Talk:Enho

This has been bothering me for a while, but "emperor" is an incorrect term for the rulers of the kingdoms. An empire implies a state which is formed by the subjugation of disparate peoples and nations (e.g. the Roman Empire, the British colonial empire). This does not describe the Twelve Kingdoms because "The Will of Heaven" specifically enforces strict borders and forbids interfering in the political matters of another country -- to the point that unlawful invasion merits an instant smiting.

People universially think of kings as lawful and morally-appropriate rulers, not simply as people who got their station by force. Furthermore, the idea of ethnicity or race is alien to the people of the kingdoms, because you probably don't look anything like mom and dad. So there's no reason they would form a tribal identity based on that.

(Hanjyuu and Kaikyau/Sankyaku don't count, because they don't identify as being a seperate people or nation. At worst, they're second-class citizens.)

The reason "emperor" is used a lot seems to stem from certain fan translations of the anime, but that's a wholly inappropriate translation.


 * Regarding the usage of "Emperor", it occurs from certain nuances in translation. The term used in the original Japanese edition is "王", which is a neutral term that refers to the ruler.  It is generally translated as "king", but also "emperor", though more specific terms for "emperor" (when it needs to be established that he is higher than a "king" or if there are many kings and he exists as an overlord perhaps) exist.  The term can also be translated as an adjective for "royal".


 * While you've brought up valid points on the connotations that exist for empire and emperor, they don't necessarily apply to the context presented in the Twelve Kingdoms world. From the perspective of a close reading, the preception of the ruler of the land is not exactly as it applies as European or colonial attitudes toward an empire.  The term used in the series is "国", which actually means "country" or "nation" rather than "kingdom".


 * "King" would probably be the closest translation of the term "王". The decision to translate the term as "emperor" may be because of the decision to use "empress" instead of "queen" because "empress" has more connotations of a woman ruling in her own right rather than a "queen" (though not really, because an empress could easily be an "empress consort", but "empress" sounds more powerful than "queen", especially when contrasted with "King".


 * "王" is gender neutral and applies equally to male and female monarchs in the Twelve Kingdoms. Tokyopop's decision to translate the term as "king" no matter whether it is a woman (like Youko, Shushou, Kouko, or Joukaku) or a man (like Shoryu or Gyousou) reflects this.   In Japanese (and Chinese), the only term for "queen" is for "queen consort" (王后, meaning "behind the king" roughly or possibly "王妃" ("royal princess" very roughly).  A "queen regnant" would be "女王" which means "girl king" or "girl ruler", which would imply that the term 王 usually applies to men and that the character for "girl" is utilized for the sake of establishing that the person in power is not male.
 * Chatellerault 09:40, April 25, 2012 (UTC)