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.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tiānzǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄗˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ zi²
• Hakka (Sixian, PFS): thiên-chṳ́
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): thian-chír / thian-chú
• Wu (Shanghai, Wugniu): ¹thi-tsy₅

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tiānzǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄗˇ
    • 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 Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: thiên-chṳ́
    • Hakka Romanization System: tien^ˊ zii^ˋ
    • 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
  • (Northern: Shanghai)
    • Wugniu: ¹thi-tsy₅
    • MiniDict: thi^平 tsy^去
    • Wiktionary Romanisation (Shanghai): ¹thi-tsr₂
    • 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/	/t͡sɨX/
Pan Wuyun	/tʰen/	/t͡sɨX/
Shao Rongfen	/tʰɛn/	/t͡sieX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/tʰɛn/	/t͡sɨX/
Li Rong	/tʰen/	/t͡siəX/
Wang Li	/tʰien/	/t͡sĭəX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/tʰien/	/t͡siX/
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 ›	‹ tsiX ›
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

1. 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 (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

   • 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

edit

• 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 (tngri-yin köbegün) (calque)
• → English: Son of Heaven (calque)
• → Manchu: ᠠᠪᡴᠠᡳ
  ᠵᡠᡳ (abkai jui) (calque)
• → Tibetan: གནམ་གྱི་བུ (gnam gyi bu) (calque)

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) 

1. the Emperor of China, Son of Heaven
2. (poetic, dated) the Emperor of Japan

Korean

Hanja in this term
天	子

Noun

天子 • (cheonja) (hangeul 천자)

1. hanja form^? of 천자 (“the Emperor of China, Son of Heaven”)

Vietnamese

chữ Hán Nôm in this term
天	子

Noun

天子

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