Blonde Son of Heaven

PhilippeO

Banned
AHC: at least one of emperor of China have blond hair.

1 ) Did any non-Han people who invade China (Xianbei, Shatuo, Tangut, Khitan, Jurchen) have any member with blonde or red hair ? Do we know what colour Genghis Khan hair is ? (there are some source that he is red-haired)

2 ) Did Chinese Emperor harem had any foreigner inside ? Chinese send princess outside, did they also accept princess ? Is any son of foreigner concubine had any chance to become emperor ?

3 ) how recessive is blonde hair genetically ? can it be received through female-line only ?

4 ) how chinese judge appearance of their prince/emperor ? Did any foreign-looking prince have any chance to become emperor ?
 
Perhaps Tochars could somehow invade China and found dynasty. They looked like very much Europeans so them had probably blond hair. But it is totally different thing can they keep power.
 
I suppose if the Mongols transported vast numbers of European slaves to the Empire of the Great Khan one of their descendants could end up founding an alternative to the Ming.
 
As early as the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao's son Cao Zhang was described by his father as a "yellow-haired son". Since Cao Cao himself was not decribed as such, we might assume Cao Zhang got his blonde hair from his mother.

Since the fall of Han, we have a very high percentage of Chinese/nomadic aristocrats to be described as yellow-haired son or blue-eyed son (「黃須兒」、「碧眼兒」), or taunted for their deep-sunken eyes. Not only the northern aristocracy, but some members of the southern Jìn aristocracy was described as blonde.

If the historian Chen Yinke was to be trusted, the entire Xianbei tribe was white in complexion and "yellow" in hair colour, making it possible for the entire Northern Wei lineage to be blonde, or at least the earlier half of it.
 
AHC: at least one of emperor of China have blond hair.

1 ) Did any non-Han people who invade China (Xianbei, Shatuo, Tangut, Khitan, Jurchen) have any member with blonde or red hair ? Do we know what colour Genghis Khan hair is ? (there are some source that he is red-haired)

2 ) Did Chinese Emperor harem had any foreigner inside ? Chinese send princess outside, did they also accept princess ? Is any son of foreigner concubine had any chance to become emperor ?

3 ) how recessive is blonde hair genetically ? can it be received through female-line only ?

4 ) how chinese judge appearance of their prince/emperor ? Did any foreign-looking prince have any chance to become emperor ?

Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms apparently had purple hair. I'm sure that during the Han Dynasty at least, various Chinese envoys would have come into contact with Greco-Bactrians, Tocharians or other such Indo-European peoples (which is how there are naturally occurring blondes in Mongolia or Western China today).

2) Depends on what you mean by 'foreigner'. Border states would definitely send marriageable women to imperial capitals as 'tribute', and these could range all the way across Central Asia, should the dynasty exert enough power (like during the Tang). Actually, after the Tang Chinese princesses weren't generally married out to 'barbarians', instead being given to close allies/important officials. The Manchus mainly married their princesses within ethnicity, though marriages with Mongol princes were not uncommon.

4) Actually, if the prince/emperor looked strange Chinese subjects would probably see it as a sign of his 'uniqueness' and, therefore, 'divinity' (important for being Son of Heaven). Liu Bei in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, for example, is described in weird terms: earlobes so long they touched his shoulders, extraordinarily gangly arms, and 'eyes that could see his ears'. His ancestor, Liu Bang, was said to have a face like a dragon's, and 72 spots on his leg.

That said, I distinctly remember reading (can't remember where) that during one of the earlier contacts with Westerners in the 16th/17th centuries, Chinese people were afraid of blondes both because of the color of both their skin and hair (or maybe because the Portuguese regularly engaged in piracy around Chinese waters). Certainly the 19th C colloquial Cantonese term for Westerners, gweilo ('ghost people'), doesn't seem like a particularly endearing term, at least not initially.

But if by some genetic weirdness a blonde Emperor did come to power legitimately, that would be alright - though there'd be more than the usual court gossip regarding whether his real father was a demon, whether he himself was a demon, etc. etc. And if he was an exceptional (good or bad) leader, his hair color would definitely have been noted for the histories.
 
Last edited:
That said, I distinctly remember reading (can't remember where) that during one of the earlier contacts with Westerners in the 16th/17th centuries, Chinese people were afraid of blondes both because of the color of both their skin and hair (or maybe because the Portuguese regularly engaged in piracy around Chinese waters). Certainly the 19th C colloquial Cantonese term for Westerners, gweilo ('ghost people'), doesn't seem like a particularly endearing term, at least not initially..

My impression was that Portuguese, or Southern Europeans in general wasn't seen as particularly bizarre or ghostly, but Northern Europeans, with their blue eyes, red/blonde hair was deemed as really outlandish.
 
AHC: at least one of emperor of China have blond hair.

1 ) Did any non-Han people who invade China (Xianbei, Shatuo, Tangut, Khitan, Jurchen) have any member with blonde or red hair ? Do we know what colour Genghis Khan hair is ? (there are some source that he is red-haired)

2 ) Did Chinese Emperor harem had any foreigner inside ? Chinese send princess outside, did they also accept princess ? Is any son of foreigner concubine had any chance to become emperor ?

3 ) how recessive is blonde hair genetically ? can it be received through female-line only ?

4 ) how chinese judge appearance of their prince/emperor ? Did any foreign-looking prince have any chance to become emperor ?
I think there hints that a blond Emperor happened at least once. In 324, the general Wang Dun referred to Emperor Ming of Jin as a "yellow-bearded Xianbei slave" because Emperor Ming had a yellow beard. His mother was Xianbei. I don't think it technically means Emperor Ming was blond, but I think it's a strong suggestion that he was.

I think that principles of primogeniture are so strong that even the most different looking prince could be accepted as Emperor. It might be different if it involves adoption. If an Emperor dies childless, I could imagine figures at court bypassing a strange-looking potential heir in favor somebody who looks more conventional. But a son leaves no choice. For example, the Ming Emperor Hongzhi (Xiaozong) did not look Chinese at all but rather took after his Yao mother. But he was the legitimate heir by Ming principles, so he inherited the throne.
 
There was indeed a Xianbei noble whose three daughters became the empress of the last emperor of Northern Zhou, empress of the first emperor of Sui and the mother of the second, and mother of the first emperor of Tang, respectively. So it's quite plausible to get one by intermarriage.
 
As early as the Three Kingdoms period, Cao Cao's son Cao Zhang was described by his father as a "yellow-haired son". Since Cao Cao himself was not decribed as such, we might assume Cao Zhang got his blonde hair from his mother.

Since the fall of Han, we have a very high percentage of Chinese/nomadic aristocrats to be described as yellow-haired son or blue-eyed son (「黃須兒」、「碧眼兒」), or taunted for their deep-sunken eyes. Not only the northern aristocracy, but some members of the southern Jìn aristocracy was described as blonde.

If the historian Chen Yinke was to be trusted, the entire Xianbei tribe was white in complexion and "yellow" in hair colour, making it possible for the entire Northern Wei lineage to be blonde, or at least the earlier half of it.

Doesn't "yellow hair" in this case mean brown instead of blond? Yellow in Chinese can mean the color of brown earth, while blond is referred to as golden, at least in contemporary usage. In any case it makes no sense for the Xianbei, ancestors of the Mongols to be all blonds.
 
If it helps, blondism runs through the Hmong people and they originate from China. Also the Yuezhi seemed to have blonde members as well.
 

PhilippeO

Banned
I think there hints that a blond Emperor happened at least once. In 324, the general Wang Dun referred to Emperor Ming of Jin as a "yellow-bearded Xianbei slave" because Emperor Ming had a yellow beard. His mother was Xianbei. I don't think it technically means Emperor Ming was blond, but I think it's a strong suggestion that he was.

Since the fall of Han, we have a very high percentage of Chinese/nomadic aristocrats to be described as yellow-haired son or blue-eyed son (「黃須兒」、「碧眼兒」), or taunted for their deep-sunken eyes. Not only the northern aristocracy, but some members of the southern Jìn aristocracy was described as blonde.

If the historian Chen Yinke was to be trusted, the entire Xianbei tribe was white in complexion and "yellow" in hair colour, making it possible for the entire Northern Wei lineage to be blonde, or at least the earlier half of it.

Wow, there are a lot of thing i never know, thanks for all the answer.
 
Top