The empire we usually talk about can be divided into the empire in appellation and the empire in influence. In the sense of appellation, a country's monarch can be regarded as an empire as long as he calls himself emperor and is recognized by foreign countries. For example, Japan in the early Meiji period was not strong, but it was also called the Japanese Empire in terms of appellation. Another example is Ethiopia in the 20th century. Although weak and bullied by Britain, Italy and other countries, it is also an empire.

In the sense of influence, a country can be called an empire as long as it is strong enough to implement a monarchy. For example, the Shah of Russia, the sultans and caliphs of some Islamic countries, the Khan of Xiongnu or the Great Khan of Mongolia, and even the monarchs of Assyria, Persia and Macedonia in ancient times don't need the title of emperor, but later generations think that their systems and influences meet the qualifications of empires and emperors, and they can also be called empires and emperors.

1 Emperor China

In ancient China, the legendary monarchs Fuxi and Huangdi were first called emperors or emperors by later generations. They often have deified images and ascend to heaven after death. In Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the highest-ranking rulers only had the titles of "King" and "Son of Heaven". The "emperor" in the literature here refers to the monarch in ancient legends, or refers to "heaven" or "emperor of heaven", which is rarely used to refer to the monarch at that time.

During the Eastern Anniversary, the royal family declined, and most vassal states claimed to be kings. At this time, the only king in Putian evolved into many princes. Therefore, when Qin Gui was in Liuhe, he adopted the title of "Emperor" in order to declare his supremacy over kings of past dynasties. This title was also inherited by later dynasties, until recently Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor.

There are many people who call themselves emperors in history. In addition to several unified dynasties such as Qin, Han, Ming and Qing, some monarchs in the split period, such as the Three Kingdoms, the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Late Sui Dynasty and the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, also called themselves emperors. There are also some "sub-emperors", such as Tang Liyuan against Turks, Shi Jingtang against Qidan and Jin. As for the small-scale folk activities of taking the mountain as the king or superstition, there are countless people who claim to be emperors. After 1949, there were hundreds of cases in which people who claimed to be emperors preached superstition.

There is no unified standard for countless "emperors" who are qualified and who are unqualified in history. For example, when Liu Bei was in the Three Kingdoms, later generations recognized his qualifications and called him Emperor Zhao Lie of Han Dynasty. If you don't admit it, call him the Lord of Shu. It doesn't matter if the title is so empty. Modern people squat in the toilet, claiming to be the emperor of the universe, and no one interferes. )

There was no such thing as an empire in ancient China. For the sake of convenience, western scholars call China's larger dynasties empires.

Greek, Roman and Catholic emperors

Alexander the Great: the first respected "emperor" in Europe. But Alexander did not claim to be the emperor, and there was no word "emperor" in Greek and Persian, which were widely used at that time. The title of "the Great" was actually given to him by the Roman monarch hundreds of years later.

Emperor of ancient Rome: The person who posthumously awarded the title of Alexander the Great was Octavian of the Roman Empire, the first emperor in the traditional sense of Europe. Augustus' pursuit of Alexander is to highlight the legitimacy of his dictatorship, which coincides with the practice of China Qin Emperor Hanwu climbing mountains to worship the Yellow Emperor. It should be noted that Octavian and more than a dozen emperors after him did not abolish the * * * system in name, but their nominal positions were * * * and the chief elders, consuls and lifelong tribunes of China. Until Emperor Diocletian completely abolished the harmony system and adopted the Oriental Palace monarchy. The Roman Empire experienced hundreds of years of ups and downs. In the era of Constantine the Great, Christianity became the state religion. But in the Roman Empire, the emperor did not need the coronation of the bishop of Rome (Pope), because the emperor himself was the supreme leader of the church and the Pope was a subordinate of the emperor. Since then, the Roman Empire has been divided into two empires: East Rome and West Rome.

Emperor of the Frankish Empire: After the fall of Western Rome, the newly arrived Germans combined with the Roman church and produced a series of new kingdoms. Among them, the most powerful Frankish kingdom expanded rapidly during the period of King Charles, and it is likely to restore the territory of ancient Rome. King Charles was also crowned Emperor of Rome by the church. Charles' son Louis I the Pious and grandson Rotel I succeeded to the throne. In 843, the empire was divided into three kingdoms: East, West and China. The emperor only had the sovereignty of the central Frankish, and soon it also perished.

Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire: In 962, Otto I, King of the Eastern Franks (that is, Germany), was crowned emperor by the Pope, declaring that he would inherit the orthodoxy of the Western Roman Empire and Charlemagne and become the nominal supreme ruler of the Roman Catholic world, thus creating the Holy Roman Empire. (But the name Holy Roman Empire was officially used from 1 157), which echoed Byzantium, the eastern Roman emperor. The early emperors of the Holy Roman Empire still had real power, but from the Hohenstaufen dynasty (1 138 ~ 1254), the imperial power gradually declined and the emperor became a decoration. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by Napoleon I in 1806. Since then, the history of the emperor of the orthodox Roman Empire has ended.

19th century European emperor: 1806 Flantz, the holy Roman emperor driven away by Napoleon, was renamed Austrian emperor, and died after World War I. Napoleon I and Charles Louis Napolé on Bonaparte successively established the first and second empires of France, and were crowned as emperors, which soon died. Prussia established the German Empire and was crowned emperor, which ended after World War I. In the whole19th century, the power of the church had already declined. A monarch can be crowned emperor as long as he has the ability to enter Rome and is not afraid of attracting the wind. The so-called emperor no longer represents orthodoxy.

Three emperors in the orthodox series

Emperor of Byzantine Empire: After the Roman Empire was divided in 395, a branch of the Eastern Roman Emperor was destroyed by the Ottoman Sultan in 1453.

Tsar of Russia: Ivan IV 1547 was crowned czar, and 19 17 died. Russia has always believed that it inherited the orthodoxy of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The other four emperors

Ancient India experienced many processes of unification and division. China's history books have always used to call Indian monarchs "kings", such as Peacock King, Japanese King, Ashoka King and Akbar King, but according to their territorial, military and cultural influence, these monarchs are also called emperors in the west. Here, the difference between the king and the emperor is only the Vatican and the Chinese-English translation.