Chinese sovereign

Titles of Chinese heads of state and peers

The king or wang (王 wang2) was the Chinese head of state since Zhou dynasty until Qin dynasty. The Zhou social system, which is sometimes referred to as the Chinese proto-feudalism, classified aristocracies into, in decending order of rank, the nobles - Zhuhou (諸侯 pinyin zhu1 hou2), the gentry - Qing (卿 qing1), Daifu (大夫 dai4 fu1) and Shi (士 shi4), and the commoners - Shumin (庶民 shu4 min2). The eldest son of the consort would inherit the title and retained the same rank within the system. Other sons from the consort, concubines and mistresses would be given titles one rank lower than their father. Commoner descendants would start off their own families and should not retain any noble lineage.

Sizes of troops and domains, frequencies of tributes would classify five ranks within the male nobles - baron (男 pinyin nan2), viscount (子 zi5), earl (伯 bo2), marquess (侯 hou2), and duke (公 gong1). Any male member of the noble or gentry could be called a prince or gongzi (公子 gong1 zi5), or wangzi (王子 wang2 zi5) if he is a son of a king.

The characters huang (皇 huang2 "godking") and di (&#24093 "sage king") were used separately and never consecutively (See Three Huang and five Di), and reserved for the mythological rulers until the first emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huangdi). The emperor or huangdi (皇帝 in pinyin: huang2 di4) of China then became the title of head of state of China from the Qin dynasty in 221 A.D. until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911. Since the Han dynasty, huangdi began to be abbreviated to huang or di.

Wang (King or sometimes, prince) became another rank above the five noble ranks. The title is commonly given to relatives of the Emperor's family and can be passed down along the heirloom. Qing, Daifu and Shi became synonyms of court officials. Physicians were often called Daifu during the Late Imperial China. All had lost their original pre-Qin meanings. While before the Han dynasty it was valid that a peer with a place name actually governed that place, it had not been largely true since.

Titles of female members of the aristocracies varied in different dynasties and eras, each having unique classifications for the spouses of the emperor. Any female member excluding a spouse of a previous emperor can be called a princess or gongzhu (公主 gong1 zhu3), and incorporated her associated place into her title if she had one.

Although formally the son of heaven, the power of the emperor varied between different emperors and different dynasties, with some emperors being absolute rulers and others being figureheads with actual power in the hands of court factions, eunuchs, the bureaucracy or noble families.

The emperor title was transmitted from father to son. Usually the first born of the queen inherited the office, but this rule was not universal and disputed succession was the cause of a number of civil wars. Unlike the Emperor of Japan, Chinese political theory allowed for a change in dynasty and an emperor could be replaced by a rebel leader. It was generally not possible for a female to succeed to the throne and in the history of China there has only been one reigning Empress, the Empress Wu of the Tang dynasty.

How to read the titles of a Chinese sovereign

All sovereigns are denoted by a string of Chinese characters.

Examples:

Han Gao Zu Liu Bang (漢高祖劉邦 han4 gao1 zu3 liu3 bang1)
Tang Tai Zong Li Shi Min (唐太宗 李世民 tang2 tai4 zong1 li3 shi4 min2)
Wei Wu Di Cao Cao (魏武帝曹操 wei4 wu3 di4 cao2 cao1)
Hou Han Gao Zu Liu Zhi Yuan (後漢高祖 劉知遠 hou4 han4 gao1 zu3 liu3 zhi1 yuan3)
Han Guang Wu Di Liu Xiu (漢 光武帝 劉秀 han4 guang1 wu3 di4 liu3 xiu4)

The first character(s) are the name of the dynasty or kingdom. e.g. Han, Tang, Wei and Hou Han.

Then come the characters of how the sovereign is commonly called, in most of the times the posthumous names or the temple names. e.g. Gao Zu, Tai Zong, Wu Di, Guang Wu Di

Then follow the characters of their family and first names. e.g. Liu Bang, Li Shi Min, Cao Cao, Liu Zhi Yuan and Liu Xiu

In contemporary historical texts, the string including the name of dynasty and temple or posthumous names is sufficient enough as a clear reference to a particular sovereign.

e.g. Han Gao Zu

Note that Wei Wu Di Cao Cao never was a sovereign but his son was. Thus he was revered as Wu Di. Cao Cao is good enough for reference.

Some rules of thumb and helpful tips for reading a list of sovereigns

All sovereigns starting from the Tang Dynasty are contemporarily referred to using the temple names. They also had posthumous names but less-used, except in traditional historical texts. Reversed situation before Tang as posthumous names are contemporarily used.

e.g. The posthumous name of Tang Tai Zong Li Shi Min was Wen Di (文帝 wen2 di4)

If sovereigns since Tang were referenced using posthumous names, they were the last ones of their sovereignties or their reigns were short and unpopular.

e.g. Tang Ai Di Li Zhu (唐哀帝 tang2 ai1 di4 李柷 li3 zhu4), also known as Tang Zhao Xuan Di (唐昭宣帝 tang2 zhao1 xuan1 di4), was last emperor of the Tang Dynasty reigning from 904 to 907.

Han Guang Wu Di is equivalent to Dong Han Guang Wu Di since he was the founder of the Eastern Han Dynasty. All dong(east)-xi(west), nan(south)-bei(north), qian(former)-hou(later) conventions were invented only by past or present historiographers for denoting a new era of a dynasty. Never used during that era.

Some common conventions of naming Chinese Sovereigns

If you were even more confused after reading above, here is a quick guide (so not a thorough explanation).

Emperors before the Tang dynasty: use name of dynasty + posthumous names. eg. Han Wu Di
Emperors between Tang dynasty and Ming dynasty: use name of dynasty + temple names eg. Tang tai zong
Since all legitimate rulers of China after Qin Shi Huang Di were titled emperor of China, they can also be referred to by "emperor of" and the name of his/her respective dynasty after the temple or posthumous name. eg.
Han wudi = Emperor wudi of Han Dynasty

Tang taizong = Emperor taizong of Tang Dynasty
Emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasty: use era names (same as reign names) because each emperor has only one distinctive era name. eg. Kangxi (kang1 xi1) Emperor
Overrides rules 1 to 3: If there is a more common convention than using posthumous, temple or era names, then use it. eg. Cao Cao instead of Wei wu di.
Some scholars prefer using the Wade-Giles romanization instead of the Pinyin but the above formats still hold. eg. 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. Hopefully it helps you.

However a consensus has yet to be reached in Wikipedia. Here is the discussion link.

The tables: the page is pretty long (the second longest wikipedian article). If you are looking for specific monarchs of a dynasty, better use the following "See also" links. The table had been chopped into smaller and digestable pieces according to the dynasties and placed under those pages.