The

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

s of the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

were the supreme heads of government during the second imperial dynasty of China; the Han dynasty (202 BC – 220 AD) followed the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

(221–206 BC) and preceded the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Eastern Han dynasty and was followed by the West ...

(220–265 AD). The era is conventionally divided between the

Western Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a war ...

(202 BC – 9 AD) and

Eastern Han The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

(25–220 AD) periods. The Han dynasty was founded by the peasant rebel leader (Liu Bang), known posthumously as Emperor Gao (''r''. 202 –195 BC) or Gaodi. The longest reigning emperor of the dynasty was Emperor Wu (''r''. 141–87 BC), or Wudi, who reigned for 54 years. The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the

Xin dynasty The Xin dynasty (; ), also known as Xin Mang () in Chinese historiography, was a short-lived Chinese imperial dynasty which lasted from 9 to 23 AD, established by the Han dynasty consort kin Wang Mang, who usurped the throne of the Emperor Pin ...

of the former

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

Wang Mang Wang Mang () (c. 45 – 6 October 23 CE), courtesy name Jujun (), was the founder and the only emperor of the short-lived Chinese Xin dynasty. He was originally an official and consort kin of the Han dynasty and later seized the thron ...

, but he was killed during a rebellion on 6 October 23 AD. The Han dynasty was reestablished by Liu Xiu, known posthumously as Emperor Guangwu (r. 25–57 AD) or Guangwu Di, who claimed the throne on 5 August 25 AD. The last Han emperor,

Emperor Xian Emperor Xian of Han (2 April 181 – 21 April 234), personal name Liu Xie (劉協), courtesy name Bohe, was the 14th and last emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He reigned from 28 September 189 until 11 December 220. Liu Xie was a so ...

(''r''. 189–220 AD), was a

puppet monarch A puppet monarch is a majority figurehead who is installed or patronized by an imperial power to provide the appearance of local authority but to allow political and economic control to remain among the dominating nation. A figurehead monarc ...

of Chancellor Cao Cao (155–220 AD), who dominated the court and was made King of Wei. On 11 December 220, Cao's son Pi usurped the throne as

Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi () ( – 29 June 226), courtesy name Zihuan, was the first emperor of the state of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms period of China. He was the second son of Cao Cao, a warlord who lived in the late Eastern Han dynasty, but the eldest so ...

(''r''. 220–226 AD) and ended the Han dynasty. The emperor was the supreme head of government. He appointed all of the highest-ranking officials in central, provincial,

commandery In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...

, and

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

administrations. He also functioned as a lawgiver, the highest court judge, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and high priest of the state-sponsored religious cults.

Naming conventions

Emperor

Gilded Bronze Handle of a Dragon, Eastern Han

In ancient China, the rulers of the Shang (c. 1600 – c. 1050 BC) and Zhou (c. 1050 – 256 BC) dynasties were referred to as kings (王 ''wang''). By the time of the Zhou dynasty, they were also referred to as Sons of Heaven (天子 ''Tianzi''). By 221 BC, the King of Qin,

Ying Zheng Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first Emperor of China, emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "Chinese king, king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang dynasty, Shang an ...

, conquered and united all the

Warring States The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

of ancient China. To elevate himself above the Shang and Zhou kings of old, he accepted the new title of emperor (皇帝 ''huangdi'') and is known to posterity as the

First Emperor of Qin Qin Shi Huang (, ; 259–210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China. Rather than maintain the title of "king" ( ''wáng'') borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled as the First Emperor ( ...

(''Qin Shi Huang''). The new title of emperor was created by combining the titles for the

Three Sovereigns The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were two groups of mythological rulers in ancient north China. The Three Sovereigns supposedly lived long before The Five Emperors, who have been assigned dates in a period from 3162 BC to 2070 BC. Today ...

(''Sanhuang'') and Five Emperors (''Wudi'') from

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

. This title was used by each successive ruler of China until the fall of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

in 1911.

Posthumous, temple, and era names

From the Shang to Sui (581–618 AD) dynasties, Chinese rulers (both kings and emperors) were referred to by their

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishments ...

s in records and historical texts.

Temple name Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dyna ...

s, first used during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han (''r''. 157–141 BC), were used exclusively in later records and historical texts when referring to emperors who reigned during the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

(618–907 AD),

Song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetit ...

(960–1279 AD), and Yuan (1271–1368 AD) dynasties. During the

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

(1368–1644 AD) and Qing (1644–1911 AD) dynasties, a single

era name A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...

was used for each emperor's reign and became the preferred way to refer to Ming and Qing emperors in historical texts. Use of the era name was formally adopted during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (''r''. 141–87 BC), yet its origins can be traced back further. The oldest method of recording years—which had existed since the Shang—set the first year of a ruler's reign as year one. When an emperor died, the first year of a new reign period would begin. This system was changed by the 4th century BC when the first year of a new reign period did not begin until the first day of the lunar

New Year New Year is the time or day currently at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system to ...

following a ruler's death. When Duke Huiwen of Qin assumed the title of king in 324 BC, he changed the year count of his reign back to the first year. For his newly adopted calendar established in 163 BC,

Emperor Wen of Han Emperor Wen of Han (; 203/202 – 6 July 157 BCE), born Liu Heng (), was the fifth emperor of the Western Han dynasty in China from 180 to his death in 157 BCE. The son of Emperor Gao and Consort Bo, his reign provided a much needed stability ...

(''r''. 180–157 BC) also set the year count of his reign back to the beginning. Since six was considered a lucky number, Han Emperors Jing and Wu changed the year count of their reigns back to the beginning every six years. Since every six-year period was successively marked as ''yuannian'' (元年), ''eryuan'' (二元), ''sanyuan'' (三元), and so forth, this system was considered too cumbersome by the time it reached the fifth cycle ''wuyuan sannian'' (五元三年) in 114 BC. In that year a government official suggested that the Han court retrospectively rename every "beginning" with new characters, a reform Emperor Wu accepted in 110 BC. Since Emperor Wu had just performed the religious ''feng'' (封) sacrifice at

Mount Taishan Mount Tai () is a mountain of historical and cultural significance located north of the city of Tai'an. It is the highest point in Shandong province, China. The tallest peak is the '' Jade Emperor Peak'' (), which is commonly reported as being ...

, he named the new era ''yuanfeng'' (元封). This event is regarded as the formal establishment of era names in Chinese history. Emperor Wu changed the era name once more when he established the 'Great Beginning' (太初 ''Taichu'') calendar in 104 BC. From this point until the end of Western Han, the court established a new era name every four years of an emperor's reign. By Eastern Han there was no set interval for establishing new era names, which were often introduced for political reasons and celebrating auspicious events.

Regents and empress dowagers

At times, especially when an infant emperor was placed on the throne, a

, often the empress dowager or one of her male relatives, would assume the duties of the emperor until he reached his majority. Sometimes the empress dowager's faction—the

consort clan The consort kin ({{zh, c=外戚, p=wàiqì) was the kin or a group of people related to an empress dowager or a consort of a monarch or a warlord in the Sinosphere. The leading figure of the clan was either a (usually male) sibling, cousin, or ...

—was overthrown in a

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

. For example,

Empress Lü Zhi An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother ( e ...

(d. 180 BC) was the ''de facto'' ruler of the court during the reigns of the child emperors Qianshao (''r''. 188–184 BC) and Houshao (''r''. 184–180 BC). Her faction was overthrown during the

Lü Clan Disturbance The Lü Clan Disturbance (, 180 BCE) refers to a political upheaval after the death of Empress Lü Zhi of the Han dynasty. In the aftermath, her clan, the Lü, were deposed from their seats of power and massacred, Emperor Houshao was deposed and ...

of 180 BC and Liu Heng was named emperor (posthumously known as Emperor Wen). Before Emperor Wu died in 87 BC, he had invested

Huo Guang Huo Guang (; died 68 BC), courtesy name Zimeng (子孟), was a Chinese military general and politician who served as the dominant state official of the Western Han dynasty from 87 BCE until his death in 68 BCE. The younger half-brother of the re ...

(d. 68 BC),

Jin Midi Jin Midi (134–86 BC) (, courtesy name Wengshu (翁叔), formally Marquess Jing of Du (秺敬侯), was a foreign prince and a warrior of the Western Han Dynasty. He was a Five Barbarians, Hu (胡) "barbarian" from a kingdom in central Ga ...

(d. 86 BC), and Shangguan Jie (上官桀)(d. 80 BC) with the power to govern as regents over his successor

Emperor Zhao of Han Emperor Zhao of Han (Liu Fuling 劉弗陵; 94 BC – 5 June 74 BC) was the emperor of the Western Han dynasty from 87 to 74 BC. Emperor Zhao was the youngest son of Emperor Wu of Han. By the time he was born, Emperor Wu was already 62. Prince Fu ...

(''r''. 87–74 BC). Huo Guang and Shangguan Jie were both grandfathers to

Empress Shangguan Grand Empress Dowager Shangguan (上官太皇太后) (personal name unknown) (89 BC(?) – 37 BC), also known as Empress Shangguan (上官皇后), Empress Xiaozhao (孝昭皇后) and Empress Dowager Shangguan (上官太后), was an Empress, Empres ...

(d. 37 BC), wife of Emperor Zhao, while the ethnically-

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

Jin Midi was a former slave who had worked in an imperial stable. After Jin died and Shangguan was executed for treason, Huo Guang was the sole ruling regent. Following his death, the Huo-family faction was overthrown by

Emperor Xuan of Han Emperor Xuan of Han (Liu Xun 劉詢, né Liu Bingyi 劉病已; born 91 BC – 10 January 48 BC) was the tenth emperor of the Chinese Han dynasty, reigning from 74 to 48 BC, and was one of the only four Western Han emperors to receive a temple na ...

(r. 74–49 BC), in revenge for Huo Guang poisoning his wife Empress Xu Pingjun (d. 71 BC) so that he could marry Huo's daughter

Empress Huo Chengjun Huo Chengjun () (died 54 BC) was an empress of the Chinese Western Han dynasty. She was the second wife of Emperor Xuan. Her father was the statesman Huo Guang, who served as regent for Emperor Zhao and who remained exceedingly powerful during E ...

(d. 54 BC). Since regents and empress dowagers were not officially counted as emperors of the Han dynasty, they are excluded from the list of emperors below.

List of emperors

Below is a complete list of

emperors An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

of the Han dynasty, including their

personal Personal may refer to: Aspects of persons' respective individualities * Privacy * Personality * Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship Companies * Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...

posthumous Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' ...

, and era names. Excluded from the list are ''de facto'' rulers such as

s and empress dowagers.

Timeline

ImageSize = width:1600 height:auto barincrement:15 PlotArea = top:10 bottom:30 right:100 left:20 AlignBars = early DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:-210 till:220 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-210 Colors = id:canvas value:rgb(0.97,0.97,0.97) id:WH value:rgb(1,0.6,0.2) id:IN value:rgb(0.2,0.8,0.8) id:EH value:rgb(1,0.2,0.6) Backgroundcolors = canvas:canvas BarData = barset:Rulers PlotData= width:5 align:left fontsize:S shift:(5,-4) anchor:till barset:Rulers from: -202 till: -195 color:WH text:"

Gao Gao , or Gawgaw/Kawkaw, is a city in Mali and the capital of the Gao Region. The city is located on the River Niger, east-southeast of Timbuktu on the left bank at the junction with the Tilemsi valley. For much of its history Gao was an impor ...

(202–195 BCE)" from: -195 till: -188 color:WH text:"

Hui The Hui people ( zh, c=, p=Huízú, w=Hui2-tsu2, Xiao'erjing: , dng, Хуэйзў, ) are an East Asian ethnoreligious group predominantly composed of Chinese-speaking adherents of Islam. They are distributed throughout China, mainly in the n ...

(195–188 BCE)" from: -188 till: -184 color:WH text:"

Liu Gong Emperor Qianshao of Han (, 193 BC – 15 June 184 BC), personal name said to be Liu Gong (), was the third emperor of the Han dynasty in China. He was a son, likely the oldest son, of Emperor Hui, likely by a concubine—although there is s ...

(188–184 BCE)" from: -184 till: -180 color:WH text:" Liu Hong (184–180 BCE)" from: -180 till: -157 color:WH text:"

Wen Wen, wen, or WEN may refer to: * WEN, New York Stock Exchange symbol for Wendy's/Arby's Group * WEN, Amtrak station code for Columbia Station in Wenatchee, Washington, United States * WEN, ICAO airline designator for WestJet Encore * Wen (surnam ...

(180–157 BCE)" from: -157 till: -141 color:WH text:" Jing (157–141 BCE)" from: -141 till: -87 color:WH text:" Wu (141–87 BCE)" from: -87 till: -74 color:WH text:" Zhao (87–74 BCE)" from: -74 till: -74 color:WH text:" Liu He (74 BCE)" from: -74 till: -49 color:WH text:" Xuan (74–49 BCE)" from: -49 till: -33 color:WH text:" Yuan (49–33 BCE)" from: -33 till: -7 color:WH text:" Cheng (33–7 BCE)" from: -7 till: -1 color:WH text:" Ai (7–1 BCE)" from: -1 till: 6 color:WH text:"

Ping Ping may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Ping, a domesticated Chinese duck in the illustrated book '' The Story about Ping'', first published in 1933 * Ping, a minor character in ''Seinfeld'', an NBC sitcom * Ping, a c ...

(1 BCE–6 CE)" from: 6 till: 9 color:WH text:" Liu Ying (6–9 CE)" from: 23 till: 25 color:IN text:" Gengshi (23–25 CE)" from: 25 till: 27 color:IN text:"

Liu Penzi Liu Penzi (; 10 AD - after 27 AD) was a puppet emperor placed on the Han dynasty throne temporarily by the Red Eyebrows (Chimei) rebels after the collapse of the Xin dynasty, from 25 to 27 AD. Liu Penzi and his two brothers were forced into t ...

(25–27 CE)" from: 25 till: 57 color:EH text:" Guangwu (25–57 CE)" from: 57 till: 75 color:EH text:"

(57–75 CE)" from: 75 till: 88 color:EH text:"

Zhang Zhang may refer to: Chinese culture, etc. * Zhang (surname) (張/张), common Chinese surname ** Zhang (surname 章), a rarer Chinese surname * Zhang County (漳县), of Dingxi, Gansu * Zhang River (漳河), a river flowing mainly in Henan * ''Zha ...

(75–88 CE)" from: 88 till: 106 color:EH text:" He (88–106 CE)" from: 106 till: 106 color:EH text:" Shang (106 CE)" from: 106 till: 125 color:EH text:" An (106–125 CE)" from: 125 till: 125 color:EH text:" Liu Yi (125 CE)" from: 125 till: 144 color:EH text:"

Shun Shun may refer to one of the following: *To shun, which means avoiding association with an individual or group * Shun (given name), a masculine Japanese given name *Seasonality in Japanese cuisine (''shun'', 旬) Emperor Shun * Emperor Shun (� ...

(125–144 CE)" from: 144 till: 145 color:EH text:" Chong (144–145 CE)" from: 145 till: 146 color:EH text:" Zhi (145–146 CE)" from: 146 till: 168 color:EH text:" Huan (146–168 CE)" from: 168 till: 189 color:EH text:"

Ling Ling may refer to: Fictional characters * Ling, an ally of James Bond's from the film ''You Only Live Twice'' * Ling, a character in the ''Mulan'' franchise * Ling, a playable character from the mobile game '' Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' * Ling ...

(168–189 CE)" from: 189 till: 189 color:EH text:"

Liu Bian Liu Bian (176 – 6 March 190), also known as Emperor Shao of Han and the Prince of Hongnong, was the 13th emperor of the Eastern Han dynasty in China. He became emperor around the age of 13 upon the death of his father, Emperor Ling, and ru ...

(189 CE)" from: 189 till: 220 color:EH text:"

Xian Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqin ...

(189–220 CE)" barset:skip Legend: * denotes Western Han monarchs * denotes Han monarchs following the collapse of the

but prior to the Eastern Han * denotes Eastern Han monarchs

Notes

Footnotes

References

* * * * * * * * * * * *. * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Chinese History - Han Dynasty 漢 (206 BC-8 AD, 25–220) emperors and rulers, from Chinaknowledge.de
* {{featured list 01

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

Lists of leaders of China