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Consort kin
Chinese name
Chinese外戚
Vietnamese name
Vietnamesengoại thích
Korean name
Hangul외척
Japanese name
Hiraganaがいせき

The consort kin (Chinese: 外戚; pinyin: wàiqì) were the kin or a group of people related to an empress dowager or a consort of a monarch or a warlord in the Sinosphere. The leading figure of the clan was either a (usually male) sibling, cousin, or parent of the empress dowager or consort.

Consort kins can be seen as a manifestation of nepotism in Sinospheric imperial politics. While some were competent, only relying on their female relatives for their initial audiences with the emperor and then proving their worth at their positions (e.g. Wei Qing and Huo Qubing), many turned out to be corrupt and incompetent (e.g. Yang Guozhong). Corrupt and incompetent consort kins have been linked to the downward turn of fortunes for many dynasties.

Historical examples

China

Zhou dynasty

Han dynasty

Three Kingdoms

Jin dynasty (266–420)

Northern and Southern dynasties

Tang dynasty

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Song dynasty

Yuan dynasty

Qing dynasty

Ancient Japan

Asuka period

Heian period

Further readings: Sekkan system [ja], in which the Hokke (Fujiwara) clan occupied the posts of Sesshō and Kampaku as maternal relatives of the emperors

Ancient Korea

Ancient Vietnam

References

  1. ^ Chen Minzhen (陳民鎮); Pines, Yuri (2018). "Where is King Ping? The History and Historiography of the Zhou Dynasty's Eastward Relocation". Asia Major. Academica Sinica. 31 (1): 1–27. JSTOR 26571325. Retrieved 2022-06-15.
  2. ^ Hinsch, Bret (2006). "The Criticism of Powerful Women by Western Han Dynasty Portent Experts". Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient. Brill. 49 (1): 96–121. JSTOR 25165130.
  3. ^ a b c Bennett Peterson 2000, p. 61
  4. ^ Bielenstein, Hans (1986). "Wang Mang, the Restoration of the Han Dynasty, and Later Han". In Denis Twitchett; Michael Loewe (eds.). Volume I: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 B.C. – A.D. 220. The Cambridge History of China. Cambridge University Press. pp. 223–290. ISBN 978-0-521-24327-8.
  5. ^ Chen Shou (1977) [429]. "38: 許麋孫簡伊秦傳". In Pei Songzhi (ed.). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms 三國志注. Taipei: Dingwen Printing. pp. 969–970.
  6. ^ Bennett Peterson (2000), p. 181.
  7. ^ Twitchett, Denis (1979). "Hsüan-tsung (reign 712–56)". In Denis Twitchett (ed.). Volume 3, Sui and T'ang China, 589–906 AD, Part 1. The Cambridge History of China. Cambridge University Press. pp. 333–463. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521214469.008. ISBN 978-0521214469.
  8. ^ Murray, Lorraine; et al. (2009). "Jia Sidao". Encyclopædia Britannica. britannica.com. Retrieved 6 May 2023.

Further reading

  • Bennett Peterson, Barbara (2000). Notable Women of China: Shang Dynasty to the Early Twentieth Century. M.E. Sharpe, Inc. ISBN 0-7656-0504-X.
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