Sun Quan was proclaimed empress dowager, and posthumously named his father Sun Jian the Emperor of Wulie, the ancestor of the temple, which was the common practice of the founding emperors in ancient times, reflecting the rationality and inheritance of his imperial throne.
However, Sun Quan's power comes directly from his elder brother Sun Ce, and from the reality of Sun Quan, Sun Quan is the "third generation" of the Sun clique, and the first generation of Sun Jian has been posthumously sealed, and the second generation of Sun Ce should also enjoy this honor; logically speaking, without Sun Ce, there would be no Sun Quan later, and if Sun Ce wanted to be posthumously sealed, Sun Ce should also be posthumously sealed.
However, Sun Quan did not do this, and only posthumously named Sun Ce the King of Changsha Huan, and there was an essential difference between the king and the emperor, and Sun Quan's approach was naturally questioned by some people.
But Sun Quan did this is no problem, the ancient temple sacrifice implements the Zhaomu system, the temple system stipulates, tianzi set up seven temples, princes set up five temples, Dafu set up three temples, Shi Li one temple, Shu people no temple, in order to distinguish between relatives and nobles. The Zhou Li records: "Discern the zhaomu of the temple." Zheng Xuan commented: "Since the first ancestor, the father is Zhao and the son is Mu. This means that the ancestor is centered in the temple, and the following descendants are arranged in two columns, the left is Zhao, and the right is Mu.
The specific situation is: the first ancestor is Mu, the son of the first ancestor is Zhao; the grandson of the first ancestor is Mu; the son of the first ancestor is Zhao; and the grandson of the first ancestor is Mu. In the Zhaomu arrangement, it is usually a descending single-line arrangement to ensure that the father and son are always in different columns and avoid the embarrassment of "standing side by side", while the grandchildren are always in the same column. At this time, if there is an extra peer in the middle, it will disrupt the order of Zhaomu.
Taking the Sun clan as an example, Sun Jian is Mu, Sun Quan is Zhao, Sun Quan's son is Mu, and Sun Quan's grandson is Zhao, which is the normal sequence. If a Sun Ce is inserted in front, the situation changes, Sun Jian is Mu, Sun Jian is Zhao, Sun Quan is Mu, and Sun Quan is the same as His father, which is not in line with the convention.
This is not only a matter of ceremony, but also a realistic consideration. If the brother is posthumously recognized as the emperor, then the brother's son also has the right to inherit the imperial throne, specific to Sun Ce, his son Sun Shao and sun Quan's sons can also legally ascend to the throne, which is easy to cause internal divisions. Therefore, whether considered from the perspective of the general system or reality, Sun Quan's approach is no problem.
Then, how can Sima Yan, the founding emperor of the Jin Dynasty, posthumously enfeoff three late emperors, namely Sima Yi, the Jin Xuan Emperor, Sima Shi, the Jin Jing Emperor, and Sima Zhao, the Jin Wen Emperor?
Sima Yi was Sima Yan's grandfather, Sima Shi was Sima Yan's uncle, and Sima Zhao was Sima Yan's father, and the temples of the Jin Dynasty after this posthumous title were arranged as follows: Sima Yi was Mu, Sima Shi was Zhao; Sima Zhao was Mu, and Sima Yan was Zhao. If you arrange it like this, it is indeed a bit chaotic.
How did Sima Yan think about it? In fact, the consideration of the Order of Zhao Mu is still secondary to him, and there is a more important issue, that is, determining who is the ancestor. The ancestor is Taizu, and Sima Yan certainly hopes that his father Sima Zhao can be the ancestor, but everyone knows that the foundation of the Jin Dynasty is inseparable from his grandfather Sima Yi and his uncle Sima Shi, and if Sima Yan excludes the two from Zhaomu, he will inevitably be questioned.
Therefore, Sima Yan determined this seven-temple system: the sixth ancestor Sima Jun, the fifth ancestor Sima Liang, the high ancestor Sima Jun, the great-grandfather Sima Fang, the Zuxuan Emperor Sima Yi, the father Jing Emperor Sima Shi, and the father Emperor Wen Sima Zhao. The above six are combined as "Three Zhao and Three Mu", but the "Taizu Virtual Position", that is, it is simply not clearly defined as Taizu.
This is from the institutional considerations, from the practical considerations, Sima Yan posthumously crowned his uncle Sima Shi as emperor, is not worried that his descendants have the right to inherit the imperial throne? There is no need to worry about this, because Sima Shi only has 5 daughters and no sons.