Emperor of China Emperor of China The Emperor or Huangdi () was the secular imperial title of the Chinese sovereign reigning between the founding of the Qin dynasty that unified China in 221 BC and the abdication of Puyi in 1912 AD following the Xinhai Revolution and the establishment of the Republic of China, although it was later restored twice in two failed revolutions in 1916 and 1917. The holy title of the Chinese emperor was the "Son of Heaven" (), a title much older than the "Emperor of China" which predates the Zhou dynasty and recognized as the ruler of ""All under
Emperor of China the Ming and Qing Dynasties, emperors simply chose one era name for their entire reign, and people often referred to past emperors with that title. In earlier dynasties, the emperors were known with a temple name (廟號/庙号) given after their death. Most emperors were also given a posthumous name (謚號/谥号, Shìhào), which was sometimes combined with the temple name (e.g. Emperor Shèngzǔrén 聖祖仁皇帝/圣祖仁皇帝 for the Kangxi Emperor). The passing of an emperor was referred to as "Jiàbēng" (駕崩/驾崩, lit. "collapse of the [imperial] chariot") and an emperor that had just died was referred to as "Dàxíng Huángdì" (大行皇帝), literally "the