Tianxia (tiānxià/tien-hsia; Chinese: 天下; literally: "under heaven") is a Chinese word and an ancient Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of mortals, and later became associated with political sovereignty. In ancient China, tianxia denoted the lands, space, and area divinely appointed to the Emperor by universal and well-defined principles of order. The center of this land was directly apportioned to the Imperial court, forming the center of a world view that centered on the Imperial court and went concentrically outward to major and minor officials and then the common citizens, tributary states, and finally ending with the fringe "barbarians".
The center of this world view was not exclusionary in nature, and outer groups, such as ethnic minorities and foreign people, who accepted the mandate of the Chinese Emperor were themselves received and included into the Chinese tianxia. In classical Chinese political thought, the "Son of Heaven" (Emperor of China) (Chinese: 天子; pinyin: tiānzǐ; Wade–Giles: t'ien1-tzu3), having received the Mandate of Heaven, would nominally be the ruler of 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 rulers of those areas derived their power from the Emperor.
Under Heaven is the eleventh novel by Canadian fantasy author Guy Gavriel Kay. It was published in April 2010 by Viking Canada. Set in a fantasied Tang China, it is Kay's first work set outside of a fantasied European or Mediterranean setting. The novel is based on a fictionalized version of the An Shi Rebellion.Under Heaven takes place in a completely new world, as seen by it having only one moon as opposed to the two moon normally present in Guy Gavriel Kay's works. In 2013 he published a second novel, River of Stars, set approximately 400 years later in the same world.
Shen Tai, the second son of a renowned general of Kitai, is given a lavish gift of 250 prized Sardian horses from the Kitan Empress of the neighbouring Taguran Empire to honour his work burying the dead of both sides at a battleground in the far west of Kitai still haunted by the ghosts of the slain soldiers. This extraordinary gift threatens to engulf Shen Tai in the political and dynastic struggles that surround the throne of the Kitan Emperor, but also permits Shen Tai to form friendships and gain access to the most powerful figures in Kitai. Narrowly escaping an assassination attempt with the assistance of the ghosts of the unburied, Shen Tai leaves the battleground on the western frontier to journey toward the capital, Xinan, protected by Wei Song, a female Kanlin warrior. Another line of narrative follows Shen Tai's sister Li-Mei who is sent north to be married off to a leader of the northern Bogü for the purposes of advancing the career interests of Shen Liu, their older brother. Shen Tai must determine a way forward for himself, which involves making choices between personal, family and imperial needs, choices which become all the more perilous when Kitai is convulsed by a military rebellion that threatens the ruling dynasty. The story weaves themes of loss, chance, honour and friendship in a world still haunted by magic.
Maybe I'll just dream of you tonight
Deep into a distant time where no one minds
And everyone says they'll understand me
But I can't take it anymore, I can't even close my eyes
Maybe I'll just dream of this tonight
Drive a stake into a love that no one finds
And everyone says they'll understand me
A sleeping cancer never cured, I can't even close my eyes
I can't breathe life back into this lifeless, compulsive, girl
And I sleep with it on
You never told me I could cry
Now cry away with me
We'll cry into the sky
Now up and up we go,
Now up and up we go,
Coz one cares
Sleep when I'm gone
Can't wait too long
It doesn't even know it's there
I've been to you ever-long
It doesn't even know it's there
I can't breathe life back into this lifeless mask
And I sleep with it on
You never told me I could cry
Now cry away with me
We'll cry into the sky
Now up and up we go,
Now up and up we go,
Coz one cares
In the sunlight