This is the emperor's temple name, which contains the emperor's great achievements during his lifetime.
Let’s give an example:
For example, Li Yuan was the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, so Li Yuan’s temple name has the word "ancestor". The following is about I hope it will be helpful to you with some knowledge about the temple names of emperors
For example, the temple name Shizu is not, but Kangxi is the holy ancestor who made outstanding contributions to the Qing Dynasty
--- ------------------
Since the pre-Qin period, posthumous titles for emperors and ministers have been implemented, except for the Qin Dynasty, others have followed this idea. Yes, now, I will briefly talk about my own experience. Please correct me if I am inappropriate.
Qin Shihuang believed that the emperor’s posthumous titles were “Son Yis Father” and “Minister Yijun”, so it could not be abolished. This typical one-man thieves could not even trust his own son, and even after his death, he still wanted to control the world. Man's tongue, therefore, will inevitably perish in his lifetime. Although Liu Bang was a rogue, his power was far superior to that of the First Emperor. Therefore, the Han Dynasty restored the posthumous title system. Not only that, Liu Bang also visited the grave of Chen Shengji, the king of Chu Yin who died in unknown circumstances. It set a good precedent, which at least allowed people to see the magnanimity of this emperor who ruled over all nations. Therefore, later generations think that Shi Qian dared to list Xiang Yu as a chronicler as the first courage of historians. In fact, Liu Bang's strength was not there either. Under Tai Shigong.
Let’s talk about the temple name first. The emperor's temple name was not given casually, but was very particular. Although it was restricted by the Zhaomu system, it was also a necessity of feudal etiquette. Therefore, only six or seven of the twelve emperors of the Western Han Dynasty had temple names. What is particularly funny is that Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty, who was known as the "Government of Wenjing" and the first feudal ruler in China, did not have a temple name after his death. The reason is understandable. Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty accidentally killed Chao Cuo, violently killed Zhou Yafu, and deposed To kill Liu Rong, if there was no good father, Emperor Wen of Han, and no good son, Emperor Wu of Han, the first person to ruin the Han family would have been not Emperor Han Yuan but this dear friend. However, why Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty did not have a temple name, and history has not made a clear explanation. However, the most lively and funny thing is the Three Kingdoms era. Yousi of Wei State, who didn’t know whether he drank too much or slept, actually gave Cao Rui a temple title while he was still alive, and Cao Rui actually accepted it unsuspectingly and became a The only monarch in history who knew his temple name while the emperor himself was still alive.
1. Gaozu.
This temple name is usually given to the founding emperors, such as Liu Bang, Li Yuan, Yang Jian, etc., especially Liu Bang, who is called Han Gaozu. However, the temple name is also Taizu. Why? In fact, as long as you have read the book "Hanshu Detailed Explanation", you will know the inside. The book introduces: "The state that connects the heaven and the earth is the ancestor of Gaozu, and the honorific title is added to it. Although it is the Taizu Temple of Zhaomu, it is also the ancestor of Gaozu." Temple." In other words, Liu Bang is both the emperor of the Han Dynasty and the Taizu of the Han Dynasty, and Taizu is the same as Gaozu. However, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, even the emperor Shi Jingtang had to be worthy of the Gaozu Temple, which seemed a bit ridiculous. Moreover, this period was the season when the temple names of Emperor Gaozu flourished. After death, people like Liu Zhiyuan and others were all named Emperor Gaozu. Even the founder of the small country of Jier, which was in a separate corner of the country, frequently used the honor of Emperor Gaozu. Of course, the temple name itself is the business of the royal family and has no direct relationship with the size or territory.
2. Taizu.
This is the temple name of the founding emperor that has been used on a large scale since the Song and Yuan Dynasties. Although the emperor's achievements in founding the country were also given this title before, it was not as large as it was later.
3.Taizong.
This is the most important link in the so-called Zhaomu system after Taizu. In history, there are more than ten people with the posthumous title Taizong starting from Taizong of the Han Dynasty, including Taizong of the Jin Dynasty (Sima Zhao), Emperor Ming Yuan of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Ming Emperor of the Song Dynasty of the Southern Dynasty, Emperor Jian Wen of the Southern Liang Dynasty, Taizong of the Tang Dynasty, Taizong of the Song Dynasty, Taizong of the Liao Dynasty, Taizong of Jin, Taizong of Xia (Li Deming), Taizong of Yuan, Taizong of Ming, Taizong of Qing, etc. Except for a few individuals such as Emperor Ming of Song and Emperor Jianwen of Liang who could not make a difference, the others were all outstanding leaders and founders of the dynasty. Among them, Li Shimin can be called an emperor through the ages.
Ming Taizong Zhu Di was also the biggest watershed for the Ming Dynasty. Starting from him, the Ming Dynasty began to focus on managing the north, and the political center moved northward, forming the political pattern for hundreds of years. The impact is also very far-reaching. A ridiculous thing worth mentioning is that although the Western Jin Dynasty and the Eastern Jin Dynasty have the same ancestor, they actually have two Taizongs. The Taizong of the Western Jin Dynasty is Sima Zhao, while the Taizong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty is Sima Yu, Emperor Jianwen. The confusion is evident from this.
4. Sejong.
In layman's terms, the original meaning of Shizong is that the unification began from then on, and the world was founded from then on. After the death of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the temple name was Shizong, and the lineage of the Han family also began to undergo a new shift from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. , we all know that Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty originally planned to pass the throne to his eldest son Liu Rong, but it was only because of the estrangement of the eldest princess that an ordinary King of Jiaodong could inherit the throne. The following Sima Shizong of the Jin Dynasty also had the same principle. When Sima Zhao was alive, he often said: The world belongs to King Jing (referring to Sima Shi), and this seat after me belongs to Taofu (referring to his youngest son Sima You). ). It can be seen that without Sima Shi, the Western Jin Dynasty would not have been able to complete Sima Yi's legacy. After the Western Jin Dynasty, the Five Hus and Sixteen Kingdoms were unified, and the Northern Wei Dynasty unified the north. The emperor of the Northern Wei Dynasty was Emperor Xuanwu Yuan Ke. This person was an important figure who made Emperor Xiaowen's reform efforts fall short, and was also the initiator of the decline of the Northern Wei Dynasty. However, he had no possibility of becoming a prince. Yes, it was only the original prince Yuan Xun who died unexpectedly that allowed him to take advantage. Because the Tang Dynasty wanted to avoid Li Shimin's name, there was neither Shizu nor Shizong. The Song Dynasty extended the Tang Dynasty, so there was no Shizong. However, if the Song Dynasty is strictly speaking, Song Yingzong should be the Shizong of the Song Dynasty, because starting from him, the Renzong line was cut off, and the imperial line was re-transferred to the descendants of Zhenzong and below. As far as the Southern Song Dynasty is concerned, Xiaozong is also the standard of Shizong, because starting from him, the Taizong line was re-transformed into the Taizu line, which was more important. Everyone is familiar with Shizong of the Ming Dynasty and Shizong of the Qing Dynasty, so I won’t go into details. The reasons are basically the same as above. In addition, everyone knows the story of Zhou Shizong Chai Rong. So I won’t go into details. Jin Shizong and Liao Shizong also have similar meanings. Liao Shizong was the key figure in the return of the Liao imperial line to the lineage of Dongdan King Yelubei, while Jin Shizong was the one who returned the imperial line since Taizu to Zongfu. key figures in the department.
5. Shizu.
Generally, it is used as a specific temple name for the founder of dynasty history or the link between the past and the next of the dynasty. There are also those who are the founders. For example, Cao Pi of the Three Kingdoms, Sima Yan of the Western Jin Dynasty, Kublai Khan of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, etc. are all from the ancestors. Temple number. Mostly because none of them were dynasty founders. Liu Xiu was the ancestor of the Han Dynasty. After that, Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Xiaowu of the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Wu of the Southern Qi Dynasty, Emperor Wucheng of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Emperor Shizu of the Yuan Dynasty, and Emperor Shizu of the Qing Dynasty basically had this origin.
6. Gaozong.
The more interesting thing about history is that those who are posthumously named Gaozong are usually those who caused the decline of the dynasty, or are synonymous with insidiousness. The more famous ones are Song Gaozong and Qing Gaozong (the cowardly deposed Tang Gaozong and Northern Wei Dynasty) Emperor Gaozong Wencheng is an exception. In fact, he should be the ancestor of the Tang Dynasty. Emperor Gaozong Han Yuan of the Han Dynasty was extremely dim, which is the actual proof of the efficacious prediction of his father Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty. Emperor Gaozong Qi Ming of Southern Qi came to power and did nothing except massacre the descendants of Gao Wu. No matter what, even history books say that he only loves killing.
The above are the more important temple names. Let’s briefly talk about other common temple names and historical coincidences.
7. Renzong.
There are four Renzongs in the orthodox dynasties, Song Renzong, Yuan Renzong, Ming Renzong, and Qing Renzong. Generally speaking, they are all emperors above the middle level in their respective dynasties. For example, Yuan Renzong actually restored the imperial examination system. This was something that only happened during the Shizu period of the Mongolian Yuan Dynasty.
8. Yingzong and Mu Zong
This is a temple name with a lot of internal strife and troubles, and most of them are short-lived. Historically, Yingzong of the Song Dynasty and Yingzong of the Yuan Dynasty only reigned for three or four years. Yingzong of the Song Dynasty had a great ceremony, Yingzong of the Yuan Dynasty had a Nanpo Incident, which cost him his life, and Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty had two more incidents, one was the Tumubao Incident and the other was the Gate Seizing Incident. In fact, although Ming Yingzong reigned for a long time, he was only 34 years old when he died, which was about the same age as Song Yingzong. Therefore, the extremely superstitious Manchu Qing Dynasty never chose Yingzong as the temple name of the late emperor.
Most of the Muzongs were short-lived, including Muzong of the Tang Dynasty, Muzong of the Ming Dynasty and Muzong of the Qing Dynasty.
9. Shenzong and Dezong.
These two temple names are not good guys. Although they must have been carefully considered when they were given the temple names, from the perspective of historical coincidence, they are also troublesome. Song Shenzong’s Wang Anshi’s reform not only failed to solve the actual problems On the contrary, it intensified the party struggle, and everyone became more aware of what Ming Shenzong Wanli had done. Therefore, the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not choose Shenzong as the temple name. In fact, Dezong is not a good temple name. Dezong of Tang Dynasty and Dezong of Qing Dynasty both encountered chaos in their lives. Of course, these have no direct connection with the temple name itself. What is important is the actions of the dynasty and the emperor themselves.
10. Zhongzong.
Those who know the name of the Zhongzong temple usually get it from Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty. Zhongzong, as the name suggests, is the Zhongxing sect. It first started with Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, and later in the orthodox dynasties were Zhongzong of the Jin Dynasty (Emperor Yuan of the Eastern Jin Dynasty) and Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty. Among the three, except Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty who still deserves the name of ZTE, the other two are all dead. Zhongzong of the Jin Dynasty was angry to death by Wang Dun; Zhongzong of the Tang Dynasty was killed by his wife.
The reason why the feudal dynasty became feudal is that it is very superstitious from an ideological point of view, which is also an important part of feudal etiquette. For example, the temple names of Song Huizong and Song Qinzong cannot be said to have any derogatory connotations, but, Later generations no longer used such temple names to give to their late emperors. It was especially serious in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Therefore, since the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, no emperor's temple name has been named Zhongzong. Song Gaozong can be said to be the emperor who revived the Song Dynasty, but his son did not dare to give him the temple title of Zhongzong. Kangxi could be called the life-saving emperor of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. However, he did not receive the temple title of Zhongzong. Instead, he was promoted to the title of ancestor. This was also the unique etiquette of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. There were three ancestors in one dynasty (Taizu , Shizu, and Shengzu. Strictly speaking, there are actually two ancestors, because Taizu was still Hou Jin). The temple name of Ming Chengzu was later Emperor Jiajing, who believed that his status as a foreign vassal was similar to that of Emperor Taizong Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, he was honored as Chengzu and became a very famous second ancestor in the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, like Xiaozong and Xuanzong, they are known as Xiaozhi (Xiaozong of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty, Xiaozong of the Ming Dynasty, Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Xuanzong of the Ming Dynasty, etc., Xuanzong of the Qing Dynasty was a mess) and Wenzong is known as a small chaos (Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty, Wenzong of the Yuan Dynasty) , Qing Wenzong), etc. will not be introduced one by one.