The title Emperor of China - in Chinese, Huángdì - refers to any sovereign of Imperial China reigning between the founding of China, united by the King of Qin in 221 BCE, and the fall of Yuan Shi Kai's short-lived Empire of China in 1916. When referred to as the Son of Heaven - tianzi - a title that predates the Qin unification and includes the legendary dynasties, the Emperor was recognized as the ruler of 'All Under Heaven' (that is, the world). Notionally, such rulers enjoyed the 'Mandate of Heaven'.

Chinese civilization originated in various regional centers along both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River valleys in the Neolithic era, but the Yellow River is considered to be the Cradle of Chinese Civilization. The written history of China can be found as early as the Shang Dynasty (c. 1700 – c. 1046 BC),   although ancient historical texts such as the Records of the Grand Historian (ca. 100 BC) and Bamboo Annals assert the existence of a legendary Xia Dynasty before the Shang. 

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