It's been reported that President Xi Jinping is to become the most powerful Chinese leader since Deng Xiaoping. Besides controlling the three most important organs of the state - the Communist Party, the government and the military - Xi will directly oversee the economy and internal security through two new bodies.

Despite their exalted, almost divine status, many Chinese emperors weren't as powerful as that. Most relied on their officials, especially the prime minister, to run the empire. Outside the capital, viceroys, governors and military commanders had their own power bases and armies, and emperors often had to strike a delicate balance between stern authority and placatory indulgence with them. And then there were family members, from princely brothers and uncles to the relatives of empresses and consorts, who all too often undermined the authority of the emperors.

Few emperors had the intelligence, political acumen and personal charisma to "hold it all together" and still rule effectively. Some, such as Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), took drastic measures to shore up imperial authority. He abolished the office of prime minister, set up a secret police force that reported directly to the throne and subjected senior officials to humiliating ordeals such as public floggings with their trousers down.