Everything about All Under Heaven totally explained
All under heaven, or literally,
Under heaven is a phrase in the
Chinese language and a
cultural concept in
China.
The
Chinese character 天 means "sky". 下 means "under" or "down". 天下 together, literally means "under the sky". The word 天下, besides the literal meaning, is also taken by Chinese as referring to the whole world. In this context then, it can perhaps be best understood and translated as "Everything Under the Heavens". Only in modern times has the term 世界 (shì jiè) come into use to directly refer to the world.
In classical Chinese political thought, the
Emperor of China would nominally be the ruler
All under heaven, that is, the entire world. Although in practice there would be areas of the known world which were not under the control of the Emperor, in Chinese political theory the political rulers of those areas derived their power from the Emperor.
Usage
A common term meaning "the world", tiān xià has been used throughout history. It is ordinary to name various things, ranging from city gates, such as
Shanhai Guan, to snacks, as "The first under heaven" or "The best under heaven" (tiān xià dì yī, 天下第一).
Another usage for "tiān xià" is "tiān xià wéi gōng" (天下為公), which literally means "all is equal under heaven". In other words, the world exists not for a ruler or one person, but for all.
"Tiān xià wú nán shì" (天下無難事) is another phrase concerning "Tiān xià", meaning "[Thereis] no difficulty under heaven".
Variants
The Chinese term "All under heaven" has been borrowed into
Korean, where it's pronounced
Cheon Ha. In the
ssireum, Korea's traditional style of wrestling,
Cheon Ha refers to the championship of all weights (perhaps best interpreted as world champion).
It has also been borrowed into
Japanese, where it's pronounced
tenka. For example, moves to unite the whole of Japan by lords such as
Oda Nobunaga or
Tokugawa Ieyasu were characterized as 'seizing tenka' (
tenka o toru 天下 を 取る).
The term is also borrowed into
Vietnamese as
thiên hạ. Its usage is similar as in Chinese, where it means "the world" or "everybody".
Further Information
Get more info on 'All Under Heaven'.
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