List of emperors of China (Differently)

Emperor of China
中（ㄓㄨㄥ華（ㄏㄨㄚˊ國（ㄍㄨㄛˊ皇（ㄏㄨㄤˊ帝（ㄉㄧˋ 中（ㄓㄨㄥ华（ㄏㄨㄚˊ国（ㄍㄨㄛˊ皇（ㄏㄨㄤˊ帝（ㄉㄧˋ Zhōnghuá Guó Huángdì
Imperial
Incumbent
Longtai
Details
Style	His Majesty (陛（ㄅㄧˋ下（ㄒㄧㄚˋ, Bìxià)
First monarch	Qin Shi Huang (秦（ㄑㄧㄣˊ始（ㄕˇ皇（ㄏㄨㄤˊ)
Formation	Qin's wars of unification
Appointer	Hereditary
Pretender(s)	Yuzhang (Qing dynasty)

The Emperor of China (皇（ㄏㄨㄤˊ帝（ㄉㄧˋ, Huángdì), is the monarch of China. In traditional Chinese political theory, the emperor was considered the Son of Heaven and the autocrat of All under Heaven. Under the Han dynasty, Confucianism replaced Legalism as the official political theory and succession theoretically followed agnatic primogeniture. The succession of emperors in a family line was known as a dynasty.

The absolute authority of the emperor came with a variety of governing duties and moral obligations; failure to uphold these was thought to remove the dynasty Mandate of Heaven and to justify its overthrow. In practice, emperors sometimes avoided the strict rules of succession and dynasties' ostensible "failures" were detailed in official histories written by their successful replacements. The power of the emperor was also limited by the imperial bureaucracy, which was staffed by scholar-officials and in some dynasties eunuchs. An emperor was also constrained by filial obligations his ancestors' policies and dynastic traditions, such as those detailed in the Ming dynasty's Ancestral Instructions.

Origin and history

During the Zhou dynasty (c.  1046 BC – 256 BC), Chinese feudal rulers with power over their particular fiefdoms were called gong (公（ㄍㄨㄥ) but, as the power of the Shang and Zhou kings (王（ㄨㄤˊ, OC:*‍ɢʷaŋ, mod. wang) waned, the dukes began to usurp that title for themselves. In 221 BCE, after the then-king of Qin completed the conquest of the various kingdoms of the Warring States period, he adopted a new title to reflect his prestige as a ruler greater than the rulers before him. He called himself Shi Huangdi, the First Emperor. Before this, Huáng (皇（ㄏㄨㄤˊ) and Dì (帝（ㄉㄧˋ) were the nominal "titles" of eight rulers of Chinese mythology or prehistory: The three Huáng (皇（ㄏㄨㄤˊ, OC:*‍ɢʷˤaŋ, "august, sovereign") were godly rulers credited with feats like ordering the sky and forming the first humans out of clay; the five Dì (帝（ㄉㄧˋ, OC:*‍tˤeks, also often translated "emperor" but also meaning "the God of Heaven") were cultural heroes credited with the invention of agriculture, clothing, astrology, music, etc. In the 3rd century BCE, the two titles had not previously been used together. Because of the god-like powers of the Huang, the folk worship of the Di, and the latter's use in the name of the God of Heaven Shangdi, however, the First Emperor's title would have been understood as implying "The August Ancestor", "The Holy Ruler", or "The Divine Lord". On that account, some modern scholars translate the title as "thearch".

On occasion, the father of the ascended emperor was still alive. Such an emperor was titled the Tàishàng Huáng (太（ㄊㄞˋ上（ㄕㄤˋ皇（ㄏㄨㄤˊ), the "Grand Imperial Sire". The practice was initiated by the First Emperor, who gave the title as a posthumous name to his own father. Liu Bang, who established the Han dynasty, was the first to become emperor while his father yet lived. It was said he granted the title during his father's life because he would not be bowed to by his own father, a commoner.

Owing to political fragmentation, over the centuries, it has not been uncommon to have numerous claimants to the title of "Emperor of All China". The Chinese political concept of the Mandate of Heaven essentially legitimized those claimants who emerged victorious. The proper list was considered those made by the official dynastic histories; the compilation of a history of the preceding dynasty was considered one of the hallmarks of legitimacy, along with symbols such as the Nine Ding or the Heirloom Seal of the Realm. As with the First Emperor, it was very common also to retroactively grant posthumous titles to the ancestors of the victors; even in Chinese historiography, however, such grants were not considered to elevate emperors prior to the successful declaration of a new dynasty.

The Yuan and Qing dynasties were founded by successful invaders; as part of their rule over China, however, they also went through the rituals of formally declaring a new dynasty and taking on the Chinese title of Huangdi, in addition to the titles of their respective people. Thus, Kublai Khan was simultaneously Khagan of the Mongols and Emperor of China.

House of Yuan - Xian Dynasty

Portrait	Name		Lifespan		Reign		Achievements	Claim
	Personal Regnal	Posthumous	Date of Birth	Date of Death
	Yuan Shikai ( 袁世凱)	Hongxian(洪憲)	September 16, 1859	May 20, 1926	1912	1926	Oversaw the establishment of his dynasty, the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and the end of the era of humiliation.	Proclaimed himself Emperor
	Yuan Keding(袁克定)	Yuntai(云台)	May 20, 1878	October 28, 1958	1926	1958	Oversaw various ties between nations, rebuilt the economy and re established democracy. He is the longest ruling Emperor of his dynasty having ruled China for 68 years	Son of Hongxian
	Kung Tsui Chang (孔垂長) Kǒng Chuícháng (孔垂昌)	Longtai (龙泰)	October, 28, 1958	Still Alive	1958	present	Introduced Liberal reforms. Oversaw large modernization of China.	Great Grandson of Yuntai