Editing Emperor of China (section)

== Enumeration ==
Traditional political theory holds that there can only be one legitimate Son of Heaven at any given time. However, identifying the "legitimate" emperor during times of division is not always uncontroversial, and therefore the exact number of legitimate emperors depends on where one stands on a number of succession disputes. The two most notable such controversies are whether [[Cao Wei]] or [[Shu Han]] had legitimacy during the [[Three Kingdoms]], and at what point the [[Song dynasty]] ceased to be the legitimate dynasty in favor of the [[Yuan dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book | last= Wilkinson| first= Endymion | author-link = Endymion Wilkinson | date=2018| title= Chinese History: A New Manual | title-link =Chinese History: A New Manual | pages= 8–9, 684}}</ref> The Qing view, reported to Europe by the Jesuits, was that there had been 150 emperors from the First Emperor to the [[Kangxi Emperor]].<ref>Intorcetta, Prospero. (1687). Confucius Sinarum Philosophus</ref> Adding the eight uncontroversial emperors that followed the Kangxi Emperor would give a grand total of 158 emperors from the First Emperor to Puyi.

By one count, from the [[Qin dynasty]] to the [[Qing dynasty]], there were a total 557 individuals who at one point or another claimed the title of Emperor, including several simultaneous claimants at various times.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barmé|first=Geremie|title=The Forbidden City|year=2008|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=978-0-674-02779-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lnwBCaSrXA8C&q=Qin+Dynasty+to+the+Qing+Dynasty,+there+have+been+nearly+++Emperors.&pg=PA94|page=594}}</ref> Some, such as [[Li Zicheng]], [[Huang Chao]], and [[Yuan Shu]], declared themselves the emperors, [[Son of Heaven]] and founded their own empires as a rival government to challenge the legitimacy of and overthrow the existing emperor. Among the most famous emperors were [[Qin Shi Huang]] of the [[Qin dynasty]], emperors [[Emperor Gaozu of Han|Gaozu]], [[Emperor Wu of Han|Han Wudi]] as well as [[Emperor Guangwu of Han|Guangwu]] of the Han, [[Emperor Taizong of Tang]] of the Tang, the [[Hongwu Emperor]] and [[Yongle Emperor]] of the Ming, and the [[Kangxi Emperor]] of the Qing.<ref name="bantu">{{cite book | script-title= zh:看版圖學中國歷史| page=5 | publisher= [[Zhonghua Shuju]] | date= 2006 | last= Lu | first= Yungao | author-mask = Lu Yungao (陸運高)| isbn= 962-8885-12-X}}</ref>