperor
    From: Inscription on 冬方鼎 Dong fangding II (Can we date this quote?), transcribed and translated by Tharsen (2015).
    氒 (jué) fù 亯 (xiǎng) yú Tiānzǐ [Pinyin]
    He in return makes an offering to Heaven's Son
    From: Ballad of Mulan, circa 6ᵗʰ century ᴄᴇ
    Guī lái jiàn tiānzǐ, tiānzǐ zuò míng táng. [Pinyin]
    [They] return to see the Son of Heaven, who sits in the Hall of Brilliance.

#### Synonyms

* 乘輿／乘舆 (literary, figurative)
* 人主 (rénzhǔ) (literary)
* 人君 (rénjūn) (literary)
* 人王 (rénwáng)
* 元首 (yuánshǒu)
* 君上 (jūnshàng) (literary)
* 君主 (jūnzhǔ)
* 君父 (jūnfù) (literary)
* 君王 (jūnwáng)
* 國君／国君 (guójūn)
* 國家／国家 (guójiā) (Classical Chinese)
* 大聖／大圣 (dàshèng) (literary)
* 大駕／大驾 (dàjià)
* 官家 (guānjiā) (archaic)
* 帝王 (dìwáng)
* 皇帝 (huángdì)
* 皇辟 (huángbì) (archaic, Son of Heaven)

#### Derived terms

* 一朝天子一朝臣 (yī cháo tiānzǐ yī cháo chén)
* 挾天子以令諸侯／挟天子以令诸侯 (xié tiānzǐ yǐ lìng zhūhóu)
* 月天子 (Yuètiānzǐ)
* 真命天子 (zhēnmìng tiānzǐ)
* 真龍天子／真龙天子 (zhēnlóng tiānzǐ)
* 閻羅天子／阎罗天子 (Yánluó Tiānzǐ)

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: 天(てん)子(し) (tenshi)
* → Korean: 천자(天子) (cheonja)
* → Vietnamese: thiên tử (天子)
Others:
* → Old Turkic: 𐱅𐰤𐰾𐰃 (Tensi)
* → Chagatai: اسمان نینک اوغلی (calque)
* → Classical Mongolian: ᠲᠩᠷᠢ ᠶᠢᠨ ᠬᠥ᠋ᠪᠡᠭᠦᠨ (tngri-yin köbegün) (calque)
* → English: Son of Heaven (calque)
* → Manchu: ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ ᠵᡠᡳ (abkai jui) (calque)
* → Tibetan: གནམ་གྱི་བུ (gnam gyi bu) (calque)

### References

* ↑ Eno, Robert (2012) “Inscriptional records of the Western Zhou”, in scholarworks.iu.edu‎, page 18
* ↑ Tharsen, Jeffrey R. (2015) Chinese Euphonics : Phonetic Patterns, Phonorhetoric and Literary Artistry in Early Chinese Narrative Texts (PhD)‎, University of Chicago

## Japanese

Kanji in this term :
| 天 | 子 |
| てん Grade: 1 | し Grade: 1 |
| on'yomi ||

### Pronunciation

* IPA: [tẽ̞ɰ̃ɕi]

### Noun

天(てん)子(し) • (tenshi)
* the Emperor of China, Son of Heaven
* (poetic, dated) the Emperor of Japan

## Korean

Hanja in this term :
| 天 | 子 |

### Noun

天子 • (cheonja) (hangeul 천자)
* hanja form of 천자 (“the Emperor of China, Son of Heaven”)

## Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term :
| 天 | 子 |

### Noun

天子
* chữ Hán form of thiên tử (“Son of Heaven”).