Chinese Sovereign - Some Common Conventions

Some Common Conventions

Here is a quick guide of the most common style of reference (but not a thorough explanation) in contemporary use. Using an emperor's different titles or styles is nevertheless considered correct but not as common.

1. Emperors before the Tang dynasty: use dynasty name + posthumous names. e.g. Han Wu Di
2. Emperors between Tang dynasty and Ming dynasty: use dynasty name + temple names e.g. Tang tai zong
3. Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties: use era names (reign names) because most emperors had only one distinctive era name during their reign, e.g. the Kangxi Emperor (康熙 kāng xī) of Qing. The exceptions are the first two emperors of the Qing Dynasty, and Emperor Yīngzōng (英宗) of Ming, who had two era names.

   However, the use of era names makes many mistake these for the names of the emperors themselves, and many scholars therefore encourage a reversed wording for Ming and Qing emperors, e.g., the Kangxi Emperor, the Qianlong Emperor, et cetera. To be more precise, and clear in English, one could use: the Kangxi era Emperor, etc.

4. Overrides rules 1 to 3: If there is a more common convention than using posthumous, temple or era names, then use it. Examples include Wu Zetian (the only female emperor in the Chinese history).
5. Since all legitimate rulers of China after Qin Shi Huang can be titled Emperor of China, in English they can be referred to by "Emperor of" and the name of his respective dynasty after the temple or posthumous name. e.g.

   Han wudi = Emperor wudi of Han Dynasty

   Tang taizong = Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty

6. Some scholars prefer using the Wade-Giles romanization instead of the Pinyin but the above formats still hold. e.g. Han Wu Di = Wu-ti Emperor of Han Dynasty.

If you prefer better clarification and do not want to bother with all those "names," please refer to each dynasty, of which the specific convention is shown on top of its sovereigns.