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 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. On one count, from the Qin dynasty to the Qing dynasty, there were 557 emperors including the rulers of minor states. Some, such as Li Zicheng, Huang Chao, and Yuan Shu, declared themselves the Emperors, Son of Heaven and founded their own empires as a rival government to challenge the legitimacy of and overthrow the existing Emperor. Among the