The Three Kingdoms are an era of heroes, such as the divine machine calculation Kong Ming, the heroic god Wu Guan Yunchang and the last tyrant Cao Mengde, etc. Su Dongpo also lamented in the poem that there were countless heroes and heroes. Sun Quan can stand out in such an era, leaving a chapter of great color, so that his opponents praise - "give birth to a son like Sun Zhongmou", which means that when a son is born, he will give birth to him, which shows that he is a very good generation of tyrants - wise and good at planning. However, many people have commented that he is weak and widowed, why has such criticism been attached to his body and cannot be washed away?
First of all, the establishment of the State of Wu was inseparable from the investment of a lot of energy and time in the early stages of his father Sun Jian and his brother Sun Ce, if it were not for Sun Ce's accidental assassination, whether the throne would be sun quan's turn, the result is not very clear.
In addition, rumors were very loud at that time - saying that he and Sun Ce had a good relationship and often followed Sun Ce out to fight, and Sun Ce often shared with him that Jiangshan would be shared with him later, and the speaker had no intention of listening to the heart, and planted the seeds of Sun Quan's ambitions when he came and went.
Sun Ce treated him with such sincerity and sincerity, out of the consideration of letting his brother inherit the throne in a justified way, at such a critical moment after being stabbed, he did not forget to tell his confidants to let him succeed to the throne. After Sun Quan ascended the throne, he posthumously crowned his father as emperor and honored him as the first ancestor; Sun Ce was only a king, and the difference between a king and an emperor does not need to be repeated by the author, right? No wonder some people say he is weak and unkind.
So why did Sun Quan leave a "ungrateful" handle?
Let's first analyze the reasons why Sun Quan did this from the political situation at that time. First of all, Sun Quan was Sun Ce's younger brother, and it is reasonable to say that the succession to the throne has long followed the principle of father and son succession, but at this time, Sun Quan is the brother who died according to Sun Ce's will and became the emperor.
Sun Ce's decision to let Sun Quan inherit the throne before his death was also thought for a long time, which can also be regarded as the protection of his fledgling son. At this time, there is a figure that cannot be ignored in front of us, that is, Sun Ce's son, once Sun Ce is posthumously crowned as emperor, Sun Ce's son also becomes the orthodox succession to the throne, which is not only to sow dangerous seeds for himself, but also not conducive to the smooth succession of his son Sun Shao.
Who wouldn't want their son to inherit the country he had laid down? Who would want the country they have built to be re-divided by internal entanglements? Then didn't Sun Jian and Sun Ce work in vain? Therefore, in order to make his own bloodline the emperor forever, Sun Quan also had to and must make Sun Ce king.
Many of us have heard the names of Sun Ce and Sun Quan, and none of them seem to know their brothers in particular. In fact, at that time, their brother Sun Lang was also a big threat. If Sun Quan really posthumously crowned Sun Ce as emperor, it means that he admits that he has adopted the principle of brother and brother in succession to the throne, doesn't this give Sun Lang the title of wanting to try to be emperor? Wouldn't Sun Lang have thought: Sun Quan took the throne from his elder brother Sun Ce, why can't I? In order to maintain the throne or rotate according to the principle of father and son succession, Sun Quan must make Sun Ce king.
In addition, let's take a look at the ritual system of the Jongmyo temple at that time.
According to ancient texts, the Son of Heaven deserves to enjoy the Seven Temples, the princes deserve to enjoy the Five Temples, the Doctor deserves to enjoy the Three Temples, the Scholar deserves to enjoy one temple, and the Shu people have no temple, and the decrease in the number is clear at a glance. Later generations also used this criterion to distinguish between blood relatives and bloodlines. The ancestors are in the middle of the temple, and the descendants are listed on the left and right, with Mu on the right and Zhao on the left.
The more specific division according to the criteria of blood affinity and bloodline is: the first ancestor is Mu, and the first heir of the first ancestor is Zhao; the third generation of the ancestor is Mu again; and the great-grandson of the first ancestor is Zhao. From this we can conclude the rule that father and son must be one Mu and one Zhao, and father and son cannot be listed in the same column; but the grandchildren must always maintain the same formation. At this time, one thing is very clear, that is, if father and son are honored as emperors at the same time, but if they follow the brothers and brothers, they will break the strict order of zhaomu.
Let's look at the problems faced by Sun Quan at that time, if Sun Ce is posthumously crowned as king, the Zhaomu sequence is in line with the traditional standard of different columns of father and son and the same column of descendants. However, if Sun Ce is posthumously crowned as emperor, the arrangement of the Zhaomu sequence does not conform to the traditional system of ritual sacrifice in the temple.
It cannot be said that Sun Quan posthumously crowned Sun Ce as king without consideration in this regard. In addition, after posthumously appointing Sun Ce as emperor, it is obvious that Sun Ce's son will pose a threat to Sun Quan's son Sun Shao, which is not conducive to the peaceful transition of the domestic imperial succession, and it is likely to lead to the division of the country and the failure of the country, so that the bamboo basket will be empty, the blood will be in vain, and the head will be thrown away. This should be something that the Sun family does not want to see.
There is also a sentence that is very familiar, goods have to be thrown away, people have to die more than people, and Sun Quan's reputation for being weak and widowed is also inseparable from Sima Yan's background. Because Sima Yan posthumously named his uncle Sima Shi as emperor, he not only posthumously sealed his father. Didn't he have the ambition to let his bloodline inherit the throne forever? How could it be, there was no one with a stronger desire for power than the man who was emperor. So why did he dare to posthumously crown his uncle as emperor? The reason is actually very simple, that is, Sima Shi only has daughters and no sons, so naturally he does not have to worry about the problem of inheritance rights.
Therefore, there are many reasons for Sun Quan's reputation for being weak and widowed, although Sun Quan certainly has his own selfish intentions, but it is also forced by the situation. Therefore, we should not simply analyze a historical figure from the surface, but strive to excavate the truth behind it, so as not to lose fairness, and only then can we learn the real way of making a living and great wisdom from historical figures.