In the ancient history of our country, the monarchs of the Xia Dynasty were called "Hou", the monarchs of the Shang Dynasty were called "Emperors", and the monarchs of the Zhou Dynasty were called "Wang". After the Qin Dynasty unified the Six Kingdoms, he felt that his "Virtue and Three Emperors, Gonggai Five Emperors" was not enough to show his merits. Therefore, he extracted "Emperor" and "Emperor" and merged them, creating the honorific title of "Emperor" and calling himself "Emperor". Therefore, Qin Shi Huang was the first person in china's ancient history to call himself an emperor. Before the Qin Dynasty, there was no title of emperor. The honorific title of "Emperor" was created by Qin Shi Huang himself. After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, successive monarchs continued to use the title of "Emperor" until the fall of the Qing Dynasty.
In ancient times, there were "three emperors and five emperors", although the theories are different, but it is generally believed that "three emperors" refer to: "emperor (Fuxi), emperor of the earth (Shennong), emperor of people (yellow emperor)". "Five Emperors" means: "Yellow Emperor, Emperor Huan, Emperor Zhao, Yao, Shun". We all know that there was no unity from the Yellow Emperor to the Zhou Dynasty, and there were many princely states, especially the Zhou Dynasty. The princes fought each other for hundreds of years. In 221 BC, King Yingzheng of Qin annexed the princes of the Six Kingdoms and unified the world. King Yingzheng of Qin believed that unifying the world was an unprecedented feat, and even the Three Emperors and Five Emperors could not compare with him. If you do not change the name of "King", you will not be able to claim success. So he asked Li Si and other literati to discuss how the emperor could change his title to show his "great achievements".
According to Sima Qian's "Records of History", the ministers and others discussed with the doctor: "'In ancient times, there was an emperor, there was a land emperor, there was a Thai emperor, and the Thai emperor was the most expensive. 'The subjects died on the honorific title, and the king was 'Emperor tai'. The order is the 'system', the order is the 'edict', and the Son of Heaven calls himself 'Yuan'. Wang Yue: "Go to 'Tai', write 'Emperor', and take the title of 'Emperor' in ancient times, and the title of 'Emperor'." ”
Qin Shi Huang asked the ministers to discuss taking a resounding imperial title, and after deliberation, the ministers reported to the King of Qin: In ancient times, there were emperors, earth emperors, and Thai emperors, and the Thai emperor was the most expensive, and the order of the emperor could be changed from "king" to "Thai emperor" to "zhao", and the son of heaven called himself "Yuan". Yin Zheng thought deeply and considered himself to be "the third emperor of virtue and the fifth emperor of Gonggai", and decided to remove the "Tai" character of "Emperor of Tai" and adopt the titles of "Emperor" and "Emperor", and merge them to be called "Emperor". Yingzheng called himself the "First Emperor", and the future generations were counted on this, and the second and third generations were passed on endlessly. As a result, the emperor's honorific title was retained until the Qing emperor announced his abdication. However, later Yuan Shikai also wanted to call himself emperor, but the anti-feudal and anti-imperial system has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, so calling "emperor" is already unpopular.