From 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang swept away the Six Kingdoms and unified the world. By 1912, Puyi, the last feudal emperor in Chinese history, was overthrown by the Xinhai Revolution and announced his abdication. China's history has experienced a total of 83 dynasties, with a total duration of 2132 years. It can be seen from this that almost every feudal dynasty has its lifespan, ranging from hundreds of years to short years.
There are many reasons for this phenomenon. For example, it is related to the corruption of the dynasty itself, of course, the more important reason is that "absolute power leads to absolute competition", as long as the supreme imperial power is extremely tempting for anyone, and the princes will not hesitate to fight each other in order to ascend to the throne.
At the same time, there were foreign relatives, eunuchs, powerful courtiers, warlords from all sides. All are staring at the throne, as long as there is a little wind and grass, they will also turn you back and ascend to the throne by themselves. Such a phenomenon is not uncommon in history, which is why the feudal system that doomed the imperial dictatorship was to be overthrown.
This phenomenon is true not only in China, but also in the history of the world, in almost any country's feudal dynasty. However, it is strange that the Japanese Imperial Family has lived for 2679 years, which has lasted for 126 generations and has existed to this day. Many people may wonder why no one has grabbed the throne for so many years.
Then the first thing that has to be mentioned is the name of this dynasty " Chrysanthemum Dynasty ", according to the "Nihon Shoki" record, the first generation of Japanese emperors, Emperor Kammu, came to the throne in 660 BC, and now this dynasty has inherited 126 generations of emperors. It is the longest-standing dynasty in the history of the world and the only dynasty in Japan to date.
As for why the Japanese imperial family can last so long, the reasons are naturally multifaceted. First of all, we know that Japan's natural sea-ring terrain is like a natural barrier against the invasion of various countries. Moreover, ancient naval warfare was not very strong, and they would not choose to risk various dangers to attack uncertain countries. Legend has it that at that time, Mongolia also sent troops to attack Japan twice, but it did not even come close to the coast, and it was blown back by a typhoon at sea.
Although it resisted the invasion of foreign enemies, in fact, civil unrest in Japan was also a frequent occurrence, such as the Genpei War, the Kamakura shogunate and a series of wars, when the emperor's power was almost completely overridden by the warlord shogunate. Even the emperor lost power for thousands of years.
Many people may wonder why the position of emperor is within reach. But they didn't want to kill the emperor and ascend to the throne themselves? First of all, one of the roles played by the Japanese emperor for a long time is that "gods" are not "people", and Japan has historically been a theocratic country with a system of combining administration and religion. The Emperor was proclaimed to be a descendant of the creator god Amaterasu.
At that time, the idea that the emperor was a "god" and not a man was deeply rooted in the minds of Japanese subjects and became their unwavering belief. Therefore, although the power of the "emperor" has been emptied for a time, the courtiers can still only be satisfied with the role of the actual master of the country, but they do not dare to go to the emperor themselves and thus become the focus of Wanfu's finger.
So, although by the end of World War II, the United States forced Emperor Hirohito to issue a "declaration on earth", acknowledging that the emperor is a man and not a so-called god. However, the imperial family still occupies an extremely important position in the hearts of the Japanese people, and it cannot be easily changed by a single piece of propaganda, so that the japanese emperor system is still preserved today.