In general, before 221 BC, all Chinese rulers were known as Kings or Wang (王). But after 221 BC, Chinese rulers came to be known as Emperor or Huangdi (皇帝). The Chinese emperor is greater than a king and has absolute supreme authority and power over the whole of the empire. This system lasted till 1911, when the last Qing dynasty ended.
All the Chinese rulers, from “5 emperors” period till Qing dynasty, are listed below. They are in the general format as shown:
[Ruler’s title], [Ruler’s Name], [Ruler’s reign], [Period of Rule], [Portraits if any]
Because Chinese history records only started from 841 BC, the years of reign for rulers before that cannot be accurately determined. Therefore, they are not shown.
For detail information on Chinese ruler’s title and their naming convention, please refer to http://chinaknowledg...ory/titles.html
If you can read chinese, you can also refer to
http://www.ccnt.com/...view/review.htm for more information on 'reign', 'ruler's name', 'period of rule' etc. For those delving into chinese history sources, you should know the ruler's reign, ruler's title and name, as they were used to record the timelines in history texts of the past.
Here are some translation for english-chinese bilingual references:
"Ruler's Title", "Temple Name"- Miaohao 庙号 or Chenhao 称号
"Ruler's Name" - Mingzi 名字 or Dingwang Xingming 帝王姓名
"Ruler's Reign" or "Era Name"- Nianhao 年号
"Period of Rule" - Jinian 纪年 or Zai Wei Nian 在位年
"Posthumous Name" - Shihao 谥号
For feudal lord ranks (esp. Spring/Autumn period):
Gong 公 - Duke
Hou 侯 - Marquis or Duke
Bo 伯 - Count
Zi 子 - Viscount
Nan 男 - Baron
Edited by General_Zhaoyun, 16 May 2005 - 11:11 AM.
