Hegemony titles and how to form one

Hegemony is the rank above emperor

Titles in CK3 climb from county to duchy, kingdom, and empire. All Under Heaven, released 28 Oct 2025, added one more rung: the hegemony. The holder is a hegemon. In China the hegemon is called Huangdi.

Dev Diary 172 gave the reason. China's de jure realm is larger than any one empire on the map. So China got its own tier, with several empires under it. Five Chinese de jure empires sit inside the Chinese hegemony.

A hegemony follows the same title rules as the rank below it. Your highest title sets your rank, and the heir rules on that title decide what passes on. Read the succession crash course before you put a hegemony title in a realm that still splits between sons. Your rank also sets the domain limit, and a hegemon adds the most.

There is no generic button to create a hegemony. Each title outside China comes from one decision with its own rules. The Silk and Silver guide and the Chapter V guide cover what the next expansion adds on top.

• Succession crash course
• Domain and economy
• Beginner start

Every hegemony title in patch 1.20.1.2

Patch 1.20.1.2 defines six hegemony titles. Only China is on the map when a game starts. The other five appear only when a ruler takes the decision that creates them.

Two of the six are Roman. The Roman Empire comes from Restore the Roman Empire. The Eastern Roman Empire is split off from it later by the Cleave the Empire decision. The Kingdom of Heaven arrived with By God Alone on 30 Sep 2026.

One more path makes a hegemony that is not on this list. A Greatest of Khans can take Reform the Great Khaganate and gain a new hegemony-tier title over the steppe. It is built during the game, so it has no fixed title ID.

The Ledger, added in patch 1.19, has a hegemonies tab on its Titles page. Open it to see which hegemonies exist in your game right now.

CK3 Database, empire and hegemony title IDs, patch 1.20.1.2

Who holds China at each start date

In 867 the hegemony is named Tang, and Emperor Yizong of Tang holds it. The Dynastic Cycle starts in an unstable era. The Tang collapse in history around 907, so a long 867 campaign often passes through a Division era.

The 1066 bookmark for China is Song of Splendor, dated 15 Sep 1066. Yingzong of Song holds the hegemony, with the capital at Bianzhou (Kaifeng). The bookmark card offers Qin Guan, Prefect Su Shi, and Queen Liang Luoyao among its seats.

In 1178 the Song have lost the north. Xiaozong of Song holds the hegemony from Hangzhou and rules the south. Emperor Shizong of Jin holds the Jin empire in the north. Jin is an empire, not a hegemony.

The new Chinese hegemony realm page covers the realm itself. This guide covers the title rules.

• Chinese hegemony
• The first 100 years

Become the Son of Heaven: the Dynastic Cycle

China's hegemony changes hands through the Dynastic Cycle. A stable era can last a long time. An unstable era follows when the ruling house falters. If it slides into the Division era, the Hegemony of China title is destroyed and the emperor's vassals become independent.

In the Division era, any independent ruler in the cycle can race for the throne. Claim the Mandate of Heaven becomes valid once you control at least 51 percent of China's de jure counties. Counties held by your tributaries count. You must be at peace. The decision gives you the hegemony title and lets you pick the next stable era.

The holder can also lose the title without a war. Patch 1.18.0.1 forces an emperor who holds less than 30 percent of de jure China into the Division era. A new house inheriting the title is also an instant catalyst toward instability. Keep land and keep your heir inside the house.

A conqueror from outside can take China too. If the title goes to a ruler without Celestial government or without Chinese heritage, a Conquest era starts and that ruler's government becomes Celestial.

• Chinese hegemony
• Warfare basics

Playing inside China: Celestial government

The Chinese hegemony runs on Celestial government. It builds on the administrative government from Roads to Power, which the government guide covers. Governors do not own their land the feudal way. They rise by Merit, sit Imperial Examinations, and are paid from the Imperial Treasury.

Merit is a score, not a currency. It decides who gets a governorship, and a very high Merit Rank opens the ministries around the throne. Families have Powerful Family Aspirations. The Ritual aspiration gives more experience in Confucian Education, the trait the examination system leans on.

Watch for Burdened. It cuts monthly Merit by 30 percent and slows experience for the Governor trait by 30 percent. A Burdened heir is a weak candidate in a Merit realm. The education guide covers raising a better one.

You do not need to be the emperor to play China. A governor or house head can climb, serve as a minister, and wait for the Dynastic Cycle to open a chance at the Mandate.

• Confucian Education
• Burdened
• Governor
• Feudal, clan, and tribal

Restoring Rome as a hegemony

Restore the Roman Empire now creates a hegemony. Three versions exist. The holder of the Byzantine Empire sees one. The holder of the Holy Roman Empire sees another. The holder of Italia sees a third after unifying Italy. The decision can be taken once per game.

All three ask the same things. You need the top prestige level, prestige level 5. Your religion must be Abrahamic or Hellenic, or your heritage Latin or Byzantine. You must completely control 15 duchies: Latium, Venice, Romagna, Sicily, Genoa, Capua, Apulia, Thrace, Antioch, Palestine, Alexandria, Athens, Tunis, Croatia, and Thessalonika. Feudal, clan, republic, and administrative rulers qualify.

Taking it makes you holder of the Roman Empire hegemony and gives you the Augustus trait. The empires you hold become its de jure parts. The Crown of Justinian asks for the Byzantine Empire or the Roman Empire, so a restored Rome can still use it.

With Roads to Power, a Roman emperor can later take Cleave the Empire. It needs a realm of 150 counties, your capital in Rome, and the county of Byzantion. The Eastern Roman Empire hegemony goes to another powerful family head, or the strongest vassal, with a 10 year truce. Your own title becomes the Western Roman Empire.

• Byzantine Empire
• Holy Roman Empire
• Augustus
• Crown of Justinian

India, Dar al-Islam, and the Kingdom of Heaven

Become Chakravarti creates India. It is shown to a king or higher who follows Buddhism, Hinduism, or Jainism and has a capital in India. You must completely control Rajasthan, the Deccan Empire, and Pracya, and reach piety level 5. It costs 500 piety plus gold. You gain the Chakravarti trait and two prestige levels, and the three empires become de jure parts of India.

Establish the Dar al-Islam is for an Islamic head of faith. You need two empire titles, the temporal head doctrine, prestige level 4, and piety level 5. You must completely control Arabia, Syria, Persia, and Northern Africa, and hold 70 percent of all Islamic counties. It costs 1,500 piety. You become head of every Islamic faith that does not see yours as hostile or evil.

Proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven needs By God Alone and a Christian head of faith. The Christian Church situation must be in its Crusade chapter. You need Jerusalem in your realm, 3 holy sites, no one in your faith at a higher piety level, and half of your faith's counties. The faith guide covers the Christian situation. It costs 1,000 piety.

Two of these feed your dynasty directly. The Dar al-Islam adds 5,000 dynasty prestige. The Kingdom of Heaven adds 10,000. Dynasty prestige is renown, which the dynasty guide spends on legacies.

• Chakravarti
• By God Alone
• Faith and conversion
• Dynasty and renown

Temujin and the Great Khaganate

The steppe has its own road. With Khans of the Steppe, the dynasty of the first Greatest of Khans can take Reform the Great Khaganate. Its tooltip gives you a new hegemony-tier title, with all your lands in the Great Steppe as its de jure. The decision also offers a new government for the realm.

The requirements are steep. The reformer must be independent, nomadic, and at the top nomadic authority law. They need high legitimacy and prestige levels, an empire title, and a huge realm. There is a deadline year. Miss it, and the Greatest of Khans bonuses can be lost.

Temujin in 1178 is the natural start for this run. He begins as a 16-year-old chieftain with four counties. The government guide covers nomadic rule, and warfare basics covers the wars on the way.

The steppe can also take China. The Mongol Invasion can end in a Celestial Yuan hegemon holding all of China. A Greatest of Khans who claims the Mandate of Heaven ends his steppe story and rules China instead.

• Temujin
• Greatest of Khans
• Warfare basics

Rules that change for a hegemon

A hegemon cannot use Negotiate Alliance, and nobody can use it on a hegemon. Marriage still makes alliances. A match with a hegemon's close family still binds you, so plan those weddings with the marriage guide.

Only a ruler of emperor rank or above can call a hegemon into a war. A king allied to a hegemon by marriage cannot drag it into a local war.

The tier modifier is larger than an emperor's. A hegemon adds 5 to the domain limit, 80 to the vassal limit, and 9 knights. Enemy schemes against a hegemon lose 40 secrecy. Since patch 1.19 a hegemony also expects more court grandeur than an empire, which matters if you run a royal court.

Big realms bring border wars. A hegemony-tier top liege turns on the Border Policy law, so neighbors can attack your outer vassals without fighting you first. Outside rulers can also become your tributaries. Every hegemony supports Hegemonic Tributaries since patch 1.18.2.

GitHub mirror of CK3 1.20.1.2 game files, tier modifiers and alliance interactions

• Marriage and alliances
• Domain and economy
• Royal court
• Intrigue and hooks

What you need

All Under Heaven is the expansion that adds the hegemony tier, China, and the Celestial government. Steam dates it to 28 Oct 2025 and listed it at 29.99 USD on 9 Nov 2026. Claim the Mandate of Heaven needs it.

Other routes ask for other packs. Cleave the Empire needs Roads to Power. Proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven needs By God Alone. Reform the Great Khaganate needs Khans of the Steppe. In the 1.20.1.2 files, Restore the Roman Empire, Become Chakravarti, and Establish the Dar al-Islam carry no DLC check.

Silk and Silver, due 17 Nov 2026, adds trade routes by rank. Its Dev Diary 8 gives a hegemon 4 distribution routes, one more than an emperor. The Silk and Silver guide tracks the release.

Moving a late save into Europa Universalis V is covered by the EU5 converter guide. Shorter answers sit in the CK3 FAQ, and every source on this hub is on the sources page.

• Chinese hegemonyTang and Song China by start date
• Byzantine EmpireThe usual start for Restore the Roman Empire
• Silk and SilverTrade routes by rank, due 17 Nov 2026

• Silk and Silver
• EU5 converter
• CK3 FAQ
• Sources