中國的皇帝制度，大概是世界上除了古埃及的法老之外，延續最久的一種君王制度。從秦朝到清朝，中國有整整兩千一百三十二年（西元前二二一年至西元一九一一年）的時間是在皇帝的統治之下。此其間，除了竊號自娛的，名正言順的皇帝就有三百五十位以上。這些「奉天承運」的真命天子，就高居中國政治社會的頂端，以天賦的威權，君臨天下。這些環繞皇帝而發展出來的制度和理念，長久以來已經成為傳統政治、社會和道德文化各方面統合的焦點，連帶的影響傳統中國的文武關係。本文就以皇帝制度為樞紐，從中觀察傳統中國的文武互動、軍民關係乃至軍事專業的發展。

Chinese emperor system is the most lasting monarchy system in the world, except the Egypt Pharaoh system. From Chin Dynasty to Ching Dynasty, the whole 2132 years, China has been under the Emperors’ control. The emperors that their mandate was from the heaven, and they were the top of the kingdom, all the political, cultural, social, and moral focus have been concentrated on the institutions and ideas that　they have developed, therefore, the civil-military relations were also effected by the system. This article tries to explore the interactions in civil-military, military-society relations, and professionalism of the traditional China by observing the emperor　system.