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皇帝 means emperor in Chinese, Japanese, and old Korean.
From times of old, the emperors of Asia ruled under the authority of God himself. One definition of an emperor is a ruler put in power by God. This definition separates emperors from the various kings in Chinese history (although defining who is a king versus an emperor gets vague sometimes).
Occasionally, the emperor's wife was widowed, and she took the role of an empress until her death (see our entry for empress if that is what you are looking for).
天皇 is the title of the Emperor of Japan.
This title is used in China, Korea, and Japan to refer specifically to the Emperor of Japan.
皇后 is the title of empress/emperess, the female form of the emperor.
皇后 is used in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
While the emperor's reign was for life, if he died, his wife would hold his power. In this case, a woman was the ultimate ruler of the greater part of East Asia (now China) until her death and the succession of the emperor's firstborn son to lead the empire. Numerous times in various Chinese dynasties, an empress took power in this way.
The first character means emperor by itself.
The second character alone can mean “wife of an emperor or king” (the first character clarifies that we are talking about an empress and not a queen). It can also mean sovereign or last offspring, depending on context.
Note: In some books, this word is translated as queen. While only incorrect if you get technical (because an empress is theoretically a higher level than a queen), the meaning is very similar.
皇后 is sometimes used for the title of queen, but more technically, this is the wife of the emperor (a higher level than a queen).
天照皇大神 is the title for Sun Goddess or Amaterasu Oomikami in Japanese.
Rare Chinese Buddhists/Shitoists may be familiar with this (so I have included the Chinese pronunciation above) however, this should generally be considered a specifically-Japanese title.
Besides Amaterasuoomikami, this can also be pronounced/romanized as Tenshoukoudaijin. There are several similar ways to write Sun Goddess in Japanese, so don't be surprised if you see different forms on the web, etc.
Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your 皇 search...
Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
皇 see styles |
huáng huang2 huang sume; sumera; sube; subera すめ; すめら; すべ; すべら |
More info & calligraphy: Emperor(prefix) (archaism) (honorific or respectful language) divine; imperial; (female given name) Miyuki ruler |
天皇 see styles |
tiān huáng tian1 huang2 t`ien huang tien huang tennou / tenno てんのう |
More info & calligraphy: Emperor of JapanEmperor of Japan; (place-name) Tennou Deva-king; the Tang monk 道悟 Daowu of the 天皇 Tianhuang monastery at 荊州 Jingzhou. |
皇后 see styles |
huáng hòu huang2 hou4 huang hou kougou / kogo こうごう |
More info & calligraphy: Empress(noun - becomes adjective with の) (Japanese) empress; queen; (surname) Kōgou empress |
皇帝 see styles |
huáng dì huang2 di4 huang ti koutei(p); oudai(ok) / kote(p); odai(ok) こうてい(P); おうだい(ok) |
More info & calligraphy: Emperor(honorific or respectful language) emperor |
天照皇大神 see styles |
tenshoukoudaijin / tenshokodaijin てんしょうこうだいじん amaterasuoomikami あまてらすおおみかみ |
More info & calligraphy: Sun Goddess |
皇天不負苦心人 皇天不负苦心人 see styles |
huáng tiān bù fù kǔ xīn rén huang2 tian1 bu4 fu4 ku3 xin1 ren2 huang t`ien pu fu k`u hsin jen huang tien pu fu ku hsin jen |
More info & calligraphy: Heaven Rewards Hard Work |
三皇 see styles |
sān huáng san1 huang2 san huang |
the three legendary sovereigns of the third millennium BC: Suiren 燧人[Sui4 ren2], Fuxi 伏羲[Fu2 Xi1] and Shennong 神農|神农[Shen2 nong2], or 天皇|天皇[Tian1 huang2], 地皇|地皇[Di4 huang2] and 人皇|人皇[Ren2 huang2] |
上皇 see styles |
joukou / joko じょうこう |
(honorific or respectful language) retired emperor; ex-emperor; former emperor; emperor emeritus |
人皇 see styles |
rén huáng ren2 huang2 jen huang ninnou; jinnou; jinkou / ninno; jinno; jinko にんのう; じんのう; じんこう |
Human Sovereign, one of the three legendary sovereigns 三皇[san1 huang2] emperor |
來皇 see styles |
kurumi くるみ |
(female given name) Kurumi |
依皇 see styles |
io いお |
(female given name) Io |
倉皇 仓皇 see styles |
cāng huáng cang1 huang2 ts`ang huang tsang huang soukou / soko そうこう |
in a panic; flurried (noun or adjectival noun) hurry; bustle |
先皇 see styles |
xiān huáng xian1 huang2 hsien huang senkou; sennou; senou / senko; senno; seno せんこう; せんのう; せんおう |
emperor of a former dynasty (archaism) preceding emperor |
凱皇 see styles |
kaiou / kaio かいおう |
(surname) Kaiou |
勤皇 see styles |
kinnou / kinno きんのう |
loyalty to the emperor; loyalism |
喜皇 see styles |
kikitsu ききつ |
(personal name) Kikitsu |
地皇 see styles |
dì huáng di4 huang2 ti huang |
Earthly Sovereign, one of the three legendary sovereigns 三皇[san1 huang2] |
堂皇 see styles |
táng huáng tang2 huang2 t`ang huang tang huang |
imposing; grand |
奈皇 see styles |
nanao ななお |
(personal name) Nanao |
女皇 see styles |
nǚ huáng nu:3 huang2 nü huang jokou / joko じょこう |
empress (See 女帝) empress; queen |
姫皇 see styles |
himeko ひめこ |
(female given name) Himeko |
尊皇 see styles |
sonnou / sonno そんのう |
reverence for the emperor; advocate of imperial rule |
張皇 张皇 see styles |
zhāng huáng zhang1 huang2 chang huang |
alarmed; flustered |
愛皇 see styles |
aiko あいこ |
(female given name) Aiko |
教皇 see styles |
jiào huáng jiao4 huang2 chiao huang kyoukou; kyouou / kyoko; kyoo きょうこう; きょうおう |
Roman Catholic pope; Supreme Pontiff Pope |
新皇 see styles |
shinnou / shinno しんのう |
(rare) (See 新帝) new emperor |
旁皇 see styles |
páng huáng pang2 huang2 p`ang huang pang huang |
variant of 彷徨[pang2huang2] |
有皇 see styles |
arisu ありす |
(female given name) Arisu |
朋皇 see styles |
tomimi とみみ |
(female given name) Tomimi |
梵皇 see styles |
fàn huáng fan4 huang2 fan huang bonkō |
The Indian Emperor, Buddha. |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Emperor | 皇 | kou / ko | huáng / huang2 / huang | |
Emperor | 皇帝 | koutei / kotei | huáng dì / huang2 di4 / huang di / huangdi | huang ti / huangti |
Emperor of Japan | 天皇 | ten nou / tennou / ten no | tiān huáng tian1 huang2 tian huang tianhuang | t`ien huang tienhuang tien huang |
Empress | 皇后 | kou gou / kougou / ko go | huáng hòu huang2 hou4 huang hou huanghou | |
Sun Goddess | 天照皇大神 | amaterasuoomikami amaterasuomikami | tiān zhào huáng dà shén tian1 zhao4 huang2 da4 shen2 tian zhao huang da shen tianzhaohuangdashen | t`ien chao huang ta shen tienchaohuangtashen tien chao huang ta shen |
Heaven Rewards Hard Work | 皇天不負苦心人 皇天不负苦心人 | huáng tiān bù fù kǔ xīn rén huang2 tian1 bu4 fu4 ku3 xin1 ren2 huang tian bu fu ku xin ren huangtianbufukuxinren | huang t`ien pu fu k`u hsin jen huangtienpufukuhsinjen huang tien pu fu ku hsin jen |
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In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. |
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All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.
There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.
Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.
The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.
Check out my lists of Japanese Kanji Calligraphy Wall Scrolls and Old Korean Hanja Calligraphy Wall Scrolls.