Heir Apparent to a Prince (*Shizi*)

A formally conferred rank

Under Qing imperial-clan institutions, shizi was a title conferred by the court on an eligible principal son of a prince of the first rank (qinwang). It differed from zhangzi, the title associated with the principal son of a prince of the second rank (junwang). Neither designation simply meant any son of a prince. The imperial throne's heir apparent, the crown prince (huang taizi), occupied a distinct position within dynastic succession.

Procedure and significance

The official institutional histories distinguish shizi and zhangzi as recognized titles apart from the grades held by imperial-clan princes themselves. The Imperial Clan Court registered descent, distinctions between principal and secondary offspring, births, marriages, stipends, and the order of succession. The Da Qing huidian also provided rules concerning the titles accorded to the wives and children of designated heirs. Recognition was thus a state-administered procedure, not merely a declaration made within a princely household.

Not every son of a qinwang had automatically received the rank shizi. Those without a particular grant might be eligible for other grades under the regulations for additional sons. Biographers should therefore use the title only where an original record confirms the conferment. The father's princely title, the heir's individual offices, and his later succession to the patrimony belong to separate stages of the narrative.