King was originally the title for the "Son of Heaven," namely, the country's

supreme ruler in the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. From the Spring and

Autumn Period onward, the power of the Zhou court gradually weakened

and the kingdom disintegrated. By the time of the Warring States Period,

any monarch could call himself a king. Up to the Qin and Han dynasties,

king became the highest title granted by the emperor to a male member of

the imperial family. In the political philosophical discourse of Confucianism,

especially in the works of Confucius and Mencius, a king represents heaven's

will and therefore ought to have supreme, unchallengeable power; at the same

time, he is imbued with a high moral attribute and political ideals. According to

Confucianism, to be a king is to unify or govern the country with benevolence

and righteousness, or to win over people by morally justified means. Likewise,

the pursuit of the kingly way means using benevolent and righteous means to

unify and govern the country.