Why Only Emperors Could Say 'Zhen'? It Was Once Used by Everyone Before Qin Shi Huang

In period dramas, whenever an emperor speaks, it often begins with 'Zhen—I think this' or 'Zhen believes that.' If a minister dares to refer to themselves as 'Zhen,' it would be tantamount to usurping imperial authority. However, many people don't realize that 'Zhen' was not invented by emperors. It existed long before Qin Shi Huang unified China and was originally a first-person pronoun. While the widely circulated saying claims that 'everyone could call themselves Zhen before the Qin dynasty,' this requires further clarification: traditional dictionaries do state that 'Zhen' was used regardless of status, but actual materials such as oracle bone inscriptions and Warring States bamboo slips show that known users were mostly kings, tribal chiefs, or nobles. What is certain is that 'Zhen' was not exclusively reserved for emperors before Qin Shi Huang; only after Qin unified China did it formally become part of the emperor’s exclusive language.

What did 'Zhen' originally mean? The Ministry of Education's 'Revised Edition of the Comprehensive Dictionary of Mandarin' defines its first meaning as 'used to refer to oneself, i.e., I,' citing Qu Yuan's 'Li Sao': 'My late father was named Boyong' (朕皇考曰伯庸). The 'Dictionary of Variant Chinese Characters' also quotes 'Shuowen Jiezi – Boat Section' stating 'Zhen, I,' indicating it was originally a first-person pronoun in ancient Chinese, not inherently tied to 'emperor.'

The etymology of the character 'Zhen' predates its association with imperial titles. According to the 'Dictionary of Variant Chinese Characters,' Duan Yucai's commentary on 'Shuowen Jiezi' suggests 'Zhen' may have originally referred to the gap between boat planks and was later phonetically borrowed as a first-person pronoun. Thus, our immediate association of 'Zhen' with emperors today stems from over two thousand years of political systems shaping linguistic perception—not because the character originally signified royalty.

Was 'Zhen' truly used by everyone before Qin Shi Huang? Historical evidence presents two answers. Dong Han's Cai Yong explicitly stated in 'Du Duan' that in ancient times, 'Zhen' was a self-reference usable by all, regardless of rank, and only during the Qin dynasty did it become exclusive to the Son of Heaven. Later dictionaries like the 'Kangxi Dictionary' thus formed the traditional view that 'in ancient times, both noble and commoner called themselves Zhen,' which is the main source of today's belief that 'before Qin, anyone could say Zhen.'

However, examining actual unearthed materials reveals a more complex picture. Huang Tianshu's article 'A Comprehensive Review of First-Person Pronouns in Oracle Bone Inscriptions,' published in the 'Donghai Chinese Journal,' points out that first-person pronouns in oracle bones include 'Zhen,' 'Yu,' and 'Wo.' In royal divination texts, 'Zhen' refers to the Shang king, while in non-royal texts, it refers to tribal leaders called 'Zi.' The study summarizes this as a 'self-reference by the respected.' In other words, among preserved Shang dynasty materials, there is no evidence yet of ordinary people commonly referring to themselves as 'Zhen.'

Similar findings come from the Wuhan University Bamboo and Silk Manuscripts Research Center's study on personal pronouns in 'Tsinghua Bamboo Slips (I).' Among 17 instances of 'Zhen' in the Tsinghua slips, five refer to kings and twelve to high-ranking figures including 'Gong.' A survey of pre-Qin texts such as the 'Book of Songs,' 'Zuo Zhuan,' 'Analects,' 'Guoyu,' 'Chu Ci,' and 'Yi Zhou Shu' found 47 cases referring to kings and 13 to nobles, with no examples from commoners. Researchers therefore believe that 'Zhen' in pre-Qin times likely carried inherent social connotations.

Thus, a more precise statement is: before Qin Shi Huang, 'Zhen' had no legal or ritual restriction reserving it for emperors; traditional dictionaries claim it was used across ranks, but extant early materials mainly feature it among kings and nobles. 'Everyone could use it' should be understood as 'not forbidden to non-emperors,' rather than equating to 'ordinary people routinely called themselves Zhen.'

Why did Qin Shi Huang specifically choose 'Zhen'? It was actually part of a broader establishment of imperial language. In 26th year of King Zheng of Qin—after Qin conquered the six states and established a unified empire—the real transformation occurred. According to 'Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Qin Shi Huang,' King Qin felt the old title 'King' no longer reflected his achievements now that the realm was unified. He ordered Chancellor Wang Wan, Imperial Censor Feng Jie, and Chief Justice Li Si to discuss a new sovereign title. The ministers proposed a complete system, including the ruler’s honorific, decree names, and self-reference, clearly stipulating: 'The Son of Heaven refers to himself as Zhen.' King Qin modified 'Tai Huang' into 'Huangdi' by combining 'Huang' and 'Di,' adopting the rest of the proposal.

This is the key to understanding 'Zhen': Qin Shi Huang didn’t suddenly find 'Zhen' sounded majestic. After establishing the Qin Empire, the highest ruler’s title, decrees, official language, and self-reference were all standardized. 'Huangdi' became the supreme title, edicts were called 'Zhi' and 'Zhao,' and self-reference became 'Zhen.' Together, these terms distinguished the emperor from feudal lords and subjects.

Why did Qin Shi Huang select 'Zhen' among many first-person pronouns? 'Records of the Grand Historian' offers no explicit explanation. But combining oracle bone and Warring States manuscript studies, we can reasonably infer that although 'Zhen' wasn’t exclusively imperial before Qin, it had already been widely used by kings and high-ranking nobles and primarily served as a singular first-person pronoun—making it ideal for elevation to the supreme ruler’s exclusive self-reference. However, this remains inference based on linguistic data, not Qin Shi Huang’s stated intent in 'Records of the Grand Historian.'

'Shi Ji' contains a fascinating textual shift. Before the imperial system was formalized, after unifying the six states, King Zheng still used 'Guaren'—a common self-reference among Warring States rulers—when discussing his achievements. But once the new system of 'Huangdi,' 'Zhi,' 'Zhao,' and 'Zhen' was approved, Sima Qian immediately switched to 'Zhen' when recording the emperor’s speech. Within the same historical account, the change in self-reference precisely mirrors King Zheng’s political transformation.

From this moment on, 'Zhen' ceased to be merely an archaic way of saying 'I' and became a linguistic marker of the empire’s supreme ruler.

Although the Qin dynasty lasted only 15 years, why did 'Zhen' endure for over two thousand years? Despite Qin’s rapid fall, many imperial institutions established by Qin Shi Huang survived—including 'Zhen.' The Ministry of Education's 'Revised Comprehensive Dictionary of Mandarin' directly interprets it as 'the exclusive self-reference of emperors since Qin Shi Huang.' Cai Yong’s 'Du Duan' records that after Qin, the Son of Heaven alone used it, and 'Han followed without change,' confirming the Han dynasty inherited this imperial terminology.

Subsequent dynasties successively adopted it, and 'Zhen,' along with 'Huangdi,' 'Bi Xia,' and 'Zhao,' gradually formed a complete system of imperial political language in China. As a result, even when later generations forgot that 'Zhen' was once a common first-person pronoun, the mere utterance of 'Zhen' instantly evoked the image of the supreme ruler on the throne.

Looking back, what makes 'Zhen' truly fascinating is not that Qin Shi Huang 'invented' an imperial self-reference, but that he transformed a first-person pronoun existing for hundreds or even thousands of years into a political symbol legally usable only by the supreme ruler. The reassignment of a single character’s usage rights perfectly reflects the era’s transition toward centralized authority and the establishment of the emperor system after Qin’s unification.