天子

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	child; son; (noun suffix) child; son; (noun suffix); small thing; seed; egg; 1st earthly branch; 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight
simp. and trad. (天子)		天	子

Etymology

Attested earliest in the bronze inscriptions dated to King Kang of Zhou's reign.[1]

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): tiānzǐ

(Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢㄗˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ zi²
Hakka (Sixian, PFS): thiên-chṳ́
Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thian-chír / thian-chú
Wu (Wugniu)
- (Northern): ¹thi-tsy

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tiānzǐ
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢㄗˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tianzǐh
  - Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-tzŭ³
  - Yale: tyān-dž
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tiantzyy
  - Palladius: тяньцзы (tjanʹczy)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: tin¹ zi²
  - Yale: tīn jí
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tin¹ dzi²
  - Guangdong Romanization: tin¹ ji²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːn⁵⁵ t͡siː³⁵/
Hakka
- (Sixian, incl. Miaoli and Meinong)
  - Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thiên-chṳ́
  - Hakka Romanization System: tien´ zii`
  - Hagfa Pinyim: tian¹ zi³
  - 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
- (Shanghai):
  - Wugniu: ¹thi-tsy
  - MiniDict: thi^平 tsy
  - Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹thi-tsr
  - 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/
Bernard Karlgren	/tʰien/	/t͡si^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	tiān	zǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	tin¹	zi²

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
- 氒（厥）復亯（享）于天子 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]
  氒（厥）复亯（享）于天子 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Inscription on 冬方鼎 Dong fangding II, transcribed and translated by Tharsen (2015).[2]
  氒 (jué) fù 亯 (xiǎng) yú Tiānzǐ [Pinyin]
  He in return makes an offering to Heaven's Son
- 歸來見天子，天子坐明堂。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  归来见天子，天子坐明堂。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  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

Sino-Xenic (天子):

→ 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 (tŋri-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^(key): [tẽ̞ɰ̃ɕi]

Noun

天(てん)子(し) • (tenshi)

the Emperor of China, Son of Heaven

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”).

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