We know that there are still many countries in the world that retain the royal family, although today's royal family usually exists only as a bright business card, but everyone's attention to it is still very high, like the British royal family. The British royal family belonged to the Windsor Dynasty, and the predecessor of the Windsor Dynasty was the Saxe-Coburg-Gotha Dynasty, and its history began in 1826, 194 years ago.
The history of 194 is not very long for a dynasty. Dynasties are the product of ancient monarchies, and in Chinese history, many great unified dynasties have a history of more than 194 years – such as the Han Dynasty, such as the Tang Dynasty, such as the Qing Dynasty. However, each generation of dynasties eventually "flourished and declined" and declined, and the feudal imperial system was completely annihilated in the long river of history.
However, there is such a dynasty in the world, known as the "longest-lived dynasty in history", which has been passed down to 126 emperors in 2680 and has continued to this day, such data makes people feel unbelievable at a glance. And this dynasty is the "Chrysanthemum Dynasty" of Japan. According to the Nihon Shoki, the earliest chronicle of Japanese history, the history of the "Chrysanthemum Dynasty" began in the Spring and Autumn Period of China.
Why is it called "Chrysanthemum Dynasty"? Because chrysanthemums have been highly sought after being introduced to Japan from China, Japan, which was deeply influenced by the culture of the Tang Dynasty in China, regarded chrysanthemums as noble flowers, which were not only associated with Bushido, but also became a spiritual symbol of the Japanese imperial family, so the emblem of the Japanese imperial family was also painted with chrysanthemums.
Usually, when a royal family falls, the dynasty it establishes disappears. From the perspective of Japan's imperial inheritance, Japan's dynasties have indeed not changed, and have been passed down by the same royal family, which is the longest-lasting dynasty in the world. However, Japan's claim to be a "lineage of ten thousand generations" is somewhat exaggerated, because the history of the "Chrysanthemum Dynasty" is inherently problematic.
The reason is simple, the first emperor of the "Chrysanthemum Dynasty" recorded in Japanese history books was Emperor Shenmu, who established the dynasty in 660 BC. But in fact, at that time, China's first feudal dynasty (Qin Dynasty) was not established, and Japan was even more barbaric, and people still lived in semi-crypt houses, living by hunting and collecting plants, and living a primitive tribal life.
And the existence of Emperor Shinmu has no archaeological data to confirm, he is a descendant of the Sun God "Amaterasu" in Japanese myths and legends, since the beginning of the 9 generations of "Emperors" are living in the legend, until the 10th generation of Emperor Shigejin (97 BC - 30 BC) can be regarded as archaeological data to check, the 15th generation of Emperor Inojin (270 AD - 310 AD) after the history gradually has a credibility.
The use of the title "Emperor" by The rulers of Japan began during the Meiji era (1868-1912 AD). It was also from the Meiji era that Japanese history books began to promote the "Ten Thousand Generations". In fact, the Japanese emperor family can be passed down for so long because the "dynasty" behind it does not have the true dynastic attributes at all, and there is a difference between the emperor and the Chinese emperor.
In China, no matter how the dynasty changes, the emperor always has real power, and only when the dynasty falls, the emperor's power will be divided away by people such as the powerful. However, the emperor in Japanese history existed as a "god clan" and was a spiritual symbol in people's hearts; in the distant past, Japan was also a small country, and during the shogunate period, the emperor was vacated for 682 years.
Therefore, the emperors in Japanese history are different from the emperors and kings in the history of other countries, and historical records record that Japan did not have a "Yamato Kingdom" until the 3rd century, and the leader at that time was not called "Emperor", but "Great King"; the emperor in the 17th century actually had the power to determine the name of the country. Therefore, Japan's "Chrysanthemum Dynasty" can continue to this day because it has been integrated into Japanese culture, not because its "dynastic vitality" is tenacious.