The Billionth Barrel Monument is a monument located in Seria , Brunei .
60-568: The monument was built in 1991. It was commemorated by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah on 18 July 1991. The monument commemorates the production of the billionth barrel of oil produced in the onshore oil field in Seria. The monument is located near the S-1, the first well discovered in Seria oil field . The well was discovered by Brunei Shell Petroleum in 1929. The monument is located 38 meters from S-1, which
120-531: A dynasty , and succession in most cases theoretically followed agnatic primogeniture . The emperor of China was an absolute monarch . During the Han dynasty , Confucianism gained sanction as the official political theory. The absolute authority of the emperor came with a variety of governing duties and moral obligations; failure to uphold these was thought to remove the dynasty's Mandate of Heaven and to justify its overthrow. In practice, emperors sometimes avoided
180-479: A building or structure in Brunei is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to natural gas, petroleum or the petroleum industry is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . List of sultans of Brunei The Sultan of Brunei is the monarchical head of state of Brunei and head of government in his capacity as prime minister of Brunei . Since independence from
240-830: A coup in 1917 but was overthrown again shortly after. Although permitted to remain in the palace, he absconded to the Japanese concession in Tianjin in 1924. In 1934 he was installed as emperor of Manchukuo , a Japanese puppet state. In 1945, he was captured by the Red Army as a prisoner of war, where he was held in the Siberian city of Chita . In 1950, he was extradited to China and imprisoned in Fushun War Criminals Management Centre . He would be formally pardoned and released in 1959, working in
300-637: A few places, eunuchs wielded vast power; one of the most powerful eunuchs in Chinese history was Wei Zhongxian during the Ming. Occasionally, other nobles seized power as regents. The actual area ruled by the emperor of China varied from dynasty to dynasty. In some cases, such as during the Southern Song dynasty , political power in East Asia was effectively split among several governments; nonetheless,
360-448: A male emperor). The given names of all the emperor's deceased male ancestors were forbidden from being written, and were avoided ( 避諱 ) by the use of synonyms, homophones, or leaving out the final stroke of the taboo character. This linguistic feature can sometimes be used to date historical texts, by noting which words in parallel texts are altered. The emperor was never to be addressed as you . Instead, one used Bixia ( 陛下 'bottom of
420-471: A reliable historian. The next important character in Brunei's history is Datuk Imam Ya'akub, who wrote between 1680 and 1690, under Sultan Aliuddin's rule. He put together a Silsilah that served as the foundation for the initial sections of two books that Amin Sweeney revised. Regretfully, these passages contradict each other, casting doubt on Ya'akub's actual identification of Sultan Ahmad and whether he
480-533: A repair shop and as a researcher of literature and history until his death in 1967. The current head of the House of Aisin-Gioro and hypothetical claimant to the throne is Jin Yuzhang . He has worked for various local councils on China, and has no interest in the restoration of monarchy. Traditional political theory holds that there can only be one legitimate Son of Heaven at any given time. However, identifying
540-456: Is His Majesty The Sultan and Yang di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam . The Sultan has had a private fleet of VIP aircraft since 1979 consisting of Boeing 747-8(V8-BKH) Boeing 767-200 (V8-MHB) and Boeing 787-8 (V8-OAS), as well as helicopters such as Sikorsky S70 and S76. The aircraft fleet are not part of the nation’s Air Force. Other than the 747-8, the other two aircraft sport Royal Brunei Airlines colours. The earliest historical record of
600-469: Is now located on the beach. The only marker that remains of S-1 is a corroded steel bar. On an elevated square, there are five pipes that form an arch structure that is crowned by a gilded coat of arms . The five pipes are reminiscent of the Five Pillars of Islam and the floor tiles are designed according to Islamic models. The monument was designed by a local architect. This article about
660-577: The 14th century . But Brown also cited P. Manuel Teixeira's analysis of Rui de Brito Patalim [ pt ] 's correspondence, which suggested that there were two different Bruneis: a pagan and a Muslim. Local academics opposed this idea, arguing that Brunei was established as a Muslim kingdom under Muhammad Shah from the beginning, so confirming the idea that it has always been a shining example of Islam in Southeast Asia. An inscription discovered in 1979 indicated that Abdul Majid Hassan ,
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#1732765023172720-535: The British in 1984, only one sultan has reigned, though the royal institution dates back to the 14th century. The Sultan of Brunei can be thought of as synonymous with the ruling House of Bolkiah , with generations being traced from the first sultan, Muhammad Shah , temporarily interrupted by the thirteenth sultan, Abdul Hakkul Mubin , who in turn was deposed by a member of the House of Bolkiah. The sultan's full title
780-820: The Jurchens of the Jin dynasty (1115–1234) , who later ruled the Qing dynasty as the Manchus , and the Mongols of the Yuan dynasty. The orthodox historical view sees these as dynasties as sinicized polities as they adopted Han culture, claimed the Mandate of Heaven , and performed the traditional imperial obligations such as annual sacrifices to Heaven for rain and prosperity. The revisionist New Qing History school, however, argues that
840-669: The Ming-era Huang-Ming Zuxun ( Ancestral Instructions ). During the Western Zhou dynasty ( c. 1046 BC – 771 BC), Chinese vassal rulers with power over their particular fiefdoms served a strong central monarch. Following a brutal succession crisis and relocation of the royal capital, the power of the Zhou kings ( 王 ; wàng ) waned, and during the Eastern Zhou period,
900-636: The Nine Ding or the Heirloom Seal of the Realm . As with the First Emperor, it remained very common to grant posthumous titles to the ancestors of the victors. The Yuan and Qing dynasties were founded by successful invaders of different ethnic groups. As part of their rule over China, they also went through the culturally appropriate rituals of formally declaring a new dynasty and taking on
960-504: The Sultans of Brunei is not clearly known due to the poor early documentation of Brunei history. In addition there has been an effort to Islamise the history, with the "official history" not matching up with verifiable foreign sources The Batu Tarsilah , the genealogical record of the kings of Brunei, was not started until 1807. Therefore, much of the interpretation of history relied on earlier Chinese sources and legends. It seems that
1020-717: The Yuan dynasty . The Qing view, reported to Europe by the Jesuits, was that there had been 150 emperors from the First Emperor to the Kangxi Emperor . Adding the eight uncontroversial emperors that followed the Kangxi Emperor would give a grand total of 158 emperors from the First Emperor to Puyi. By one count, from the Qin dynasty to the Qing dynasty , there were a total 557 individuals who at one point or another claimed
1080-400: The censorate . Paranoid emperors, like Emperor Wu of Han and the Ming's Hongwu Emperor , would cycle through high government officials rapidly, or simply leave top-ranking posts vacant, such that no one could threaten their power. During other reigns, certain officials in the civil bureaucracy wielded more power than the emperor himself. The emperor's position, unless deposed in a rebellion,
1140-456: The political fiction that there was but one ruler was maintained. The title of emperor was hereditary, traditionally passed on from father to son in each dynasty. There are also instances where the throne is assumed by a younger brother, should the deceased emperor have no male offspring. By convention in most dynasties, the eldest son born to the Empress consort ( 嫡长子 ; 嫡長子 ) succeeded to
1200-699: The "Mandate of Heaven". There has been only one lawful queen regnant in Chinese history, Wu Zetian , who briefly replaced the Tang dynasty with her own Wu Zhou dynasty . Many women, however, did become de facto leaders, usually as Empress Dowager . Prominent examples include Empress Dowager Lü of the Han, Empress Liu of the Song , and Empress Dowager Cixi of the Qing. As the emperor had, by law, an absolute position not to be challenged by anyone else, his subjects were to show
1260-465: The "legitimate" emperor during times of division is not always uncontroversial, and therefore the exact number of legitimate emperors depends on where one stands on a number of succession disputes. The two most notable such controversies are whether Cao Wei or Shu Han had legitimacy during the Three Kingdoms , and at what point the Song dynasty ceased to be the legitimate dynasty in favor of
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#17327650231721320-544: The Chinese title of Huangdi , in addition to the titles of their respective people, especially in the case of the Yuan dynasty. Thus, Kublai Khan was simultaneously khagan of the Mongols and emperor of China. In 1911, the title of Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet was created to rule alongside the emperor, as part of an attempt to turn China into a constitutional monarchy . Puyi , who had reigned as
1380-525: The Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang of the Tang, the Hongwu Emperor and Yongle Emperor of the Ming, and the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing. The emperor's words were considered sacred edicts ( 圣旨 ; 聖旨 ), and his written proclamations were called 'directives from above' ( 上谕 ; 上諭 ). In theory, the emperor's orders were to be obeyed immediately. He was elevated above all commoners, nobility and members of
1440-420: The Han, as well as the empress dowagers Cixi and Ci'an during the Qing, who for a time ruled jointly as co-regents. Where Empresses Dowager were too weak to assume power, or her family too strongly opposed, court officials often seized control. Court eunuchs had a significant role in the power structure, as emperors often relied on a few of them as confidants, which gave them access to many court documents. In
1500-599: The Imperial family. Addresses to the emperor were always to be formal and self-deprecatory, even by the closest of family members. In practice, however, the power of the emperor varied between different emperors and different dynasties . Generally, in the Chinese dynastic cycle , emperors founding a dynasty usually consolidated the empire through comparative autocracy —examples include Qin Shi Huang, emperors Gaozu and Guangwu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Kublai Khan of
1560-480: The Japanese monarchy, Chinese political theory allowed for a change in the ruling house. This was based on the concept of the " Mandate of Heaven ". The theory behind this was that the Chinese emperor acted as the "Son of Heaven" and held a mandate to rule over everyone else in the world; but only as long as he served the people well. If the quality of rule became questionable because of repeated natural disasters such as flood or famine, or for other reasons, then rebellion
1620-719: The Malay-speaking city of Cauin, he suggested that the Bruneians moved from the Mekong Delta in the late 17th century . The trader said that Sultan Yuso conquered the Bisayahs, found riches, and was then granted power by the Chinese Emperor . Even while his story is full with regional folklore , it also makes reference to actual monarchs like Sultan Soliman and Sultan Abdul Kahar, which helps establish him as
1680-592: The Xuantong Emperor, abdicated on 12 February 1912, ending the Qing dynasty as well as the imperial tradition altogether, after more than 2100 years. Yuan Shikai , former President of the Republic of China , attempted to restore dynastic rule with himself as the Hongxian Emperor, however he abdicated the throne on 22 March 1916 after only 83 days. Puyi was briefly restored for 12 days during
1740-437: The Yuan, and the Kangxi Emperor of the Qing. The usual method for widespread geographic power consolidation was to involve the whole family. From generation to generation, the bonds weakened between the branches of family established as local rulers in different areas. After a sufficient period of time, their loyalty could no longer be assured, and the taxes they collected sapped the imperial coffers. This led to situations like
1800-434: The centuries, it has not been uncommon to have numerous claimants to the title of "Son of Heaven". The Chinese political concept of the Mandate of Heaven essentially legitimized those claimants who emerged victorious. The proper list was considered those made by the official dynastic histories ; the compilation of a history of the preceding dynasty was considered one of the hallmarks of legitimacy, along with symbols such as
1860-563: The early Sultanate of Brunei was dependent on Chinese support, and perhaps early Sultans were of Chinese origin. Furthermore, the earliest Sultans may have been practicing the Hindu or Buddhist religions, with early names indicating this origin. In recent years, Brunei's historiography has been reexamined due to the disparity between the official regnal years of the sultans and the historical facts that are currently available. An unnamed Tagalog trader who resided in Brunei before to 1590 made
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1920-588: The emperor was referred to in the third person simply as Huangdi Bixia ( 皇帝陛下 'His Majesty the Emperor') or Dangjin Huangshang ( 当今皇上 ; 當今皇上 'present emperor above'). Under the Qing, the emperor was usually styled 'His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of the Great Qing Dynasty, Son of Heaven , Lord of Ten Thousand Years ', though this varied considerably. In historical texts, the present emperor
1980-538: The emperor, while still living, often designated a crown prince ( 太子 ). Even such a clear designation, however, was often thwarted by jealousy and distrust, whether it was the crown prince plotting against the emperor, or brothers plotting against each other. Some emperors, like the Yongzheng Emperor , after abolishing the position of Crown Prince, placed the succession papers in a sealed box, only to be opened and announced after his death. Unlike, for example,
2040-500: The emperors were known with a temple name given after their death. Most emperors were also given a posthumous name which was sometimes combined with the temple name (e.g. Emperor Shengzu Ren 圣祖仁皇帝 ; 聖祖仁皇帝 for the Kangxi Emperor). The passing of an emperor was referred to as Jiabeng ( 驾崩 ; 駕崩 'collapse of the imperial chariot') and an emperor that had just died was referred to as Daixing Huangdi ( 大行皇帝 'the emperor of
2100-615: The establishment of the Brunei History Centre in 1984. A new history curriculum that mandated extensive textbooks in 1987 heightened the drive for clarity in Brunei's history and raised serious concerns about the reign of Muhammad Shah, Bendahara Sakam 's accomplishments, and the circumstances surrounding Muhammad Aliuddin's death in 1690. In 1988, these important historical questions were still being debated. Chinese Emperor Throughout Chinese history , " Emperor " ( Chinese : 皇帝 ; pinyin : Huángdì )
2160-473: The first recorded attempt to document the country's history; John S. Carroll subsequently published his work. By claiming that the Bruneis were invaders who subjugated the indigenous Bisayahs , this merchant distinguished clearly between accepted customs and empirical evidence. Although traditional belief credited this migration to Sultan Yuso, who supposedly came in Brunei after orchestrating a major exodus from
2220-508: The great journey'). The imperial family was made up of the emperor and the empress ( 皇后 ) as the primary consort and Mother of the Nation ( 国母 ; 國母 ). In addition, the emperor would typically have several other consorts and concubines ( 嫔妃 ; 嬪妃 ), ranked by importance into a harem , in which the Empress was supreme. Every dynasty had its set of rules regarding the numerical composition of
2280-526: The greatest respect in the palace and was the decision maker in most family affairs. At times, especially when a young emperor was on the throne, she was the de facto ruler. The emperor's children, the princes ( 皇子 ) and princesses ( 公主 ), were often referred to by their order of birth—e.g. Eldest Prince or Third Princess. Princes were often given titles of peerage once they reached adulthood. The emperor's brothers and uncles served in court by law, and held equal status with other court officials ( 子 ). The emperor
2340-441: The harem. During the Qing dynasty, for example, imperial convention dictated that at any given time there should be one Empress , one Imperial Noble Consort , two Noble Consort , four Consort and six Concubine , plus an unlimited number of Noble Lady , First Class Attendant and Second Class Attendant . Although the emperor had the highest status by law, by tradition and precedent the empress dowager ( 皇太后 ) usually received
2400-511: The number of sultans mentioned in the Silsilah , it has been difficult to determine the exact date of Muhammad Shah. This disparity calls into doubt not only the notable lack of documents from 1690 to 1790, but also co-reigning sultans, competing monarchs, and lesser-known individuals, like the newborn Olivier van Noort cited. Sweeney's critical edition of the London manuscripts of the Silsilah
2460-456: The original Chinese first-person singular pronoun arrogated by Qin Shi Huang, functioning as an equivalent to the royal we . In front of subjects, the emperor may also refer to themselves self-deprecatingly as Guaren ( 寡人 'the morally-deficient one') or Gu ( 孤 'lonely one'). In contrast to the Western convention of using a regnal or personal name (e.g. George V) to refer to a sovereign,
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2520-521: The regional lords overshadowed the king and began to usurp that title for themselves. In 221 BC, after the King of Qin completed the conquest of the various kingdoms of the Warring States period , he adopted a new title to reflect his prestige as a ruler greater than the rulers before him. He called himself "Shi Huangdi", or the 'First Emperor'. Before this, Huang ( 皇 'august', 'sovereign' )
2580-479: The reign of Emperor Wu of Han , who disenfranchised and annihilated the nobilities of virtually all imperial relatives whose forebears had been enfeoffed by his own ancestor, Gaozu. Apart from a few very energetic monarchs, the emperor usually delegated the majority of decision making to the civil bureaucracy (chiefly the chancellery and the Central Secretariat ), the military, and in some periods
2640-411: The son of Muhammad Shah, passed away in A.H. 440/ A.D. 1048. This would have placed Brunei as the first Muslim kingdom in Southeast Asia and dated Muhammad Muhammad's rule to the early 17th century. However, experts eventually refuted this notion. The release of an erroneous family tree that featured the fake Abdul Majid dashed hopes for a more academic study of Brunei's history, which had been raised by
2700-462: The steps'), corresponding to "Your Imperial Majesty" and originally referring to his attendents, Huangshang ( 皇上 'imperial highness', Shengshang ( 圣上 ; 聖上 'holy highness') or Tianzi ( 天子 'Son of Heaven'). The emperor was also alluded to indirectly through reference to the imperial dragon symbology . Servants often addressed the emperor as Wansuiye ( 万岁爷 ; 萬歲爺 'lord of ten thousand years '). The emperor referred to himself as zhen ( 朕 ),
2760-462: The strict rules of succession and dynasties' purported "failures" were detailed in official histories written by their successful replacements or even later dynasties. The power of the emperor was also limited by the imperial bureaucracy , which was staffed by scholar-officials , and eunuchs during some dynasties. An emperor was also constrained by filial obligations to his ancestors' policies and dynastic traditions, such as those first detailed in
2820-466: The throne. In some cases when the empress did not bear any children, the emperor would have a child with another of his many wives (all children of the emperor were said also to be the children of the empress, regardless of birth mother). In some dynasties the succession of the empress' eldest son was disputed, and because many emperors had large numbers of progeny, there were wars of succession between rival sons. In an attempt to resolve after-death disputes,
2880-435: The title of Emperor, including several simultaneous claimants at various times. Some, such as Li Zicheng , Huang Chao , and Yuan Shu , declared themselves the emperors, Son of Heaven and founded their own empires as a rival government to challenge the legitimacy of and overthrow the existing emperor. Among the most famous emperors were Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty , emperors Gaozu , Han Wudi as well as Guangwu of
2940-446: The utmost respect in his presence, whether in direct conversation or otherwise. When approaching the imperial throne, one was expected to kowtow before the emperor. In a conversation with the emperor, it was considered a crime to compare oneself to the emperor in any way. It was taboo to refer to the emperor by his given name, even for the emperor's own mother, who instead was to use Huangdi ( 皇帝 ), or simply Er ( 儿 ; 兒 'son', for
3000-503: Was divinely appointed to rule. The appellation Huangdi carried similar shades of meaning. Alternate English translations of the word include "The August Ancestor", "The Holy Ruler", or "The Divine Lord". On that account, some modern scholars translate the title as " thearch ". On occasion, the father of the ascended emperor was still alive. Such an emperor was titled as the Taishang Huang ('grand imperial sire'). The practice
3060-517: Was almost universally referred to as Shang ( 上 ). Generally, emperors also ruled with an era name ( 年号 ; 年號 ). Since the adoption of era names by Emperor Wu of Han and up until the Ming dynasty , the sovereign conventionally changed the era name semi-regularly during his reign. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, emperors simply chose one era name for their entire reign, and people often referred to past emperors with that title. In earlier dynasties,
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#17327650231723120-518: Was always elevated above all others despite any chronological or generational superiority. Recent scholarship is wary of applying present-day ethnic categories to historical situations. Most Chinese emperors have been considered members of the Han ethnicity , but there were also many Chinese emperors who were of non-Han ethnic origins. The most successful of these were the Khitans of the Liao dynasty ,
3180-553: Was always hereditary, usually by agnatic primogeniture . As a result, many emperors ascended the throne while still children. During minority reigns , the Empress Dowager , the emperor's mother, would usually possess significant political power, along with the male members of her birth family . In fact, the vast majority of female rulers throughout Chinese Imperial history came to power by ruling as regents on behalf of their sons; prominent examples include Empress Lü Zhi of
3240-433: Was initiated by Qin Shi Huang, who gave the title as a posthumous name to his own father, as was already common for monarchs of any stratum of power. Liu Bang , who established the Han dynasty , was the first to become emperor while his father yet lived. It was said he granted the title during his father's life because he would not be done obeisance to by his own father, a commoner. Owing to political fragmentation, over
3300-474: Was justified. This important concept legitimized the dynastic cycle or the change of dynasties. This principle made it possible even for peasants to found new dynasties, as happened with the Han and Ming dynasties, and for the establishment of conquest dynasties such as the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty and Manchu-led Qing dynasty. It was moral integrity and benevolent leadership that determined the holder of
3360-608: Was most commonly seen as a reverential epithet for a deceased ancestor, and Di ( 帝 , OC : * tˤeks ) was an apical ancestor, originally referring to the deified ancestors of the Shang kings. In the 3rd century BC, the two titles had not previously been used together. The emperor of China, like the Zhou kings before him, and the Shang kings before them, was most commonly referred to as Tianzi ( 天子 'Son of Heaven'), who
3420-706: Was referring to the Chinese mandarin Ong Sum Ping or Sultan Muhammad's brother. This suggests that the text has been corrupted over time. Sir Hugh Low stands out among the European explorers of Southeast Asia due to his intense interest in history. Prior to Donald Brown 's publication of his work in 1970, his 1880 submission to the Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society
3480-494: Was supposed to further historical study in Brunei, but in the end, it didn't because the inconsistencies in the texts made researchers hesitant to conduct more in-depth research. A significant contribution was made in 1970 by Brown, who collected several historical views in his study Brunei: The Structure and History of a Bornean Malay Sultanate . He brought up Paul Pelliot 's association between Mahmud Shah and Ma-ha-mo-sha, implying that Muhammad Shah's rule may have begun as early as
3540-483: Was the first significant modern attempt to record Brunei's history. Despite having access to Pengiran Kasuma's Silsilah and other records, Low was unable to date Brunei's historical chronology since it lacked dates and allusions to outside events. Given the lengthy reigns of multiple sultans at that time, he surmised that the adoption of Islam and the founding of the dynasty most likely took place about 1403, but they may have happened earlier. Due to differing opinions on
3600-400: Was the superlative title held by the monarchs who ruled various imperial dynasties or Chinese empires . In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was the " Son of Heaven ", an autocrat with the divine mandate right to rule all under Heaven . Emperors were worshiped posthumously under an imperial cult . The lineage of emperors descended from a paternal family line constituted
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