Retired Emperor, Grand Emperor, or Emperor Emeritus is a title occasionally used by the monarchical regimes in the

Sinosphere The East Asian cultural sphere, also known as the Sinosphere, the Sinic world, the Sinitic world, the Chinese cultural sphere, the Chinese character sphere encompasses multiple countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia that were historically ...

for former

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

s who had (at least in name) abdicated voluntarily to another member of the same clan, usually their sons. This title appeared in the history of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

, and

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

. Although technically no longer the reigning sovereign, there were instances like the

Qianlong Emperor The Qianlong Emperor (25 September 17117 February 1799), also known by his temple name Emperor Gaozong of Qing, born Hongli, was the fifth Emperor of the Qing dynasty and the fourth Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1735 t ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

of China or several emperors of the

Trần dynasty The Trần dynasty, (Vietnamese: Nhà Trần, chữ Nôm: 茹陳）also known as the House of Trần, was a Vietnamese dynasty that ruled over the Kingdom of Đại Việt from 1225 to 1400. The dynasty was founded when emperor Trần Thái T ...

of Vietnam, where the emperor continued to exert considerable if not more power than the reigning emperor. Ancient Chinese institutions Ancient_Japanese_institutions

China

The title is named in

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

as Taishang Huang (). The title originated, however, from Liu Bang (Emperor Gao of Han)'s father

Liu Taigong Liu Taigong (), personal name Liu Tuan (), was the father of Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu of Han). Biography Not much is recorded about Taigong historically. He was born and likely lived his early life in present-day Feng County, Jiangsu. His personal ...

,Liu Taigong is a common reference to him, but not his name. His name is disputed. who was honored as such after Liu Bang declared himself emperor in 202, even though Liu Taigong was never emperor himself.

Japan

the title was '' Daijō-tennō'' (

kanji are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese family of scripts, Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese language, Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese ...

: 太上天皇;

Hepburn Hepburn may refer to: Surname People with the surname Hepburn (the most famous in recent times being actresses Katharine Hepburn and Audrey Hepburn): * Hepburn (surname) Linguistics * Hepburn romanization, a system for the romanization of Japa ...

: daijō-tennō), or just ''Jōkō'' (

: 上皇;

: jōkō). In Japan, there was a political system called

Cloistered rule was a form of government in Japan during the Heian period. In this bifurcated system, an emperor abdicated, but retained power and influence. Those retired emperors who withdrew to live in monasteries (''in'') continued to act in ways intended to ...

, in which ''Jōkō'' exerted power and influence from behind the scenes even after retirement.

Korea

n the title was ''Sang-hwang'' (

Hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 상황;

Hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: 上皇), or sometimes even ''Taesang-hwang'' (

hangul The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...

: 태상황;

hanja Hanja (Hangul: ; Hanja: , ), alternatively known as Hancha, are Chinese characters () used in the writing of Korean. Hanja was used as early as the Gojoseon period, the first ever Korean kingdom. (, ) refers to Sino-Korean vocabulary, wh ...

: 太上皇). After 1897, when the

Joseon Dynasty Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

became the dynasty of the

Korean Empire The Korean Empire () was a Korean monarchical state proclaimed in October 1897 by Emperor Gojong of the Joseon dynasty. The empire stood until Japan's annexation of Korea in August 1910. During the Korean Empire, Emperor Gojong oversaw the Gwa ...

, only two emperors were still to ascend to the throne. One was Emperor Gojong, who was forced to abdicate by the Japanese in 1907. However, he was given the title ''Tae-hwangje'' (

: 태황제;

: 太皇帝). also another emperor was

Emperor Sunjong Sunjong, the Emperor Yunghui (; 25 March 1874 – 24 April 1926), was the second and the last Emperor of Korea, of the Yi dynasty, ruling from 1907 until 1910. Biography Crown Prince of Korea Sunjong was the second son of Emperor Gojong a ...

. but after the Japan-Korea Annexation Treaty of 1910, the Imperial Household was demoted by the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent fo ...

Vietnam

the title was ''

Thái thượng hoàng This article lists the monarchs of Vietnam. Under the emperor at home, king abroad system used by later dynasties, Vietnamese monarchs would use the title of ''emperor'' (皇帝, Hoàng đế; or other equivalents) domestically, and the more comm ...

'' (

Chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters (''Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represented ...

: 太上皇), or just ''Thượng Hoàng'' (

chữ Nôm Chữ Nôm (, ; ) is a logographic writing system formerly used to write the Vietnamese language. It uses Chinese characters (''Chữ Hán'') to represent Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary and some native Vietnamese words, with other words represented ...

: 上皇). Many there have been many prominent ''Thái thượng hoàng'' throughout the history of Vietnam, most of them was of the Trần dynasty, one of the golden ages of Vietnam.

Trần Thái Tổ Trần (陳) or Tran is a common Vietnamese surname. More than 10% of all Vietnamese people share this surname. It is derived from the common Chinese surname Chen. History The Tran ruled the Trần dynasty, a golden era in Vietnam, and succe ...

(陳太祖) was the first ''Thái thượng hoàng'' of the

, the father of

Trần Thái Tông Trần Thái Tông (17 July 1218 – 5 May 1277), personal name Trần Cảnh or Trần Nhật Cảnh, temple name Thái Tông, was the first emperor of the Trần dynasty, reigned Đại Việt for 33 years (1226–58), being Retired Emperor f ...

(陳太宗) who had great contributions to the rise of the dynasty, was one of two ''Thái thượng hoàng'' in Vietnam's history who had not previously been Emperor. Another well-known Retired Emperor is Trần Nhân Tông (陳仁宗) of the same dynasty, whose reign was marked by multiple decisive victories over the invading Mongol-dominated Yuan dynasty, and was also the founder of Trúc Lâm Yên Tử (竹林安子), a Vietnamese zen Buddhist sect. ''Thái Thượng Hoàng'' typically hold significant power and influence over the Imperial Court and the governing of the country, though it was not the case for the

Revival Lê dynasty The Revival Lê dynasty ( vi, Nhà Lê trung hưng 茹黎中興; Hán-Việt: 黎中興朝 ''Lê trung hưng triều''), also called the Later Lê Restoration, was a Vietnamese dynasty that existed between 1533 and 1789. The Primal Lê dynasty (1 ...

, as

Trịnh lords The Trịnh lords ( vi, Chúa Trịnh; Chữ Nôm: 主鄭; 1545–1787), formal title Trịnh Viceroy (; ), also known as Trịnh clan (鄭氏, ''Trịnh thị'') or the House of Trịnh, were a noble feudal clan who de facto ruled Northern Viet ...

held real governing power while the Emperor was only a figurehead, making the power of Retired Emperors even more insignificant.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Retired Emperor (Title) Titles Chinese royal titles History of Imperial China History of Japan History of Korea History of Vietnam Ancient Korean institutions

China

Japan

Korea

Vietnam

See also

Notes