Emperor of China
Absolute monarch and Son of Heaven ruling under the Mandate of Heaven.
The Chinese imperial title was created in 221 BC when the King of Qin adopted the new title "Shi Huangdi" after conquering the Warring States kingdoms.[1] The last emperor, Puyi, abdicated on 12 February 1912, ending over 2100 years of imperial rule.[2]
Quick Facts
- Realm
- China
- First monarch
- Qin Shi Huang
- Last monarch
- Puyi
- Began
- 221 BC
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
After the Zhou capital was relocated, regional lords overshadowed the king and began claiming the title for themselves.[1] Liu Bang was the first emperor to rule while his father was still alive, granting him the title Taishang Huang.[3] After generations, the bonds between family branches weakened and their loyalty could no longer be assured.[4] Paranoid emperors like Emperor Wu of Han would cycle through officials rapidly to prevent threats to their power.[5]
Addressing the emperor directly as "you" was forbidden; instead, subjects used terms like Bixia (陛下), Huangshang (皇上), or Tianzi (天子).[6] Involving the entire family was the standard approach for consolidating power across a wide geographic area.[4] As part of efforts to transition China from absolute to constitutional monarchy, the position of Prime Minister of the Imperial Cabinet was established in 1911.[7]
What the cited sources add
The China Project account states that Yuan Shikai was elected unanimously by a legislative body to become emperor, undoing the 1911 revolution.[8] Yuan was a genuinely popular figure at the time of his presidency, compared to George Washington for founding China's republic.[8] The Hongxian Era began on January 1, 1916, but ended after 83 days on March 23, 1916.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Emperor of China" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nadeau, Randall L. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Chinese Religions, pp. 54 ff. John Wiley & Sons (Chichester), 2012. Accessed 22 December 2013. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Emperor of China" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "The legacy of Yuan Shikai, China's disastrous first president", China Project, 9 December 2020 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Emperor of China" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ; Sima Qian (author) & Burton Watson (translator) (1971). Records of the Grand Historian of China "Volume I: The Early Years of the Han dynasty from 209 to 141 B. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Emperor of China" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nylan, "Mapping Time in the Shiji and Hanshu Tables", East Asian Science, Technology, and Medicine, 2016, p. 61–122 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Emperor of China" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hucker, "A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China", Stanford University Press, 1985, p. 4–102 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Emperor of China" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: As seen in the Hirohito surrender broadcast (1945): 朕󠄂深ク世界ノ大勢ト帝國ノ現狀トニ鑑ミ非常ノ措置ヲ以テ時局ヲ收拾セムト欲シ茲ニ忠良ナル爾臣民ニ吿ク (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Emperor of China" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Esherick, "Reconsidering 1911: Lessons of a sudden revolution", Journal of Modern Chinese History, 2012, p. 1–14 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "The legacy of Yuan Shikai, China's disastrous first president", China Project, 9 December 2020. facts only, no text reused. thechinaproject.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Emperor of China (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Emperors of China
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced