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44-572: Qin Er Shi (230/222 – 207 BC), given name Ying Huhai , was the second emperor of the Chinese Qin dynasty , reigning from 210 to 207 BC. The son of Qin Shi Huang , he was put on the throne by Li Si and Zhao Gao , circumventing his brother Fusu , who had been the designated heir . Upon Huhai's ascension, both Fusu and the popular general Meng Tian were killed on

88-404: A doubled pair of characters or two characters with identical pronunciation. A famous exception to this generally feminine practice is Yo-Yo Ma . Apart from generational names, siblings' names are frequently related in other ways as well. For example, one son's name may include a character meaning "Sun" ( 阳 or 日 ) while his sister would have the character for "Moon" ( 月 ) or a character including

132-426: A fake edict by Qin Shi Huang ordering both Fusu and Meng to commit suicide. Their plan worked, and the younger son, Huhai, acceded the throne to become the second emperor, later known as Qin Er Shi. However, recent findings of bamboo strips dating from the time of the intrigue note that Huhai was elected and killed his brother. That would indicate that the fake edict, in the case of Fusu, was an imperial cover story. In

176-693: A non-Chinese name (typically English ) in addition to their Chinese names. For example, the Taiwanese politician Soong Chu-yu is also known as "James Soong". In the case of Christians, their Western names are often their baptismal names. In Hong Kong , it is common to list the names all together, beginning with the English given name, moving on to the Chinese surname, and then ending with the Chinese given name – for example, Alex Fong Chung-Sun . Among American-born and other overseas Chinese it

220-425: A space between each. This can cause non–Chinese-speakers to incorrectly take the names as divisible. In regions where fortune-telling is more popular, many parents may name their children on the advice of literomancers . The advice are often given based on the number of strokes of the names or the perceived elemental value of the characters in relation to the child's birth time and personal elemental value; rarely on

264-426: A title – for example, "Mister Zhang", "Mother Li" or "Chu's Wife". Personal names are used when referring to adult friends or to children and are typically spoken completely; if the given name is two characters long, it is almost never truncated. Another common way to reference someone in a friendly way is to call them "Old" ( 老 , Lǎo ) or "Little" ( 小 , xiǎo ) along with their surname. Many people have

308-554: Is a possibility that Hu Ji was a princess from the Greco-Bactrian Euthydemid dynasty offered to Ying Zheng as an alliance gift from neighboring Gansu in 230 BC. Qin Shi Huang died during one of his tours of eastern China in the summer of 210 BC at the palace in Shaqiu. The announcement of his death was withheld until the entourage, which was accompanied by Premier Li Si and the imperial court, returned to

352-399: Is common practice to be referred to primarily by one's non-Chinese name, with the Chinese one relegated to alternate or middle name status. Recent immigrants, however, often use their Chinese name as their legal name and adopt a non-Chinese name for casual use only. Proper use of pinyin romanization means treating a Chinese given name as a single word with no space between the letters of

396-478: Is named Li Xiaopeng . Since the Three Kingdoms era, some families have had generation names worked out long in advance, and all members (or all male members) of a generation have the same first character in their two-character given names. In other families there is a small number of generational names which are cycled through. Together, these generation names may be a poem about the hope or history of

440-424: Is no consensus as to his actual relationship to the house of Qin—was made "king of Qin state", a reduced title. Ziying soon killed Zhao Gao and surrendered to Liu Bang one year later. Qin Er Shi reigned only for three years and was forced to commit suicide eventually by Zhao Gao at the age of 22. Qin Er Shi was condemned by Zhao Gao after his death and was denied a royal burial. He was buried in modern Xi'an , near

484-617: The Cultural Revolution have "revolutionary names" such as Qiangguo ( 强国 , lit. "Strong Country" or "Strengthening the Country") or Dongfeng ( 东 风 , lit. "Eastern Wind"). In Taiwan , it was formerly common to incorporate one of the four characters of the name " Republic of China " ( 中華 民國 , Zhōnghuá Mínguó ) into masculine names. Patriotic names remain common but are becoming less popular – 960,000 Chinese are currently named Jianguo ( 建国 , lit. "Building

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528-616: The Shang dynasty . They held that Heaven had revoked its mandate from the Shang and given it to the Zhou in retribution for Shang corruption and misrule. Heaven bestowed the mandate on whoever was most fit to rule. The title held the monarch responsible for the prosperity and security of his people by the threat of taking away his mandate. "Son of Heaven" was often one of several titles adopted by Sinospheric monarchs. The Emperor Taizong of Tang held

572-504: The Country") but only a few thousand more are now being added each year. Within families, adults rarely refer to each other by personal names. Adult relatives and children referring to adults generally use a family title such as "Big Sister", "Second Sister", "Third Sister", and so on. It is considered rude for a child to refer to parents by their given name, and this taboo is extended to all adult relatives. When speaking of non-family social acquaintances, people are generally referred to by

616-475: The Second Emperor. Its Old Chinese pronunciation has been reconstructed as Ga-gə′ . Although his parentage was questioned by many historians including Sima Qian , they accepted Qin Er Shi as a member of the state of Qin 's House of Ying . Huhai is the eighteenth son of Qin Shi Huang . As the youngest son, he was doted on by his father. It is not clear who his mother was, although most likely she

660-713: The Son of Heaven (天帝之子) and tianxia . The rulers of Goryeo used the titles of Holy Emperor-King (신성제왕, 神聖帝王) and Son of Heaven and positioned Goryeo at the center of the Haedong (海東; "East of the Sea") tianxia , which encompassed the historical domain of the " Samhan ", another name for the Three Kingdoms of Korea . The title was also adopted in Vietnam, known in Vietnamese as Thiên tử ( Chữ Hán : 天子). A divine mandate gave

704-475: The Son of Heaven in the land where the sun sets." But the Japanese emperor's title was less contingent than that of his Chinese counterpart; there was no divine mandate that would punish Japan's emperor for failing to rule justly. The right to rule of the Japanese emperor, descended from the sun goddess Amaterasu , was absolute. Based on epitaphs dating to the 4th and 5th centuries, Goguryeo had concepts of

748-537: The Wild Goose Pagoda. Compared to his father, his tomb is much less elaborate and does not have a Terracotta Army . Qin Er Shi did not have a temple name . Chinese given name Chinese given names are almost always made up of one or - usually - two characters and are written after the surname. Therefore, Wei ( 伟 ) of the Zhang ( 张 ) family is called "Zhang Wei" and not "Wei Zhang". In contrast to

792-494: The athlete. An even stronger naming taboo was current during the time of the Chinese Empire , when other bearers of the emperor's name could be gravely punished for not having changed their name upon his ascension. Similarly, it is quite rare to see Chinese children bear the same name as their fathers – the closest examples typically include small differences, such as the former Premier Li Peng 's son, who

836-729: The bandits were being pursued and captured. Without any need to worry, the emperor was pleased. The bandits and brigands continued to grow in numbers. The chancellor Feng Quqi , Li Si and the general Feng Jie came forward to complain that the Qin military could not hold off the increasing number of revolts. They suggested for the construction of Epang Palace to be suspended lest the burden of tax should be too heavy. The emperor then questioned their loyalty. All three of them were handed over to law officials, who subjected them to examinations to see if they were guilty of other crimes. Feng Quqi and Feng Jie committed suicide to avoid enduring disgrace. Li Si

880-472: The capital, Xianyang , two months later. Nevertheless, Huhai and Zhao Gao were aware of Qin Shi Huang's death and began plotting an internal intrigue. The eldest son Fusu was supposed to be elected as the next emperor. However, Li Si and the chief eunuch Zhao Gao conspired to kill Fusu to get rid of Meng Tian , Fusu's favourite general and their court rival. They were afraid that if Fusu were enthroned, they would lose their power. Li Si and Zhao Gao forged

924-399: The emperor to commit suicide. Surrounded and with no means of escape, Qin Er Shi asked the loyal eunuch why he had not told the truth earlier. The eunuch replied that it was Qin Er Shi himself who had decided to execute anyone who would tell him the truth. In 207 BC, the Qin dynasty collapsed only fifteen years after it had been established. Allegedly, Ziying of Qin , a son of Fusu—there

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968-408: The eunuch Zhao Gao tested his power against the emperor's. He presented a deer to the Second Emperor but called it a horse. The emperor laughed and said, "Is the chancellor perhaps mistaken, calling a deer a horse?" He questioned those around him. Some remained silent, and some aligned with Zhao Gao and called it a horse. Zhao Gao executed every official who had called it a deer. This incident provides

1012-571: The family. This tradition has largely fallen into abeyance since the Communist victory in the Civil War ; the "Ze" (泽) in Mao Zedong was the fourteenth generation of such a cycle, but he chose to ignore his family's generational poem to name his own sons. A similar practice was observed regarding the stage names of Chinese opera performers: all the students entering a training academy in

1056-592: The first year of his reign in 210 BC, Huhai was made the second emperor of Qin at the age of 19. His regnal name Qin Er Shi means 'second generation of the Qin', and is a contraction of Qin Er Shi Huangdi ( 秦二世皇帝 ). The name followed the nomenclature established by the First Emperor, who envisioned an empire that would last for ten thousand generations and for his successors to bear the aspiration in their reign names. The practice ended abruptly with

1100-524: The gods and goddesses of heaven . The title "Son of Heaven" ( Chinese : 天子 ; pinyin : Tiānzǐ ; Middle Chinese : tʰen t͡sɨ ; Old Chinese ( B-S ): * l̥ˤin *tsəʔ ) is attested earliest in bronze inscriptions dated to the reign of King Kang of Zhou . This title stems from the concept of the Mandate of Heaven , created by the Zhou dynasty monarchs to justify their having deposed

1144-550: The high ministers rarely had the opportunity to see the emperor in court. Bandits and brigands grew in numbers from different directions to attack the Qin. Military leaders such as Chen Sheng delegitimized the rule of Qin Er Shi by claiming Fusu should have been made ruler. One of the immediate revolts was the Dazexiang Uprising in 209. The rebellion occurred in the territory that was formerly Chu state and claimed to be restoring Chu's greatness. Overall, Qin Er Shi

1188-555: The modern Chinese chengyu "point to a deer and call it a horse" ( 指鹿為馬 zhǐlù wéimǎ );. Although Qin managed to suppress most of the nationwide rebellions, they still caused serious damage. Qin's manpower and supplies were greatly reduced. Qin was decisively defeated at the Battle of Julu . Court plots led Zhang Han to surrender along with his soldiers, which later led to the live burial of 200,000 Qin troops. In total, Qin lost over 300,000 men. Even then, Qin Er Shi failed to grasp

1232-451: The moon radical . It is also common to split modern Chinese words – which now usually consist of two characters of similar meaning both to each other and the full word – among a pair of children, such as Jiankang ( 健康 , "healthy") appearing in the children's names as -jian ( 健 , "strong") and -kang ( 康 , "healthy"). Chinese personal names can also reflect periods of history. For example, many Chinese born during

1276-472: The orders of Li and Zhao, with Qin Er Shi's role in the assassinations remaining uncertain and controversial. A weak ruler, Qin Er Shi's reign was completely dominated by Zhao Gao, who eventually forced him to commit suicide. By the time of his death, the Qin Empire's power had lessened so much that his successor Ziying ruled as a king, not emperor. Huhai ( Chinese : 胡亥 ) was the personal name of

1320-551: The relative paucity of Chinese surnames , given names can theoretically include any of the Chinese language's 100,000 characters and contain almost any meaning. It is considered disrespectful in China to name a child after an older relative, and both bad practice and disadvantageous for the child's fortune to copy the names of celebrities or famous historical figures. A common name like " Liu Xiang " might be possessed by tens of thousands of people, but generally they were not named for

1364-658: The same year would adopt the same first character in their new "given name". For example, as part of the class entering the National Drama School in 1933, Li Yuru adopted a name with the central character "jade" ( 玉 ). There are also other conventions. It is frequently the case that children are given names based on gender stereotypes , with boys acquiring 'masculine' names implying strength or courage while girls receive 'feminine' names concerning beauty or flowers. Since doubled characters are considered diminutives in Chinese, many girls also receive names including

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1408-430: The severity of the defeat, erroneously thinking that Qin had many more spare troops due to courtiers hiding the truth to him in fear of execution. Finally, a daring and loyal eunuch told Qin Er Shi the truth. Shocked, Qin Er Shi tried to capture Zhao Gao and to hold him responsible. Zhao Gao, however, had expected that Qin Er Shi would ask him to take the blame. Therefore, Zhao Gao conspired with his loyal soldiers to force

1452-418: The sound of the name as there is no system of fortune-telling based on character pronunciations. In jurisdictions where it is possible, people may also choose to change their legal given name, or their children's names, in order to improve their fortune. As of 2007, the most common names in China were: Son of Heaven Son of Heaven , or Tianzi ( Chinese : 天子 ; pinyin : Tiānzǐ ),

1496-400: The third emperor, Ziying , when the Qin dynasty was overturned by Chu and Han. Qin Er Shi depended on the eunuch Zhao Gao so much so that he acted as a puppet emperor , with the eunuch as puppeteer. Zhao Gao was made the Qin prime minister during Qin Er Shi's reign, which was cruel and brought much suffering to the people. From his reign onwards, the Qin dynasty declined. After one of

1540-531: The title "Son of Heaven", alongside the title " Khan of Heaven " ( Tengeri Qaghan ) which he had gained after defeating the Eastern Turkic Khaganate . Japanese monarchs likewise used a second title, tennō ( 天皇 , "Heavenly Emperor") , that, like "Son of Heaven", appealed to the emperor's connection to Heaven. The title carried widespread influence across East Asia as the ancient Chinese monarchical title, tianzi ( 天子 ) , "Son of Heaven",

1584-402: The tours, Zhao Gao suggested for him to examine the governors and military commandants and to punish those guilty of some crime. That way, he could do away with those who disapproved of the emperor's actions. Six imperial princes were killed at Tu (杜). The emperor then further punished people for petty crimes. The emperor's brother Jianglu ( 將閭 ) and two other brothers were imprisoned. A messenger

1628-483: The two characters: for example, the common name 王秀英 is properly rendered either with its tone marks as Wáng Xiùyīng or without as Wang Xiuying, but should not be written as Wang Xiu Ying, Wang XiuYing, Wangxiuying, &c. The earlier Wade-Giles system accomplished the same effect by hyphenating the given name between the characters: for example, the same name would be written as Wang Hsiù -yīng . However, many Chinese do not follow these rules, romanizing their names with

1672-406: Was "The Hu (barbarian) princess" Hu Ji ( 胡姬 ). Although he is sometimes known as "Ying Huhai" according to the practice of modern Chinese names , the ancient custom was not to combine the names in this way: his personal name never appears in combination with Ying, Zhao, or Qin. From an early age, Huhai was apprenticed to the minister Zhao Gao to learn Legalism, by the decree of Qin Shi Huang. There

1716-558: Was also used in reference to the status of the Chinese emperor as the Son of Heaven in the Sinosphere. The Son of Heaven was the supreme universal monarch , who ruled tianxia (means "all under heaven"). His status is rendered in English as "ruler of the whole world." The title, "Son of Heaven", was interpreted literally only in China and Japan , whose monarchs were referred to as demigods , deities , or " living gods ", chosen by

1760-636: Was later adopted by the Emperor of Japan during the Asuka period . Japan sent diplomatic missions to China , then ruled by the Sui dynasty , and formed cultural and commercial ties with China. Japan's Yamato state modeled its government after the Chinese Confucian imperial bureaucracy. A Japanese mission of 607 CE delivered a message from "the Son of Heaven in the land where the sun rises  ... to

1804-437: Was not able to contend with nationwide rebellions. He was not as capable as his father, and many revolts against him quickly erupted. His reign was a time of extreme civil unrest, and everything the First Emperor had worked for crumbled away within a short period. Later, an envoy reported about the rebellion in court. The emperor was enraged, and the envoy was punished. Then, all other envoys reporting about uprisings would say that

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1848-530: Was put in prison, and then killed via The Five Pains punishment. Zhao Gao continued to push the emperor to find associates with loyalty and to punish those who showed disloyalty with more severe penalties. Meng Yi and other chief ministers were executed. Twelve of the princes were executed in a marketplace in Xianyang . Ten princesses in Du were executed and their bodies were torn apart. On 27 September 207 BC,

1892-551: Was the sacred monarchial and imperial title of the Chinese sovereign . It originated with the Zhou dynasty and was founded on the political and spiritual doctrine of the Mandate of Heaven . Since the Qin dynasty , the secular imperial title of the Son of Heaven was " Huangdi ". The title, "Son of Heaven", was subsequently adopted by other Sinospheric monarchs to justify their rule. The name Celestial Empire (or "Heavenly Dynasty")

1936-507: Was then sent to read them a death sentence. Jianglu looked to the heavens and cried out loud three times that he did not commit any crime. All three brothers cried and drew their own swords to commit suicide. Zhao Gao said that the second emperor was young and that as the Son of Heaven , his own voice must never be heard, and his face must never be shown. Accordingly, the emperor remained in the inner palaces and consulted only with Zhao Gao. Therefore,

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