Changes

In accordance with Chinese practice, the term ''tenshi'' (lit. "son of Heaven") was also common in the pre-modern period. In fact, a famous communication said to have been issued to the Chinese emperor by [[Shotoku Taishi|Shôtoku Taishi]] in [[607]], in which he wrote "from the Son of Heaven of the land of the rising sun, to the Son of Heaven in the land of the setting sun," this is the term used for both emperors.<ref name=shillony>Ben-Ami Shillony, "Restoration, Emperor, Diet, Prefecture, or: How Japanese Concepts were Mistranslated into Western Languages," ''Collected Writings of Ben-Ami Shillony'', Synapse (2000), 69-71.</ref>

In accordance with Chinese practice, the term ''tenshi'' (lit. "son of Heaven") was also common in the pre-modern period. In fact, a famous communication said to have been issued to the Chinese emperor by [[Shotoku Taishi|Shôtoku Taishi]] in [[607]], in which he wrote "from the Son of Heaven of the land of the rising sun, to the Son of Heaven in the land of the setting sun," this is the term used for both emperors.<ref name=shillony>Ben-Ami Shillony, "Restoration, Emperor, Diet, Prefecture, or: How Japanese Concepts were Mistranslated into Western Languages," ''Collected Writings of Ben-Ami Shillony'', Synapse (2000), 69-71.</ref>

The term ''tennô'' (C: ''tiān huáng'') is said to have originally had a strong association with the [[Taoist]] worship of the [[North Star]], and was only ever used in China briefly, from around [[675]] to around [[705]]. Of course, it was during this period that the [[Yamato court]] adopted many aspects of Chinese political ideology. More standard terms for "emperor" in China include ''huángdi'' (J: ''kôtei'') and simply ''di'' (J: ''tei''), but in Japanese, these terms are almost exclusively only used to refer to non-Japanese emperors (e.g. including not only Chinese emperors, but also emperors of Rome or of the Holy Roman Empire). The term ''kôtei'' was only used to refer to the Japanese emperor, in Japanese, for a time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then only in communication with China, before the title ''tennô'' was formally adopted in 1936.<ref name=shillony/>

The term ''tennô'' (C: ''tiān huáng'') is said to have originally had a strong association with the [[Taoist]] worship of the [[North Star]], and was only ever used in China briefly, from around [[675]] to around [[705]]. Of course, it was during this period that the [[Yamato court]] adopted many aspects of Chinese political ideology, and indeed it was during that brief period that the term ''tennô'' came into use in Japan, beginning with either [[Emperor Temmu]] (r. [[673]]-[[686]]) or his successor [[Empress Jito|Empress Jitô]] (r. 686-[[697]]). This marks the end of the period of "Great Kings" (''ôkimi''), and the beginning of rule by "emperors."<ref>[[Albert M. Craig]], ''The Heritage of Japanese Civilization'', Second Edition, Prentice Hall (2011), 17.</ref> [[Amino Yoshihiko]], among others, have argued that this also marks the beginning of something we might legitimately call "Japan," suggesting that what came before should be considered "Wa" or "Yamato," and not "Japan," that all rulers prior to Temmu should not be called "emperors,"

and that figures such as [[Empress Suiko]] (r. [[554]]-[[628]]) and [[Shotoku Taishi|Shôtoku Taishi]], important as they may be historically, should not be considered "Japanese."<ref>[[Amino Yoshihiko]], [[Alan Christy]] (trans.), ''Rethinking Japanese History'', Center for Japanese Studies, University of Michigan (2012), 247.</ref>

 

While the term ''tennô'' was adopted in Japan, more standard terms for "emperor" in China include ''huángdi'' (J: ''kôtei'') and simply ''di'' (J: ''tei''). In Japanese, these terms are used almost exclusively to refer only to non-Japanese emperors (e.g. including not only Chinese emperors, but also emperors of Rome or of the Holy Roman Empire). The term ''kôtei'' was only used in Japan to refer to the Japanese emperor for a time in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and then only in communication with China, before the title ''tennô'' was formally adopted in 1936.<ref name=shillony/>

Regardless of which of these terms was employed, however, for much of Japanese history, Japanese rulers made a point of emphasizing that Japan, too, possessed a Son of Heaven, an "emperor," and not a "king" (国王, J: ''kokuô'', C: ''guo wang''). Regardless of how we might translate it (as "king" or otherwise), to be ruled by a ''koku-ô'', as [[Korea]] and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]] were, meant submission to Chinese suzerainty. The ''koku-ô'' of Korea and Ryûkyû received investiture from Chinese envoys, meaning that their legitimacy was, at least in some sense, derived from or dependent upon the Chinese emperor. Furthermore, in order to engage in official trade relations with China, one had to be a [[tribute|tributary]] state; that is, one had to pay tribute. This was something most shoguns, and Japanese emperors alike, refused to do, instead insisting upon their equality with the Chinese emperor, or their exclusion from the Sinocentric system entirely.

Regardless of which of these terms was employed, however, for much of Japanese history, Japanese rulers made a point of emphasizing that Japan, too, possessed a Son of Heaven, an "emperor," and not a "king" (国王, J: ''kokuô'', C: ''guo wang''). Regardless of how we might translate it (as "king" or otherwise), to be ruled by a ''koku-ô'', as [[Korea]] and [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû]] were, meant submission to Chinese suzerainty. The ''koku-ô'' of Korea and Ryûkyû received investiture from Chinese envoys, meaning that their legitimacy was, at least in some sense, derived from or dependent upon the Chinese emperor. Furthermore, in order to engage in official trade relations with China, one had to be a [[tribute|tributary]] state; that is, one had to pay tribute. This was something most shoguns, and Japanese emperors alike, refused to do, instead insisting upon their equality with the Chinese emperor, or their exclusion from the Sinocentric system entirely.