Difference of 郡主 vs 公主

I wonder if there is any differences. I guess, 郡主 can be used with male and female while 公主 is for only female. I derived my guess from Google Translate, my chinese is 1 in the scale of 100.

psksvp

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Google Translate has its limitations. In the most simplistic sense, I believe the difference is based on the ethnic groups in which 公主 is primarily used by the Han people and 郡主 is used by many of the minority ethnic groups, and both terms apply to female descendants (princesses) of royalty only. Manchurians in the Ching Dynasty typically use the title of 格格. It’s my interpretation having watched a gazillion Chinese movies and series, and reading countless wuxi novels, but there’s a whole history on the evolution of these terms and how they were used and came to be.

郡主 has several uses depending on the era.

In the Zhou Dynasty, it refers to daughters of dukes and princes, who are relatives or siblings of the Emperor.

In the Tang Dynasty, it refers to the daughter of the crown prince.

In the Song Dynasty, it refers to the daughter of any imperial clansman.

公主 refers to the daughter of the Emperor.

Thank you very much. That makes sense. Do you know what happen to http://wuxiatranslations.wikispaces.com?

psksvp

Seems like the wikispaces platform closed down.

RIP :frowning: So thankful that WuxiaSociety is hanging on and staying strong!