先主

xiānzhǔ
noun

Meanings

  1. 1 former ruler
  2. 2 founding ruler (esp. the dynasty's first emperor, contrasted with 后主 'last ruler')

Examples

《Sānguózhì》 zhōng chēng Liú Bèi wéi xiān zhǔ, Liú Shàn wéi hòu zhǔ.
In the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei is called the 'former ruler' and Liu Shan the 'latter ruler'.
Xiān zhǔ chuàngyè, hòu zhǔ shǒu chéng.
The founding ruler builds the enterprise; the successor preserves it.

Tips

history
Most famously paired in Chen Shou's 《三国》: 刘备 (Liú Bèi) is 先主 (xiān zhǔ), his son (Liú Shàn) is (hòu zhǔ). The pairing implies a small, short-lived state — only Shu Han () gets the 先主/ framing because there were just two rulers.

Stroke Order

xiān
zhǔ