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Although formally "The Son of Heaven," the power of the emperor
Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules in her own right ....
 varied between different emperors and different dynasties, with some emperors being absolute rulers and others being figureheads with actual power in the hands of court factions, eunuch
Eunuch

A eunuch is a castrated man, in particular one castrated early enough to have major hormonal consequences; the term usually refers to those castrated in order to perform a specific social function, as was common in many societies of the past....
s, the bureaucracy or noble families.

The title of emperor was usually transmitted from father to son.






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Di and Wang (King) and Huangdi (Emperor)

  • The King during the Xia and Shang dynasties called themselves di (Chinese: ? dì)


  • The King during the Zhou dynasty was called Wang (Chinese: ? or ??; wáng), was the title of the Chinese
    China

    China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
     head of state
    Head of State

    Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
     until the Qin dynasty
    Qin Dynasty

    The Qin Dynasty was preceded by the feudal Zhou Dynasty and followed by the Han Dynasty in China. The unification of China in 221 BCE under the Qin Shi Huang marked the beginning of Imperial China, a period which lasted until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912 CE....
    . The title "Wang" should not be confused with the common surname, which has no royal implications. A King can be subordinate to an Emperor.


  • The Emperor
    Emperor of China

    The Emperor of China refers to any monarch of Imperial China reigning since the founding of the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912....
     or Huangdi (??, pinyin
    Pinyin

    Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most commonly used Romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu is the Chinese Language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"....
    : huáng dì) was the title of the Chinese
    China

    China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
     head of state
    Head of State

    Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state....
     of China from the Qin dynasty in 221 BC until the fall of the Qing dynasty
    Qing Dynasty

    The Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, followed the Ming Dynasty in History of China, and was the last ruling Chinese Dynasties of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 ....
     in 1911. The first emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang
    Qin Shi Huang

    Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese Qin from 246 BCE to 221 BCE during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BCE....
    ) combined the two characters huang (? "august, magnificent") and di (? "God, Royal Ancestor") to form the title "Huangdi". Since the Han dynasty
    Han Dynasty

    The Han Dynasty followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. The Han Dynasty was ruled by the family known as the Liu clan who had peasant origins....
    , Huangdi began to be abbreviated to huang or di.


Although formally "The Son of Heaven," the power of the emperor
Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules in her own right ....
 varied between different emperors and different dynasties, with some emperors being absolute rulers and others being figureheads with actual power in the hands of court factions, eunuch
Eunuch

A eunuch is a castrated man, in particular one castrated early enough to have major hormonal consequences; the term usually refers to those castrated in order to perform a specific social function, as was common in many societies of the past....
s, the bureaucracy or noble families.

The title of emperor was usually transmitted from father to son. Most often, the first-born son of the empress inherited the office, failing which the post was taken up by the first-born son of a concubine or consort of lower rank, but this rule was not universal and disputed succession was the cause of a number of civil war
Civil war

A civil war is a war between organized groups to take control of a nation or region, or to change government policies. It is high-intensity conflict, often involving Regular Army, that is sustained, organized and large-scale....
s. Unlike in Japan
Emperor of Japan

The of Japan is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the Japanese people. He is the head of the Imperial House of Japan. Under Japan's present constitution, the Emperor is the "symbol of the state and the unity of the people," and is a ceremonial figurehead in a constitutional monarchy ....
, traditional Chinese political theory allowed for a change in dynasty, and an emperor could be replaced by a rebel leader. This was because a successful rebel leader was believed to enjoy the mandate of heaven, while the deposed or defeated emperor had lost favour with the gods, and his mandate was over, a fact made apparent to all by his defeat.

It was generally not possible for a female to succeed to the throne, so that in history of China there has only been one reigning empress, the Empress Wu, whose reign punctuated the Tang dynasty
Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an Dynasties in Chinese history preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire....
. However, there have been numerous cases in Chinese history where a woman was the actual power behind the imperial throne (see éminence grise).

Princehood and Peerage


Fengjian and Zongfa of the Zhou Dynasty


The social system of the Zhou Dynasty
Zhou Dynasty

The Zhou Dynasty was preceded by the Shang Dynasty and followed by the Qin Dynasty in China. The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in China history?though the actual political and military control of China by the dynasty only lasted during the Western Zhou....
 is sometimes referred to as the Chinese proto-feudalism
Feudalism

Feudalism, a term first used in the early modern period , in its most classic sense refers to a Middle Ages European political system composed of a set of reciprocal law and military obligations among the warrior nobility, revolving around the three key concepts of lords, vassals, and fiefs....
 and was the combination of Fengjian (Honours and Awards) and Zongfa (Clan Law). Male
Malé

Mal? , population 104,403 , is the Capital , the largest city in terms of population, and the name of an island in the Maldives. It is located at the southern edge of North Male' Atoll Kaafu Atoll....
 aristocracies were classified into, in descending order of rank:

  • the nobles
    Nobility

    Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary or for a lifetime. Titles of nobility exist today in many countries although it is usually associated with present or former monarchies....
     - Zhuhou (?? pinyin
    Pinyin

    Pinyin, more formally Hanyu pinyin, is the most commonly used Romanization system for Standard Mandarin. Hanyu is the Chinese Language, and pinyin means "phonetics", or more literally, "spelling sound" or "spelled sound"....
     zhu hóu),
  • the gentlemen ministers (of the royal court) - Qing (? qing),
  • the gentlemen bureaucrats- Daifu (?? dài fu)
  • the yeomen
    Yeoman

    Yeoman is a noun used to indicate a variety of positions or social classes and is also used as a complimentary adjective in reference to a diligent, dependable worker or the work of such a person....
     - Shi (? shì)
  • the commoner
    Commoner

    In British law, a commoner is someone who is neither the British monarchy nor a peerage. Therefore, any member of the British Royal Family who is not a peer, such as Prince William of Wales or Anne, Princess Royal, is a commoner, as is any member of a peer's family, including someone who holds only a courtesy title, such as the Earl of Arund...
    s - Shumin (?? shù mín).


Fengjian
Fengjian

Fengji?n is the political ideology of the Zhou Dynasty of ancient China. Fengjian is a "decentralized enfiefment system of government," comparable to European feudalism, though recent scholarship has suggested that fengjian lacks some of the fundamental aspects of feudalism....
 (Honours and Awards) divided the noble
Nobility

Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary or for a lifetime. Titles of nobility exist today in many countries although it is usually associated with present or former monarchies....
 class further into (originally) five ranks. The sizes of troops and domains a male noble would command would be determined by his rank of peerage
Peerage

The Peerage is a system of titles of nobility in the United Kingdom, part of the British honours system. The term is used both collectively to refer to the entire body of titles, and individually to refer to a specific title....
:

  • duke
    Duke

    A duke is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy or a dukedom. The title comes from the Latin language Dux Bellorum, which had the sense of "military commander" and was employed by both the Germanic peoples themselves and by the Ancient Rome authors covering them to r...
     or prince
    Prince

    Prince, from the Latin root princeps, is a general term for a monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in some members of Europe's highest nobility....
     (gong, ch. ?(?) gong),
  • marquis
    Marquis

    Marquis is a French title of nobility. The English equivalent is Marquess, while in German, it is Markgraf.It may also refer to:Persons:...
     or marquess
    Marquess

    A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European monarchies and some of their colonies. The term is also used to render equivalent oriental styles as in imperial China and Japan....
     (hou, ch. ?(?) hóu),
  • count
    Count

    A count is a nobleman in European countries; The word count comes from French language comte, itself from Latin comes?in its Accusative case comitem?meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor"....
     or earl
    Earl

    Earl was the Anglo-Saxons form and jarl the Scandinavian form of a title meaning "chieftain" and referring especially to chieftains set to rule a territory in a king's stead....
     (bo, ch. ?(?) bó),
  • viscount
    Viscount

    A 'viscount' is a member of the European nobility whose count title ranks usually, as in the British peerage, above a baron, below an earl or a count ....
     (zi
    Zi

    ZI or Zi can mean:* Zi , a Chinese surname used by kings in the Shang Dynasty* Zi , a Chinese unit of measuring the score in the Go * Zi , The planet on which the Zoids fictional universe is set...
    , ch. ?(?) zi),
  • baron
    Baron

    Baron is a specific title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and latin baro meaning " man, warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English language beorn meaning "nobleman."...
     (nan, ch. ?(?) nán).


While before the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. The Han Dynasty was ruled by the family known as the Liu clan who had peasant origins....
 a peer
Peerage

The Peerage is a system of titles of nobility in the United Kingdom, part of the British honours system. The term is used both collectively to refer to the entire body of titles, and individually to refer to a specific title....
 with a place name in his title actually governed that place, it had only been nominally true since. Any male member of the nobility or gentry
Gentry (China)

In imperial China, gentry were the class of landowners who were retired mandarin or their descendants. Their power and influence eclipsed that of the Chinese nobility during the Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty dynasties when the Imperial examination replaced the nine-rank system which favored nobles....
 could be called a gongzi (?? gong zi) (or wangzi (?? wáng zi) if he is a son of a king, i.e. prince
Prince

Prince, from the Latin root princeps, is a general term for a monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in some members of Europe's highest nobility....
).

Zongfa (??, Clan Law), which applied to all social classes, governed the primogeniture
Primogeniture

Primogeniture is the common law right of the firstborn son to inherit the entire Estate , to the exclusion of younger siblings. It is the tradition brought by the Normans to England in 1066....
 of rank and succession of other sibling
Sibling

A sibling is a brother or a sister; that is, any person who shares the same parents.In most societies throughout the world, siblings usually grow up together and spend a good deal of their childhood with each other....
s. The eldest son of the consort
Queen consort

A queen consort is the title given to the wife of a reigning Monarch. Queens consort usually share their husbands' Royal and noble ranks and hold the feminine equivalent of their husbands' monarchical titles....
 would inherit the title and retained the same rank within the system. Other sons from the consort, concubines and mistresses
Mistress (lover)

A mistress is a man's long-term female sexual partner and companion who is not marriage to him, especially used when the man is married to another woman....
 would be given titles one rank lower than their father.

As time went by, all terms had lost their original meanings nonetheless. Qing, Daifu and Shi became synonym
Synonym

Synonyms are different words with identical or very similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy....
s of court officials. Physician
Physician

A physician, medical practitioner, doctor of medicine, or medical doctor practices medicine, and is concerned with maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease and injury....
s were often called Daifu during the Late Imperial China
Late Imperial China

Late Imperial China refers to the period between the end of Mongol rule in 1368 and the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912 and includes the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty Dynasties....
. Referring to a male or self-reference of a male as Gongzi eventually became a way to raise one's mianzi (refer to Face (social concept)), and would indeed be considered flattery today.

Female Nobility

Titles of female
Female

Female is the sex of an organism, or a part of an organism, which produces mobile ovum . The ova are defined as the larger gametes in a heterogamous reproduction system, while the smaller, usually motile gamete, the spermatozoon, is produced by the male....
 members of the aristocracies varied in different dynasties and eras, each having unique classifications for the spouses of the emperor. Any female member excluding a spouse of an emperor can be called a princess
Princess

Princess, is the feminine form of prince . Most often, the term has been used for the consort of a prince, or her daughters.For many centuries, the title "princess" was not regularly used for a monarch's daughter, who might simply be called "Lady" or a non-English equivalent; Old English language had no female equivalent to "prince", "earl"...
 or gongzhu (?? gong zhu), and incorporated her associated place into her title if she had one.

History

Before the Qin dynasty
Qin Dynasty

The Qin Dynasty was preceded by the feudal Zhou Dynasty and followed by the Han Dynasty in China. The unification of China in 221 BCE under the Qin Shi Huang marked the beginning of Imperial China, a period which lasted until the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912 CE....
, Wang
Wang

Wang may refer to:Name:* Wang , one of two surnames with distinct Chinese characters.* Titles in Chinese nobility* A title in Korean nobility...
 (king) was the title for the ruler of whole China. Under him were the Zhuhou or nobles, who were the local warlords. They had the duty to support the Zhou
Zhou Dynasty

The Zhou Dynasty was preceded by the Shang Dynasty and followed by the Qin Dynasty in China. The Zhou dynasty lasted longer than any other dynasty in China history?though the actual political and military control of China by the dynasty only lasted during the Western Zhou....
 king during an emergency. In the Spring and Autumn Period
Spring and Autumn Period

The Spring and Autumn Period was a period in Chinese history, which roughly corresponds to the first half of the Eastern Zhou dynasty . Its name comes from the Spring and Autumn Annals, a chronicle of the state of Lu between 722 BC and 481 BC, which tradition associates with Confucius....
, the Zhou kings had lost most of their powers, and the most powerful Zhuhou became the de facto
De facto

De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning the fact" or in practice but not necessarily ordained by law. It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or technique that are found in the common experience as created or developed without or contrary to a regulation....
 ruler of China. Finally, in the Warring States Period
Warring States Period

The Warring States Period , also known as the Era of Warring States, covers the period from 476 BCE to the unification of China by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BCE....
, most Zhuhou declared themselves Wang or kings, and regarded themselves as equal to the Zhou king. After Zheng, king of the state of Qin
Qin

Qin can refer to:...
, later known as Qin Shi Huang
Qin Shi Huang

Qin Shi Huang , personal name Ying Zheng , was king of the Chinese Qin from 246 BCE to 221 BCE during the Warring States Period. He became the first emperor of a unified China in 221 BCE....
, defeated all other Wang and unified China, he took a new title Huangdi (emperor
Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules in her own right ....
). Qin Shi Huang eliminated noble titles, as he sponsered legalism
Legalism

Legalism may refer to:In legal theory:*Liberal legalism - A theory on the relationship between politics and lawIn philosophy:* Legalism , a concept in Western jurisprudence...
 and it believed in merit, not birth. He forced all nobles to the capital, seized their land, turned them into administrative districts with officials ruling them selected for merit. After the demise of Qin Er Shi
Qin Er Shi

Qin Er Shi , literally Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty, personal name Huhai, was Emperor of China of the Qin Dynasty in China from 210 BC until 207 BC....
, the last Qin ruler to used the title Huangdi (his successor Ziying
Ziying

Ziying was the last ruler of the Qin Dynasty of China, ruling as King of Qin from mid-October to the beginning of December 207 BC, and being known posthumously as Qin San Shi ....
 used the title King of Qin rather Emperor), Xiang Yu
Xiang Yu

Xiang Yu was one of the most prominent generals in China history. His name was Ji , Yu was his courtesy name. He was a descendant of Xiang Yan , a general of Chu nobility....
 styled himself Hegemon King of Western Chu (Xichu Bàwáng ????) rather than Emperor. Xiang Yu gave King Huai of Chu
Emperor Yi of Chu

Emperor Yi of Chu , also known as Prince Huai of Chu , personal name Mi Xin was a key figure in the rebellions that led to the downfall of Qin Dynasty....
 II the title of Emperor of Chu or The Righteous Emperor of Southern Chu and awarded the rest of his allies, including Liu Bang, titles and a place to administer. Xiang Yu gave Liu Bang the Principality of Han, and he would soon replace him as the ruler of China.

The founder of the Han Dynasty
Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. The Han Dynasty was ruled by the family known as the Liu clan who had peasant origins....
, Liu Bang, continued to use the title Huangdi. In order to appease his wartime allies, he gave each of them a piece of land as their own "kingdom" (Wangguo
Kingdoms of Han Dynasty

Chinese nobility#Wang and Huangdi or Kings of the Han Dynasty can be divided into two categories: Yixing Wang and Tongxing Wang . Yixing Wang literally means "Wangs with a different family name than the emperors" while Tongxing Wang means "Wangs with the same family name as the emperors"....
) along with a title of Wang. He eventually killed all of them and replaced them with members of his family. These kingdoms remained effectively independent until the Rebellion of the Seven States
Rebellion of the Seven States

The Rebellion of the Seven States or Revolt of the Seven Kingdoms took place in 154 BC against China Han Dynasty to protest the emperor's attempt to further centralize the government....
. Since then, Wang became merely the highest hereditary title, which roughly corresponded to the title of prince
Prince

Prince, from the Latin root princeps, is a general term for a monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in some members of Europe's highest nobility....
, and, as such, was commonly given to relatives of the emperor. The title Gong also reverted purely to a peerage
Peerage

The Peerage is a system of titles of nobility in the United Kingdom, part of the British honours system. The term is used both collectively to refer to the entire body of titles, and individually to refer to a specific title....
 title, ranking below Wang. Those who bore such titles were entirely under the auspices of the emperor, and had no ruling power of their own. The two characters combined to form the rank, Wanggong, grew to become synonym
Synonym

Synonyms are different words with identical or very similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy....
ous with all higher court officials.

During the Tang dynasty
Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an Dynasties in Chinese history preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire....
, nobles lost most of their power to the mandarins when imperial examination
Imperial examination

The Imperial examinations in Imperial China determined who among the population would be permitted to enter the state's bureaucracy. The Imperial Examination System in China lasted for 1300 years, from its founding during the Sui Dynasty in 605 to its abolition near the end of the Qing Dynasty in 1905....
 replaced the nine-rank system
Nine-rank system

The Nine rank system , or much less commonly Nine grade controller system, was a civil service nomination system during the Three Kingdoms and the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China....
.

Subsequent dynasties expanded the hereditary titles further. It should be noted, however, that not all titles of peerage are hereditary, and the right to continue the heredity passage of a very high title was seen as a very high honour; at the end of the Qing dynasty, there were five grades of prince
Prince

Prince, from the Latin root princeps, is a general term for a monarch, for a member of a monarch's or former monarch's family, and is a hereditary title in some members of Europe's highest nobility....
s, amongst a myriad of other titles. For details, see Qing Dynasty nobility
Qing Dynasty nobility

The Qing Dynasty in China developed a very complicated peerage system for ranking nobility. By convention all titles are to be inherited by the eldest son of its holder, but always one grade lower....
.

A few Chinese families enjoyed hereditary titles in the full sense, the chief among them being the Holy Duke of Yen
Duke Yansheng

Duke Yansheng was a title of nobility in China. It was originally created as a marquisate for the direct descendent of Confucius during the Western Han dynasty....
 (the descendant of Confucius
Confucius

This articles talks about a Chinese thinker and social philosopher. For a food company in China with its brand name "Master Kong", please refer to Tingyi Holding Corporation....
); others, such as the lineal descendants of Wen Tianxiang
Wen Tianxiang

Wen Tianxiang , Duke of Xinguo, was a scholar-general in the last years of the Song Dynasty. For his resistance to Kublai Khan's invasion of Song, and for his refusal to yield to the Yuan Dynasty despite being captured and tortured, he is a popular symbol of patriotism and righteousness in China....
, ennobled the Duke of Xingguo, not choosing to use their hereditary title. The Imperial Clansmen consisted of those who trace their descent direct from the founder of the Qing dynasty
Qing Dynasty

The Qing Dynasty , also known as the Manchu Dynasty, followed the Ming Dynasty in History of China, and was the last ruling Chinese Dynasties of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 ....
, and were distinguished by the privilege of wearing a yellow girdle; collateral relatives of the imperial house wore a red girdle. Twelve degrees of nobility (in a descending scale as one generation succeeds another) were conferred on the descendants of every emperor; in the thirteenth generation the descendants of emperors were merged in the general population, save that they retain the yellow girdle. The heads of eight houses, the Iron-capped (or helmeted) princes, maintained their titles in perpetuity by rule of primogeniture
Primogeniture

Primogeniture is the common law right of the firstborn son to inherit the entire Estate , to the exclusion of younger siblings. It is the tradition brought by the Normans to England in 1066....
 in virtue of having helped the Manchu conquest
Manchu conquest

The Seven Grievances was a manifesto announced by Nurhaci on April 13, 1618. It effectively declaring war against the Ming Dynasty, and starting the Manchu conquest of China....
 of China.

All titles of nobility were officially abolished when China became a republic
Republic of China

The Republic of China , also known as Nationalist China is a country in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition into a multi-party democratic state with Political status of Taiwan....
 in 1912. They were briefly revived under Yuan Shikai's empire
Empire of China (1915-1916)

The Empire of China was a short-lived attempt by statesman and general Yuan Shikai from late 1915 to early 1916 to reinstate Emperor of China. The attempt was ultimately a failure, but it set back the Republic of China cause by many years and fractured China into a hodgepodge of squabbling warlord factions....
 and after Zhang Xun
Zhang Xun (Republic of China)

Zhang Xun Qing-loyalist general who attempted to restore the abdicated emperor Puyi in 1917. He supported Yuan Shikai during his time as president....
's coup. The last emperor
Puyi

Puyi , of the Manchu Aisin-Gioro ruling family, was the last Emperor of China. He ruled in two periods between 1908 and 1924, firstly as the Xuantong Emperor between 1908 and 1912, and nominally as a non-ruling puppet emperor for twelve days in 1917....
 was allowed to keep his title but was treated as a foreign monarch until the 1924 coup. Manchukuo
Manchukuo

Manchukuo was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. The region was the Qing Dynasty's historical homeland, created by former Qing Dynasty officials with help from Imperial Japan in 1932....
 also had titles of nobility.

Other Historical Chinese Titles

Protector General (??; Duhu) – See e.g. Ban Chao
Ban Chao

Ban Chao , born in Xianyang, Shaanxi, was a Han Dynasty general and cavalry commander in charge of the administration of the "Western Regions" during the Eastern Han dynasty....
.

List of people given peerage by Yuan

Yuan Shikai resurrected the system, in his Empire of China (1915-1916)
Empire of China (1915-1916)

The Empire of China was a short-lived attempt by statesman and general Yuan Shikai from late 1915 to early 1916 to reinstate Emperor of China. The attempt was ultimately a failure, but it set back the Republic of China cause by many years and fractured China into a hodgepodge of squabbling warlord factions....


Prince of the First Rank Wuyi (???? Wuyì qin wáng)
  • Li Yuanhong
    Li Yuanhong

    Li Yuanhong was a China general and political figure during the Qing dynasty and the History of the Republic of China. He was twice president of the Republic of China....

Dukes of the First Rank (??? Yi deng gong)
  • Long Jiguang
  • Zhang Xun
    Zhang Xun (Republic of China)

    Zhang Xun Qing-loyalist general who attempted to restore the abdicated emperor Puyi in 1917. He supported Yuan Shikai during his time as president....
  • Feng Guozhang
    Feng Guozhang

    F?ng Gu?zhang, a native of Hejian, Hebei. He was a Beiyang Army general and politician in early History of the Republic of China. He founded the Zhili clique of warlords....
  • Jiang Guiti
  • Duan Zhigui
    Duan Zhigui

    Duan Zhigui was a China general. Born in Hefei, Anhui, Duan gained the post of Heilongjiang governor in the late Qing dynasty and between 1912-13 he was governor of Chahar , and the military governor of Hubei between 1914-15, as well as Military and Civil governor of Fengtian in 1915-16....
  • Ni Sichong
    Ni Sichong

    Ni Sichong was a China general. He was one of the handful of Beiyang Army generals who along with Zhang Xun supported Yuan Shikai's Empire of China during the National Protection War....
  • Liu Guanxiong
    Liu Guanxiong

    Liu Guanxiong was a Chinese Admiral who was Navy Minister of China, from 1912-1916 and 1917-1919. When he was young he entered the Navy College of Fuzhou and was sent abroad to Britain....

Marquesses of the First Rank (??? Yi deng hóu)
  • Tang Xiangming
  • Li Chun
  • Zhu Rui
  • Lu Rongting
    Lu Rongting

    Lu Rongting was born in Wuming, Guangxi province in China. Originating as a common bandit, Lu became a military commander in Guangxi in the Qing dynasty and suppressed the revolutionary uprising at Zhennan Pass on the Sino-Vietnam border in Pingxiang, Guangxi led by Sun Yat-sen and Huang Xing....
  • Zhao Ti
  • Chen Yi
    Chen Yi (Kuomintang)

    Chen Yi was the Chief Executive and Taiwan Garrison Command of Taiwan after it was surrendered by Japan to the Republic of China, which acted on behalf of the Allied Powers, in 1945....
  • Tang Jiyao
    Tang Jiyao

    Tang Jiyao was a China general and warlord of Yunnan during the Warlord Era of History of the Republic of China.Tang was born in Huize county in 1883 in nowadays Qujing, Yunnan province....
  • Yan Xishan
    Yan Xishan

    File:Yen Hsi-shan.JPGYen Hsi-shan, was a China warlord who served in the politics of the Republic of China....
  • Wang Zhanyuan

Counts of the First Rank (??? Yi deng bó)
  • Zhang Xiluan
  • Zhu Jiabao
  • Zhang Mingqi
  • Tian Wenlie
  • Jin Yunpeng
    Jin Yunpeng

    Jin Yunpeng was a Chinese General and politician of the Warlord Era of the Republic of China. He served as both Minister of War and then Premier of China several times....
  • Yang Zengxin
    Yang Zengxin

    Yang Zengxin , born in Mengzi County in Yunnan in 1859, was the ruler of Xinjiang after the Xinhai Revolution in 1911 until his assassination in 1928....
  • Lu Jianzhang
  • Meng Enyuan
  • Qu Yinguang
  • Qi Yaolin
  • Cao Kun
    Cao Kun

    Cao Kun was a military leader of the Zhili clique in the Beiyang Army....
  • Yang Shande


Viscounts of the First Rank (??? Yi deng zi)
  • Zhu Qinglan
  • Zhang Guangjian
  • Li Houji
  • Liu Xianshi

Barons of the First Rank (??? Yi deng nán)
  • Xu Shiying
  • Qi Yang
  • Ren Kecheng
  • Wang Yitang
  • He Zonglian
  • Zhang Huaizhi
  • Long Jinuang
  • Chen Bingkun
    Chen Bingkun

    Chen Bingkun, was born in 1868 in Liujiang, Guangxi, China. A general in the late Qing period, he was commander of the 1st Division of the Guangxi Provincial Army....
  • Lu Yongxiang
  • Lü Diaoyuan
  • Jin Yong
  • Cai Rukai
  • Duan Shuyun
  • Long Jianzhang
  • Shen Jinjian
  • Pan Juying

Baron of the Third Rank (??? San deng nán)
  • Feng Yuxiang
    Feng Yuxiang

    Feng Yuxiang was a warlord during history of the Republic of China.As the son of an officer in the Qing Dynasty Qing_Dynasty#Transition_and_modernization, Feng spent his youth immersed in the military life....


Styles for Foreign Monarchs

Traditional Chinese political theory held that "All lands under Heaven belong to the emperor, all people under Heaven belong, are subjects of the emperor." (????,????;????,????). Thus, a foreign monarch would also be referred to as Wang, implying that one was inferior in rank and thus subject to the Chinese Emperor.

In modern Chinese, a king is referred to as a Wang, while an emperor
Emperor

An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress is the female equivalent. As a title, "empress" may indicate the wife of an emperor or a woman who rules in her own right ....
 would be referred to as Huangdi. The king in those times were referred to as the mandate of heaven. Therefore Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria of the United Kingdom

Victoria was from 20 June 1837 the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and from 1 May 1876 the first Empress of India of the British Raj until her death....
 was styled Nü-Wang (Queen) of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
Great Britain

Great Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the List of islands by area, and the largest in Europe. With a population of 58.9 million people it is List of islands by population....
 and Ireland
Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
, and Nü-Huang (Empress) of India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
.