Presenting Emperor Hirohito! Emperor Hirohito was born on April, 29, 1901, in Tokyo Japan. He was the first son of Crown Prince Yoshihito (later Emperor Taisho) and Princesses Sadoko. Hirohito was given an imperial education at the Gakushuin School, and separated from his parents when he was very young, as it was custom. Latter he was conditioned to become emperor at a special institute for the crown prince. Then on November 2, 1916 he was formally given the title of crown prince at the age of fifteen. Soon after, during 1921 Hirohito became the first crown prince of japan to study and travel abroad.
Emperor Hirohito’s father had been a sickly man and so he ruled more in his grandfather, the great Emperor Meiji, shadow. Emperor Hirohito also shared the same fascination with his grandfather regarding the western part of the United States, particularly after a six-month tour of Europe in 1921. When he finally visited the U.S., he acquired a Mickey Mouse watch that was a gift from President Ford. He also got to meet John Wayne.
A few decades ...
The novel When the Emperor Was Divine was written by Julie Otsuka exploring the life struggles and tribulations of a Japanese American family. The family moved to the U.S. in the 1940s, and the mother is oblivious to the imminent crisis that is set to befall the nation, starting with the evacuation of the Japanese from California. When the family eventually leaves for a composite in Utah, they realize that the same struggles that they face are reminiscent of other Japanese in the camp who are struggling to maintain their identity. Otsuka uses symbols in her novel to advance her thoughts, and critically, add important dimensions and meanings to the deadly plot. Otsuka uses some ‘prominent’ symbols such as flowers, horses, and dust, but from
Emperor Hirohito was given the option of surrender, but chose not to respond to this recommendation by the United States
Empress Wu is also known as Wu Hou, Wu Chao, Wu Zetian, or Wu Tsê T’ien (“Emulator of Heaven';). She was born in the year of 625 AD. She was born and raised in China during the Tang dynasty. Empress Wu was the daughter of Wu Shih-Huo, a rich and noble merchant at the time. The Tang Dynasty was a time of relative freedom for woman. Since Empress Wu lived during that period of time, she was well educated at home. Like most other rich and noble people of her time, she was taught to play music, write, and read the Chinese classics.
In the Ancient Roman times which was a very chaotic time period, with many different power struggles that led to some of the best and worst people ruling the Roman Empire Over the ages different emperors made their way to the throne, whether they killed to get there or inherited it from their parents, they all left distinct marks although some left bigger marks than others. The three considered the worst emperors, are Nero, Caligula, and Commodus (Champlin, E, 2003). Out of the three worst Roman emperors, the worst was Caligula because of the hideous crimes he committed compared the Commodus and Nero
Charlemagne Charlemagne, also known as Charles the Great, became the undisputed ruler of Western Europe, “By the sword and the cross.” (Compton’s 346) As Western Europe was deteriorating Charlemagne was crowned the privilege of being joint king of the Franks in 768 A.D. People of Western Europe, excluding the church followers, had all but forgotten the great gifts of education and arts that they had possessed at one time. Charlemagne solidly defeated barbarians and kings in identical fashion during his reign. Using the re-establishment of education and order, Charlemagne was able to save many political rights and restore culture in Western Europe.
Although there may not be an extremely extensive amount of knowledge about the Empress Dowager Cixi, she is often considered one of the most powerful women in history. She ruled for almost fifty years, maintaining and expanding her own power. During her ‘behind the curtain’ reign, she made all decisions and always had the final say. Though she was very sharp and understood and executed politics well, she was (what some might consider today) corrupt. She was insistent on keeping her power in the Qing dynasty, to the point of (being suspected of) killing others. Though this seems despotic, recent reports say that she was just like any other ruler, and was blamed for events that would also have occurred under any other’s rule. Perhaps the saying she was in the wrong place at the wrong time could be applicable. Why does she get so much blame when many of the other emperors from other dynasties had similar faults (and even larger ones – their whole dynasties fell, Cixi helped perpetuate the Qing dynasty until her death – as tumultuous as it may have been)? One could argue that it was because she did not have the Mandate of Heaven since she was not traditionally supposed to have any power; or, because she was a woman.
According to Historian Arthur Schlesinger, Imperial Presidency is when a president uses more power than the Constitution allows, and is able to avoid the checks and balances of our constitutional system. There are three presidents who many feel were imperial presidents; Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, and George W. Bush.
Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus (b. 10 BC, d. 54 A.D.; emperor, 41-54 A.D.) was the third emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. His reign represents a turning point in the history of the Principate for a number of reasons, not the least for the manner of his accession and the implications it carried for the nature of the office. During his reign he promoted administrators who did not belong to the senatorial or equestrian classes, and was later vilified by authors who did. He followed Caesar in carrying Roman arms across the English Channel into Britain but, unlike his predecessor, he initiated the full-scale annexation of Britain as a province, which remains today the most closely studied corner of the Roman Empire. His relationships with his wives and children provide detailed insights into the perennial difficulties of the succession problem faced by all Roman Emperors. His final settlement in this regard was not lucky: he adopted his fourth wife's son, who was to reign catastrophically as Nero and bring the dynasty to an end. Claudius's reign, therefore, was a mixture of successes and failures that leads into the last phase of the Julio-Claudian line.
Released in 1987 by Columbia Pictures debut, The Last Emperor of China is a representation of Puyi’s life as the last Manchurian emperor. The audience experiences the life of Puyi through a series of flashbacks that shows Puyi internal struggle through his desire to restore the Manchurian Empire and his new life as a peasant worker of the People’s Republic of China. The film was directed by Bernardo Bertolucci and produced by Jeremy Thomas with the intention of reenacting the story of Henry Aisin-Giroro Pu Yi. Therefore people, who enjoy Hollywood’s attempts at recreating events of the China’s last emperor, will find this film fascinating as long as they do not attempt an analysis of the film’s historical accuracy.
Wilhelm Reich was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire on March 24th, 1897. His parents were farmers, and at a young age Reich developed a fascination with the life processes of plants and animals. His formal education at this time was provided by a private tutor.
From the high, windswept Gobi came one of history's most famous warriors. He was a Mongolian nomad known as Genghis Khan. With his fierce, hard-riding nomad horde, he conquered a huge empire that stretched through Asia from the Yellow Sea to the Black Sea.
The superintendent of the imperial household was in charge of the security of the imperial palace. Those who worked for the superintendent policed the halls and grounds of the palace to make sure that any criminals or trespassers would be caught before any mayhem was caused. In addition, these individuals searched all visitors for weapons. The superintendent also sent two regiments of cavalry to travel with the emperor to protect him on his journeys. The size of the superintendent's staff fluctuated over time; sometimes there were nearly a thousand men left to defend the imperial palace. A commander of the guards assisted the superintendent in administering the large body of guards stationed at the
‘The Emperor's New Clothes’ is a tale of an emperor who was exceptionally fond of new clothes. Two swindlers came one day and claimed that they were weavers and said that they could weave the finest cloth ever seen. They claimed that the colours and patterns were not only exceptionally beautiful, but the clothes made from this material possessed the wonderful quality of being invisible to anyone who was hopelessly stupid or incompetent. They were paid handsomely to weave this cloth and given a room to work, as the emperor wanted to wear his new robes in an upcoming parade. When they decided that they had finished ‘weaving’, the emperor sent in his ministers to judge the quality of the cloth. The ministers, not wanting to lose their respected positions, told the emperor that it was magnificent when they could not see it at all. The emperor, believing his ministers could actually see the robes, and not wanting to seem a fool, paraded in the streets wearing the new clothes, which were, of course, non-existent. The public admired the emperor’s clothes, for they too did not want to be labelled fools; only a child came out and said that the emperor was actually wearing nothing at all. Upon this outburst, the rest of the public realized that this was true, and the emperor finished the parade in shame for his stupidity of believing the two swindlers in the first place.
Living in the white world of America was difficult during the time of war; the Asians were tormented by the way they had to present themselves. In history, some people were afraid to stand up for what they thought was right. There were also some courageous people who stood against discrimination and forced it into the public's eye. For instance, Rosa Parks was a dark colored woman who stood against the bus rules by refusing to give up her seat to a white man. By doing this act of bravery she was arrested for not abiding by the “white” laws. On the other hand, some groups like the KKK were in agreement that racial profiling was okay because the “white” image was “supreme” back then. In her novel, When the Emperor was Divine, Otsuka uses racial
Imagine being in a close-knit society. A cultural way of living that is so ever-present in where you live, that it’s really the only way you’ve ever known to carry out your life. Imagine knowing everything that you need for your future, how to prosper, how to lead a successful life within your community. Then, all of a sudden, before you even can process what’s happening; everything changes. In both Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe and “When the Emperor Was Divine” by Julie Otsuka, they tell a story of a certain character and how their normal lives and culture are unwantedly changed. Okonkwo and the boy are slowly put under more and more stress due to the sudden changes in their lives, supporting that unwanted change is more negative than