Grand Preceptor,
also referred to as Grand Master,
[ Section Cp2:192 C] was the senior-most of the top three civil positions of the Chinese
Zhou dynasty
The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by ...
. The other two were Grand Tutor (太傅) and Grand Protector (太保), respectively. These three posts were the first posts to be known as the
Three Excellencies. The position titles and duties of the Three Excellencies changed in later dynasties. The title of Grand Preceptor continued to be used during the later parts of the
Han dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a wa ...
, notably by
Dong Zhuo
Dong Zhuo () (died 22 May 192), courtesy name Zhongying, was a Chinese military general, politician, and warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty. At the end of the reign of the Eastern Han, Dong Zhuo was a general and powerful minis ...
, then
Chancellor of State.
It was also used by the
Northern Yuan
The Northern Yuan () was a dynastic regime ruled by the Mongol Borjigin clan based in the Mongolian Plateau. It existed as a rump state after the collapse of the Yuan dynasty in 1368 and lasted until its conquest by the Jurchen-led Later J ...
as a title for powerful nobles who were not part of the
Chinggisid lineage.
The rank was imitated in the
Confucian
Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, a way of governing, or a ...
structure of the
Vietnamese court, where the same Chinese title in Vietnamese pronunciation was known as thái sư.
References
Taishi
Taishi may refer to:
Names
* Taishi (surname), Chinese family name
* Taishi (given name), Japanese given name
Ranks
* Grand Preceptor, ancient Chinese top civilian position: ''taishi'' () in Chinese
*Taishi, an alternate name of the Japanese Dai ...
Government of Imperial China
Zhou dynasty
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