Editing Posthumous name (section)

==== Monarchs and consorts ====
All Chinese posthumous names for rulers end in one or two of the [[Chinese character|characters]] for "[[Emperor of China|emperor]]", {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|huángdì}} ({{Lang|zh|皇帝}}), which can be shortened to {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|Dì}}, except about a dozen less-recognized ones who have had only {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|Dì}} and not {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|Huáng}}.

Starting with Emperor [[Emperor Wen of Han|Xiaowen of Han]] (more commonly Emperor Wen), every single Han emperor, except the first of the [[Eastern Han dynasty]], has the character of '[[Filial piety|filial]]' ({{Lang-zh|t=孝|labels=no|p=xiào}}) at the beginning of his posthumous name. 'Filial' is also used in the full posthumous names of virtually all emperors and empresses of the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]], [[Song dynasty|Song]], [[Ming dynasty|Ming]] and [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] dynasties. For Qing emperors, the character {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|xiào}} is placed in various positions in the string of characters. For Qing empresses given posthumous names, {{Lang|zh-Latn-pinyin|xiào}} is always initial.

The number of characters in posthumous names increased over time. The emperors of the Tang dynasty have posthumous names between 7 and 18 characters, while most in the Qing dynasty have more than 20 characters. For instance, the [[Shunzhi Emperor]]'s posthumous name has 25 characters.<ref group="lower-alpha">{{Lang-zh|p=tǐ tiān lóng yùn dìng tǒng jiàn jí yīng ruì qīn wén xiǎn wǔ dà dé hóng gōng zhì rén chún xiào zhāng huángdì|t=體天隆運定統建極英睿欽文顯武大德弘功至仁純孝章皇帝}} ({{Audio|Chinese-Emperor Shunzhi posthumous name.ogg|pronunciation}})</ref> The woman with the longest posthumous name (also 25 characters) is [[Empress Dowager Cixi]];<ref group="lower-alpha">{{Lang-zh|p=xiào qīn cí xǐ duān yòu kāng yí zhāo yù zhuāng chéng shòu gōng qīn xiàn chóng xī pèi tiān xīng shèng xiǎn huánghòu|t=孝欽慈禧端佑康頤昭豫莊誠壽恭欽獻崇熙配天興聖顯皇后}}</ref> the shortened version of the name was {{lang|zh|孝欽顯皇后}} ('the Distinguished Empress who was Admirably Filial').<ref>{{cite journal | date = 1941 | title = 中和月刊 |volume= 2 | issue = 7–12 | publisher = 新民印書舘 | pages = 25 | oclc = 1554571 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SwswAAAAMAAJ | language=zh| quote= ...配天興聖顯皇后。后為[[Tongzhi Emperor|穆宗]]聖母，故云「興聖」也。}}</ref>