Retired Emperor

Retired Emperor
Chinese name
Chinese太上皇
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTàishàng huáng
Wade–GilesT'ai4-shang4 Huang2
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese alphabetThái thượng hoàng
Chữ Hán太上皇
Korean name
Hangul태상황
Hanja太上皇
Transcriptions
Revised Romanizationtaesanghwang
Japanese name
Kanji太上天皇
Hiraganaだいじょうてんのう
だじょうてんのう
Transcriptions
Revised HepburnDaijō Tennō
Dajō Tennō
Kunrei-shikiDaizyô Tennô
Dazyô Tennô

Retired Emperor, Grand Emperor, or Emperor Emeritus is a title occasionally used by the monarchical regimes in the Sinosphere for former emperors who had (at least in name) abdicated voluntarily to another member of the same dynasty, usually their sons. This title appeared in the history of China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Although technically no longer the reigning sovereign, there were instances like the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty of China or several emperors of the Trần dynasty of Vietnam, where the retired emperor continued to exert considerable if not more power than the reigning emperor.