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太上皇

Mandarin · pinyin Tài shàng huáng

Taishang Huang
Retired Emperor
father of the reigning emperor
fig. puppet master

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Characters in this entry

太: tài · very, too, much; big; extreme
上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
皇: huáng · royal, imperial; ruler, superior

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2 · Tai4 shang4 huang2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

taai3 soeng6 wong4

Cantonese word readings for 太上皇. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

(historical) reigning emperor's father, especially one who abdicated in favour of his son, retired emperor
(figurative) overlord

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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