Editing Chinese sovereign (section)

===Emperor===
{{main|Emperor of China}}
The characters ''Huang'' (皇 huáng "august (ruler)") and ''Di'' (帝 dì "divine ruler") had been used separately and never consecutively (see [[Three August Ones and Five Emperors]]).  The character was reserved for [[Chinese mythology|mythological rulers]] until the first emperor of Qin ([[Qin Shi Huang]]), who created a new title ''Huangdi'' (皇帝 in [[pinyin]]: huáng dì) for himself in 221&nbsp;BCE, which is commonly translated as ''[[Emperor of China|Emperor]]'' in English.  This title continued in use until the fall of the [[Qing dynasty]] in 1912.

From the [[Han dynasty]], the title ''Huangdi'' could also be [[abbreviated]] to ''huang'' or ''di''.  The former nobility titles ''Qing'' (卿), ''Daifu'' (大夫) and ''Shi'' (仕) became [[synonym]]s for court officials.

The power of the emperor varied between emperors and dynasties, with some emperors being absolute rulers and others being figureheads with actual power lying in the hands of court factions, [[eunuch]]s, the bureaucracy or noble families. In principle, the title of emperor was transmitted from father to son via [[primogeniture]], as endorsed by [[Confucianism]]. However, there are many exceptions to this rule. For example, because the Emperor usually had many concubines, the first born of the empress (i.e. the chief consort) is usually the [[heir apparent]]. However, Emperors could elevate another more favoured child or the child of a favourite [[concubine]] to the status of [[Crown Prince]]. Disputes over succession occurred regularly and have led to a number of civil wars. In the [[Qing dynasty]], primogeniture was abandoned altogether, with the designated heir kept secret until after the Emperor's death.

Of the [[San Huang Wu Di]], the three first of them were called 皇 (huang, "august (ruler)") and the five last were called 帝 (di, "divine ruler"), which can translate as either emperor, demigod, divine ancestor, or superhuman. This title may have been used in the Shang and Xia dynasties, though oracle bones were found from the Shang dynasty showing the title 王 (wáng, "king").