History of the Republic of China elected Sun Yat-sen as the first Provisional President of the Republic of China. Yuan Shikai agreed to accept the Republic and forced the last emperor of China, Puyi, to abdicate on February 12. Empress Dowager Longyu signed the abdication papers. Puyi was allowed to continue living in the Forbidden City, however. The Republic of China officially succeeded the Qing Dynasty. Some advocated that a Han be installed as Emperor, either the descendant of Confucius, who was the Duke Yansheng, or the Ming dynasty Imperial family descendant, the Marquis of Extended Grace. On 1 January 1912, Sun officially declared the establishment
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