emperor

帝 is a pictograph of a wooden altar frame. In ancient times, people bundled firewood, placed sacrificial offerings on top, and set them ablaze so the rising smoke would reach the gods. Thus, the original meaning of 帝 was a sacrificial ritual to Heaven, though this meaning was later taken over by the character 禘. Because the object of this worship was the supreme deity, ancients directly used 帝 to represent the ruler of the universe. Later, earthly rulers—eager to emphasize that their authority was divinely ordained—adopted 帝 as their own title.