Hiroshi66 said:In 1910, East Asia used to be home to three countries - China, Japan, and Korea. China was led by the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911, 1931-1945), Japan was led by the Yamato Dynasty (660 B.C. - present), and Korea was led by the Yi Dynasty (1392-1910).
Hiroshi66 said:I know for a fact that the Yi family has a modern day descendent, Yi Seok, who recently was allowed to return to South Korea. Do you think that he may be allowed to restore the Yi dynasty in the future as a constitutional monarchy and for symbolism?
Yes, there are.Also - does the Qing Dynasty have any modern day descendents? Do you think the similar situation I described above will occur here?
You're thinking about Prince Zaifeng's lineage. However, there were other princes who had children and some still carried their imperial surname. Anyway, the possibility of "return of the emperor" is very low.Hiroshi66 said:Can I make a wild guess as to who those descendents are? I know Pu Yi never fathered any children - but his brother Pu Chieh did have two daughters - one commited suicide in the 1950's but the other remaining daughter is still alive and has children. So, IF China was to restore the Qing monarchy, would she be eligable to be Empress, even if she has had a Japanese education, etc?
Officially, if the former emperor didn't have a heir, his brother would be enthroned. If his brother was dead, then his brother's son would be the emperor. If his brother didn't have a son, the emperor's cousin would inherit the throne. If all of his cousins were dead, then they'd pick one of their children....etc.Hiroshi66 said:Yes. Isn't that the official imperial lineage, Yellow Emperor?
True, but IF there was a restoration. Would that occur?
Japan has a continuos imperial lineage テ、テ敖青「ヒ?ェナ地. However, Chinese believed in "political power comes out of barrels of guns". Once an imperial dynasty proved to be incompetent, someone would rise up and establish a new one. Therefore, China had many dynasties suceeding one another. Qing dynasty had its turn, and I doubt people would restore Qing monarchy when Qing was just one of the many dynasties. The descendents of Qing monarchs are no more important than descendants of Qin, Han, Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming....etc. If Chinese were to establish a constitutional monarchy, it'd be a whole new dynasty.Hiroshi66 said:I see. So even as a symbolic monarchy, would they [Qing and Yi dynasties] never be reinstated as emperors?
We have Korean members here, you may ask them. From my perspective, the Yi monarchs wouldn't be restored. Korea, just like China, had many dynasties, and Yi had its time already.Hiroshi66 said:I see. What about Korea? It was different in Korea, since the Yi monarchs ruled much longer than the Qing (who ruled from 1644 to 1911 - the Yi ruled from 1392 to 1910) - so is it the same for Korea?
Yes, except we wouldn't know. Many descendants of a previous dynasty would change their surnames in order to escape from purging of the succeeding government. Besides, Ming carried the surname Zhu, Song carried the surname Zhao, and Tang carried the surname Li. Those are very common surnames in China, it's hard to identify. On contrary, Qing monarchs were left alone because when Emperor Pu Yi abdicated, he and his empress dowager Longyu, signed a contract with the government of Republic of China, which guaranteed to continue to let the Qing monarchs reside in the imperial palace and would receive regular salary. Also, because Qing monarchs were Manchu, they had an unique surname (which is Aixinjueluo), so they're easier to be identified.Then again, there are descendents from the Ming and Song families, or at least the Tang, right?
Glenn said:I thought in 1910 Japan was ruled by the Meiji "dynasty" (1868-1912). I'm assuming you're referring to the line of emperors having never been broken throughout Japanese history. Maybe I'm confusing the terminology here.