List of Chinese monarchs


This list of Chinese monarchs includes rulers of China with various titles prior to the establishment of the Republic in 1912. From the Zhou dynasty until the Qin dynasty, rulers usually held the title "king". With the separation of China into different Warring States, this title had become so common that the unifier of China, the first Qin Emperor Qin Shihuang created a new title for himself, that of "emperor". The title of Emperor of China continued to be used for the remainder of China's imperial history, right down to the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1912.
While many other monarchs existed in and around China throughout its history, this list covers only those with a quasi-legitimate claim to the majority of China, or those who have traditionally been named in king-lists. The following list of Chinese monarchs is in no way comprehensive.
Chinese sovereigns were known by many different names, and how they should be identified is often confusing. Sometimes the same emperor is commonly known by two or three separate names, or the same name is used by emperors of different dynasties. The tables below do not necessarily include all of an emperor's names – for example, posthumous names could run to more than twenty characters and were rarely used in historical writing – but, where possible, the most commonly used name or naming convention has been indicated. Scholars also often use common terms to refer to some monarchs with special circumstances — "Modi", "Mozhu", "Houzhu", "Shaodi", "Shaozhu", "Feidi", etc.; these terms are not temple names, posthumous names or regnal names.
In some cases, the regnal or era name is changed in the same year as the death of the previous sovereign; in other cases, the name change occurs in the subsequent year. Thus, the date given for the beginning of a reign may actually refer to the first full year of the sovereign's reign.
These tables may not necessarily represent the most recently updated information on Chinese monarchs; please check the page for the relevant dynasty for possible additional information.
Follow these links to see how they are related:
Family tree of ancient Chinese emperors → Chinese emperors family tree → Chinese emperors family tree → Chinese emperors family tree

Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors (三皇五帝) (2852–2070 BCE)

Although it is ingrained in Chinese mythology that the earliest mythological rulers of China included three huáng and five dì, both terms denoting demigod status, their identities have differed between different sources, with some individuals, such as the Yellow Emperor, being regarded as either sovereign or emperor, depending on the source. The two characters would later be taken together by Qin Shi Huang to form the new title huángdì, thus claiming legendary status for himself.
Note: These figures are considered to be legendary.

Xia dynasty (夏朝) (2070–1600 BCE)

Chinese convention: use "Xia" + regnal name

Shang dynasty (商朝) (1600–1046 BCE)

Chinese convention: use "Shang" + posthumous name

Zhou dynasty (周朝) (1046–256 BCE)

Chinese convention: use "Zhou" + posthumous name
Note: The first generally accepted date in Chinese history is 841 BC, the beginning of the Gonghe regency. All dates prior to this are the subject of often vigorous dispute.
After King Nan was deposed by Qin, Ji Jie, Duke Wen of the vassal duchy of Eastern Zhou was proclaimed the new king of Zhou and claimed the title until his death in 249 BCE. However, the King of Qin had taken possession of the Nine Tripod Cauldrons , and Ji Jie's reign was not widely recognized. Historians generally considered the title of Son of Heaven to be vacant from 256 to 221 BCE.

Qin dynasty (秦朝) (221–207 BCE)

Chinese convention: use regnal name
Note: The State of Qin was founded in the 9th century BCE as a vassal of the Zhou dynasty. In 325 BCE, the Duke of Qing, Ying Si , declared himself king and was given the regnal name King Huiwen of Qin. In 256 BCE, King Zhaoxiang of Qin ended the Zhou dynasty, and in 221 BCE, Ying Zheng completed the conquest of the other states and declared himself Qin Shi Huang, or "First Emperor of Qin." The unification of China under the Qin dynasty in 221 BCE is usually considered to be the beginning of Imperial China.

Han dynasty (漢朝) (202 BCE–9 CE, 25–220 CE)

Chinese convention: use "Han" + posthumous name

Note that the posthumous names of many Han monarchs bear the character "xiao", but this character is usually omitted by scholars when they are used

[Xin dynasty] (新朝) (9–23 CE)

Chinese convention: use personal name

Three Kingdoms (三國) (220–280 CE)

Chinese convention: use personal name

[Cao Wei] (曹魏) (220–266 CE)

[Shu Han] (蜀漢) (221–263 CE)

[Eastern Wu] (東吳) (222–280 CE)

Jin dynasty (晉朝) (266–420 CE)

Chinese convention: Use "Jin" + posthumous name

Note that the posthumous names of some Jin monarchs bore the character "xiao", but this character is usually omitted by scholars when referencing these monarchs by their posthumous names

Sixteen Kingdoms (十六國) (304–439 CE)

Chinese convention: use personal name

Han Zhao">Former Zhao">Han Zhao (漢趙) (304–329 CE)

Note: addressed separately in traditional texts as Han and Qian Zhao

[Cheng Han] (成漢) (304–347 CE)

Note: addressed separately in traditional texts as Cheng and Han

[Later Zhao] (後趙) (319–351 CE)

[Former Liang] (前涼) (320–376 CE)

[Former Yan] (前燕) (337–370 CE)

[Former Qin] (前秦) (351–394 CE)

[Later Yan] (後燕) (384–409 CE)

[Later Qin] (後秦) (384–417 CE)

[Western Qin] (西秦) (385–400 CE, 409–431 CE)

Later Liang">Later Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms)">Later Liang (後涼) (386–403 CE)

Southern Liang">Southern Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms)">Southern Liang (南涼) (397–414 CE)

[Northern Liang] (北涼) (397–439 CE)

Note: The Northern Liang was re-established at Gaochang in 442 CE.

[Southern Yan] (南燕) (398–410 CE)

Western Liang">Western Liang (Sixteen Kingdoms)">Western Liang (西涼) (400–421 CE)

Hu Xia">Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms)">Hu Xia (胡夏) (407–431 CE)

[Northern Yan] (北燕) (407–436 CE)

Other sovereignties traditionally not counted among the Sixteen Kingdoms

Convention: use personal name

Ran Wei (冉魏) (350–352 CE)

Note: addressed as Wei in traditional texts

[Western Yan] (西燕) (384–394 CE)

Western Shu (西蜀) (405–413 CE)

Tiefu tribe (匈奴 鐵弗部) (mid 3rd century–391 CE)

Yuwen tribe (鮮卑 宇文部) (late 3rd century–345 CE)

[Duan tribe] (鮮卑 段部) (303–338 CE)

[Chouchi] (仇池) (296–371 CE, 385–443 CE)

Wuxing (武興) (473–506 CE, 534–555 CE)

Yinping (陰平) (477–mid-6th century CE)

Tuoba tribe">Tuoba">Tuoba tribe (鮮卑 拓拔部) (219–376 CE) & Dai">Dai (Sixteen Kingdoms)">Dai (代) (310–376 CE)

Northern and Southern Dynasties (南北朝) (386–589 CE)

Northern dynasties">Northern and Southern dynasties#Northern dynasties">Northern dynasties (北朝) (386–581 CE)

Chinese convention: use dynasty name + posthumous name

[Northern Wei] (北魏) (386–535 CE)

[Eastern Wei] (東魏) (534–550 CE)

[Western Wei] (西魏) (535–557 CE)

[Northern Qi] (北齊) (550–577 CE)

[Northern Zhou] (北周) (557–581 CE)

Southern dynasties">Northern and Southern dynasties#Southern dynasties">Southern dynasties (南朝) (420–589 CE)

Chinese convention: use dynasty name + posthumous name

Liu Song">Liu Song dynasty">Liu Song (劉宋) (420–479 CE)

[Southern Qi] (南齊) (479–502 CE)

[Liang dynasty] (梁朝) (502–557 CE)

[Chen dynasty] (陳朝) (557–589 CE)

Sui dynasty (隋朝) (581–619 CE)

Chinese convention: use "Sui" + posthumous name

Tang dynasty (唐朝) (618–690 CE, 705–907 CE)

Chinese convention: use "Tang" + temple name is sometimes referred as Emperor Ming of Tang Dynasty )

Wu Zhou">Zhou dynasty (690–705)">Wu Zhou (武周) (690–705 CE)

Huang Qi (黃齊) (881–884 CE)

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms (五代十國) (907–979 CE)

Five Dynasties">Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period#Five Dynasties">Five Dynasties (五代) (907–960 CE)

Chinese convention: name of dynasty + temple name or posthumous name

Later Liang">Later Liang (Five Dynasties)">Later Liang (後梁) (907–923 CE)

[Later Tang] (後唐) (923–937 CE)

Later Jin">Later Jin (Five Dynasties)">Later Jin (後晉) (936–947 CE)

Later Han">Later Han (Five Dynasties)">Later Han (後漢) (947–951 CE)

[Later Zhou] (後周) (951–960 CE)

Ten Kingdoms">Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period#Ten Kingdoms">Ten Kingdoms (十國) (907–979 CE)

Chinese convention: use personal names, noted otherwise

[Former Shu] (前蜀) (907–925 CE)

[Yang Wu] (楊吳) (907–937 CE)

[Ma Chu] (馬楚) (907–951 CE)

[Wuyue] (吳越) (907–978 CE)

Min">Min Kingdom">Min (閩) (909–945 CE) & Yin">Yin (Five Dynasties period)">Yin (殷) (943–945 CE)

[Southern Han] (南漢) (917–971 CE)

[Jingnan] (荊南) (924–963 CE)

[Later Shu] (後蜀) (934–965 CE)

[Southern Tang] (南唐) (937–976 CE)

Chinese convention for this dynasty only: Use Nan Tang + "Qianzhu", "Zhongzhu" or "Houzhu" .

[Northern Han] (北漢) (951–979 CE)

Independent regimes during Ten Kingdoms

[Qingyuan Jiedushi] (清源節度使) (949–978 CE)

Wuping [Jiedushi] (武平節度使) (950–963 CE)

Liao dynasty (遼朝) (916–1125 CE)

Chinese convention: use "Liao" + temple name except Liao Tianzuodi who is referred using "Liao" + regnal name

Northern Liao (北遼) (1122–1123 CE)

Chinese convention: use personal name or "Northern Liao" + temple name

Western Liao (西遼) (1124–1218 CE)

Chinese convention: use personal name or "Western Liao" + posthumous name

Dongdan (東丹) (926–952 CE)

Song dynasty (宋朝) (960–1279 CE)

Chinese convention: use "Song" + temple name or posthumous name

Dali Kingdom (大理) (937–1094 CE, 1096–1253 CE)

Western Xia (西夏) (1038–1227 CE)

Chinese convention: use "Western Xia" + temple name ''
The Tangut names for about half of the Western Xia eras are known from Tangut texts or monumental inscriptions, or from Western Xia coins.

Jin dynasty (金朝) (1115–1234 CE)

Chinese convention: use "Jin" + temple name or posthumous name in Chinese

Yuan dynasty (元朝) (1271–1368 CE)

Chinese convention: for rulers before Kublai Khan use given name or Khan names, use "Yuan" + temple name or posthumous name after
Note:
1) The Mongol Great Khans before Khublai were only declared Yuan emperors after the creation of Yuan dynasty in 1271
2) To non-Chinese readers, usually the khan names are the most familiar names.
3) Timur or Temür means the same Mongolian words but Temür will be used for avoiding confusion with Timur the lame.

Northern Yuan">Northern Yuan dynasty">Northern Yuan (北元) (1368–1388 CE)

Retreat of the Yuan court to the Mongolian Plateau after being overthrown by the Ming dynasty in China proper in 1368
Convention: use khan names or birth names.

Ming dynasty (明朝) (1368–1644 CE)

[Shun dynasty] (順朝) (1644–1645 CE)

The Shun dynasty was an imperial dynasty created in the brief lapse from Ming to Qing rule in China. It was a state set up by the peasants' rebellion, in which they defeated the Ming forces, but former Ming general Wu Sangui led the Qing forces into Beijing and the Qing forces defeated the rebels.

[Southern Ming] (南明) (1644–1662 CE)

The Southern Ming refers to the Ming loyalist regimes that existed in Southern China from 1644 to 1662. The regime was established by the princes of the already destroyed Ming dynasty. All of these monarchs had their regimes crushed by the Qing forces very quickly. Koxinga used the Ming dynasty's name and gathered forces before fleeing to Taiwan.
*The two characters are homonyms, both pronounced Lu; to distinguish them, one is usually kept as Lu and the other spelled differently. Luh is from Cambridge History of China; Lou is from A.C. Moule's Rulers of China. When one irregular spelling is used, the other is kept as regular. The two systems are distinct and not used simultaneously.

Qing dynasty (清朝) (1636–1912 CE)

[Taiping Heavenly Kingdom] (太平天國) (1851–1864 CE)

Empire of China (中華帝國) (1915–1916 CE)

A short-lived attempt by statesman and general Yuan Shikai who attempted to establish himself as emperor in 1915, but his rule is universally accepted as inauthentic. After 83 days, his reign ended.