Kings of the Han dynasty
The kings from other dynasties (, "yìxìng wáng") were mostly remnants of the rebellion against the Qin dynasty. Following the Dazexiang Uprising, many noblemen rose in rebellion. Heirs, pretenders, and warlords called themselves "kings" and claimed sovereignty as continuations of the six states previously suppressed by Qin. Among these, Chu was the most powerful. However, its rightful ruler Huai II was assassinated on the orders of the warlord Xiang Yu and the 18 Kingdoms Xiang had formed rose in rebellion against him. Liu Bang, king of Han, ultimately defeated Chu and established the new Han dynasty. The kings who had sided with him were then permitted to maintain their titles and lands. A few other kingdoms were also formed by Liu Bang for generals and favorites.
List of emperors of the Han dynasty
In ancient China, the rulers of the Shang ("c". 1600 – "c". 1050 BC) and Zhou ("c". 1050 – 256 BC) dynasties were referred to as kings (王 "wang"). By the time of the Zhou dynasty, they were also referred to as Sons of Heaven (天子 "Tianzi"). By 221 BC, the King of Qin, Ying Zheng, conquered and united all the Warring States of ancient China. To elevate himself above the Shang and Zhou kings of old, he accepted the new title of emperor (皇帝 "huangdi") and is known to posterity as the First Emperor of Qin ("Qin Shi Huang"). The new title of emperor was created by combining the titles for the Three Sovereigns ("Sanhuang") and Five Emperors ("Wudi") from Chinese mythology. This title was used by each successive ruler of China until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911.