Gong (title)

Gong (Chinese: 公; pinyin: gōng) was the most respectful title of Chinese nobility during the Zhou Dynasty and the second highest title, ranked below Wang, from the Han Dynasty onwards. Gong can be translated as "lord" in almost every case. Beginning in the Eastern Zhou, it is often translated as "duke".[1]

Example of a Nuo tai and use of Gong (公) on the Paifang at the Cihu Presidential Burial Place in Taiwan.

Western Zhou

Gong (公; gōng) was a term of highest respect, and can be rendered in English as Lord to a high level of accuracy.[2][3]

The leaders of existing Zhou cultural polities within the same ancestral temple surname as the royal house (Jī; 姬), such as Guo (虢), were rarely called Gong,[4] in which case, it also carried the meaning patriarch.[5][6] The rulers of Song, descended from the royal house of Shang, also bore this title.[3]

The three highest government ministers in the early Zhou were the Grand Tutor (太傅; tàifù), the Grand Protector (太保; tàibǎo), and the Grand Preceptor (太師; tàishī). These men were called Gong, although their descendants did not inherit this title. The system of three was not always in effect throughout the dynasty, but there was often one or more ministers set above the rest of the government, always called Gong regardless of specific title.[7]

In their own ancestral temple, any ancestor of suitable distance and regardless of noble title in life could be referred to as Gong. This practice increased over time, with lineages "upgrading" their ancestors without discernible pattern.[3][7][8]

Within their own polity, any living ruler could be addressed as, or referred to as, Gong, which carries the English connotation of e.g. your Grace or his Excellency.[3]

Examples

References

Citations
  1. Creel (1970), p. 325.
  2. Chen and Pines 2018, p. 5.
  3. Pines 2020, p. 716.
  4. Li 2008b, p. 49.
  5. Khayutina 2014, p. 47.
  6. von Falkenhausen 1996, p. 7.
  7. Li 2008a, p. 113.
  8. Khayutina 2014, p. 48.

Sources
  • Chen Minzhen; Pines, Yuri (2018). "Where is King Ping? The History and Historiography of the Zhou Dynasty's Eastward Relocation". Asia Major. Academica Sinica. 31 (1): 1–27. JSTOR 26571325.
  • Creel, Herrlee G. (1970). The Origins of Statecraft in China, vol. 1: The Western Chou Empire. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Li Feng (2008). Bureaucracy and the State in Early China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-88447-1.
  • Li Feng (2008). "Transmitting Antiquity: The Origin and Paradigmization of the "Five Ranks"". In Kuhn, Dieter; Stahl, Helga (eds.). Perceptions of Antiquity in Chinese Civilization. Würzberg: Würzburger Sinologische Schriften. pp. 103–134.
  • Khayutina, Maria (2014). "Marital alliances and affinal relatives (sheng 甥 and 婚購) in the society and politics of Zhou China in the light of bronze inscriptions". Early China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 37: 39–99. JSTOR 24392462.
  • von Falkenhausen, Lothar (1996). "The Concept of Wen in the Ancient Chinese Ancestral Cult". Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR). 18: 1–22. doi:10.2307/495623. JSTOR 495623.
  • Pines, Yuri (2020). "Names and Titles in Eastern Zhou Texts". T'oung Pao. Leiden: Brill. 106: 714–720.
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