Abstract

When, in the year 221 B.C., China found itself unified under the authority of the lord of Ts'in, the latter decided that his title of king (wang) no longer corresponded to his actual glory. After deliberating with his counselors, he decided that from then on his title would be Houang-ti, an expression which we translate as emperor. And if the dynasty founded by Ts'in Che houang-ti was ephemeral, the title Houang-ti was destined to remain that of the Chinese monarchs until the revolution of 1911. This term, formed by two characters, was a neologism; the monarchs of preceding historical dynasties, Yin and Tcheou, were kings (wang). But if the double expression was new, houang and ti were two very ancient words, belonging to religious terminology.