Editing Emperor (section)

===China===
{{Main|Emperor of China}}
[[File:Qin Shi Huang BW.png|thumb|upright|[[Qin Shi Huang]], first emperor of China]]
The [[East Asian]] tradition is different from the Roman tradition, having arisen separately. What links them together is the use of the Chinese logographs 皇 (''huáng'') and 帝 (''dì'') which together or individually are imperial. Because of the cultural influence of China, China's neighbors adopted these titles or had their native titles conform in ''[[hanzi]]''. Anyone who spoke to the emperor was to address the emperor as bìxià (陛下, lit. the "Bottom of the Steps"), corresponding to the [[Imperial Majesty (style)|Imperial Majesty]]"; shèngshàng (聖上, lit. Holy Highness); or wànsuì (万岁, lit. "You, of Ten Thousand Years").

In 221 BC, [[Qin Shi Huang|Ying Zheng]], who was [[Chinese sovereign|king]] of [[Qin dynasty|Qin]] at the time, proclaimed himself ''[[Shi Huangdi]]'' (始皇帝), which translates as "first emperor". ''Huangdi'' is composed of ''huang'' ("august one", 皇) and ''di'' ("sage-king", 帝), and referred to legendary/mythological [[Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors|sage-emperors]] living several millennia earlier, of which three were ''huang'' and five were ''di''. Thus Ying Zheng became [[Qin Shi Huang]], abolishing the system where the ''huang''/''di'' titles were reserved to dead and/or mythological rulers. Since then, the title "king" became a lower ranked title, and later divided into two grades. Although not as popular, the title 王 ''wang'' (king or prince) was still used by many monarchs and dynasties in China up to the [[Taiping Rebellion|Taipings]] in the 19th century. 王 is pronounced ''vương'' in Vietnamese, ''ō'' in Japanese, and ''wang'' in Korean.

The imperial title continued in China until the [[Qing dynasty]] was overthrown in 1912. The title was briefly revived from 12 December 1915 to 22 March 1916 by President [[Yuan Shikai]] and again in early July 1917 when General [[Zhang Xun (Qing loyalist)|Zhang Xun]] attempted to restore last Qing emperor [[Puyi]] to the throne. Puyi retained the title and attributes of a foreign emperor, as a personal status, until 1924. After the Japanese occupied [[Manchuria]] in 1931, they proclaimed it to be the Empire of [[Manchukuo]], and Puyi became emperor of Manchukuo. This empire ceased to exist when it was occupied by the Soviet [[Red Army]] in 1945.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Manchukuo|title=Manchukuo {{!}} puppet state created by Japan in China [1932]|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|access-date=2019-06-02}}</ref>

In general, an emperor would have one empress (''Huanghou'', 皇后) at one time, although posthumous entitlement to empress for a [[concubines|concubine]] was not uncommon. The earliest known usage of ''huanghou'' was in the [[Han dynasty]]. The emperor would generally select the empress from his [[concubine]]s. In subsequent dynasties, when the distinction between wife and concubine became more accentuated, the [[crown prince]] would have chosen an empress-designate before his reign. [[Early Imperial China|Imperial China]] produced only one reigning empress, [[Wu Zetian]], and she used the same Chinese title as an emperor (''Huangdi'', 皇帝). Wu Zetian then reigned for about 15 years (AD 690–705).

Under the tributary system of China, monarchs of Korea and Vietnam sometimes called themselves ''emperor'' in their country. They introduced themselves as ''king'' for China and other countries ([[Emperor at home, king abroad]]). In Japan, [[Ashikaga Yoshimitsu]] a [[shogun]] was granted title of ''King of Japan'' for trade by the Ming emperor. However, the Shogun was a subject of the Japanese emperor. It was contrary to rules of tributary system, but the Ming emperor connived it for the purpose of suppressing the [[Wokou]].