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Since ancient times, people have been accustomed to using temple numbers to refer to emperors, such as Tang Taizong Li Shimin and Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, where "Taizong" and "Taizu" are the temple names of Li Shimin and Zhao Kuangyin, respectively.
The use of era names to refer to emperors was a unique phenomenon of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Before the Ming and Qing dynasties, an emperor often had multiple era names, of which the most frequent change of era numbers was Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian and his wife - Tang Gaozong Li Zhi reigned for 34 years, with a total of 14 era numbers, while Wu Zetian ruled for 21 years, with a total of 17 year numbers, and these two era names alone exceeded the sum of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, because most emperors only have one era name, they also often use era names to refer to emperors, such as the Jiajing Emperor, Wanli Emperor, Chongzhen Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the Kangxi Emperor, Yongzheng Emperor, and Qianlong Emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the title of the emperor was often used together with the temple number and the year number, and there was only one exception for the 16 emperors of the Ming Dynasty, that is, Zhu Yunjiao, who although he was the orthodox emperor of the Ming Dynasty, but later generations often only called him "Jianwen Emperor" (era number), not "Ming Mouzong" (temple number).
(Portrait of Emperor Jianwen Zhu Yunjiao)
What are the historical reasons behind this? In this regard, the author briefly analyzes the following, if there is a deficiency or inappropriate, welcome to leave a message to criticize and correct.
Let's start with a question.
Perhaps the reader will have such a question: who said that Zhu Yunjiao only called the year number and not the temple number? Don't we often call it "Ming Huizong" now? In fact, the name "Ming Huizong" really became popular after the middle and late Qing Dynasty, and throughout the ming dynasty's great unification period and even the early Qing Dynasty, whether it was literature or folk, zhu Yunjiao was only called "Jianwen Emperor".
Next, let's talk about what a temple number is.
The temple number is the name that the ancient emperor called when he enshrined in the temple.
Before the Sui Dynasty, not all emperors had temple numbers after their deaths, and only a few kings who had great merits to the country and deserved eternal sacrifices for their descendants would be particularly caught up with temple numbers. Other words
The temple number is both an imperial honor and an affirmation of his merits.
The imperial temple number is usually posthumously given by its successor to show the eternal temple sacrifice. Zhu Yunjiao's successor is not his own son, but his uncle Zhu Di.
(Portrait of Ming Chengzu Zhu Di)
The succession of the throne in the early Ming Dynasty can be described as unusual, after the violent death of the crown prince Zhu Biao, the founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang resolutely crossed more than twenty sons and passed on to the emperor's grandson Zhu Yunjiao. Unfortunately, the lord shao must be suspicious of the country, Zhu Yunjiao is not the opponent of the fourth uncle Zhu Di after all, a battle of Jing, Zhu Di usurped the throne in the name of the Qing Junbian, becoming the first king of the clan in Chinese history to successfully rebel.
In order to emphasize his legitimacy, he had to deny Zhu Yunjiao's legitimacy, so as a successor, Zhu Di could never give Zhu Yunjiao a title and a temple number. This is the essential reason why Zhu Yunjiao had an era name for a long time and did not have a temple name.
In fact, even Zhu Yunjiao's "Jianwen" era name was also deprived by Zhu Di.
After Zhu Di usurped the throne and ascended the throne, he did his best to erase the traces of Zhu Yunjiao's existence, in addition to not giving the orthodox emperor Zhu Yunjiao a title and temple number, but also abolishing the "Jianwen" era name for a time——
The first year of Jianwen was changed to the thirty-second year of Hongwu, the second year of Jianwen was changed to thirty-three years of Hongwu, the third year of Jianwen was changed to thirty-four years of Hongwu, and the fourth year of Jianwen was changed to thirty-five years of Hongwu.
(Stills of Zhu Yunjiao and Zhu Di)
Of course, Zhu Yunjiao did not have a name and temple number from beginning to end, but experienced twists and turns and changes.
After the Battle of Jingnan, Zhu Yunjiao disappeared, the fierce duoji was less, and the courtiers loyal to him secretly mourned him, among them, Mei Yin (the husband of Zhu Yuanzhang's second daughter Princess Ningguo) heeded Huang Yanqing's advice.
He posthumously honored Zhu Yunjiao as Emperor Xiaoxiao and was given the title of Emperor Shenzong.
However, this "Shenzong" temple name was only a private gift from Jianwen's old courtiers, and it was not recognized by Zhu Di and even the subsequent dynasties, so naturally it could not be spread. Today, the "Ming Shen Sect" we often talk about is not the Jianwen Emperor Zhu Yunjue, but the Wanli Emperor Zhu Yijun.
The Sixteen Emperors of the Ming Dynasty, except for Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Yunjiao, the rest were from Zhu Di's branch, and they could not have added a nickname and temple number to Zhu Yunjiao, because to recognize Zhu Yunjiao's legitimacy was to deny their own legitimacy. Therefore, throughout the Ming Dynasty, Only Zhu Yunjiao was called "Emperor Jianwen", and there was no "Ming Sect".
(Stills of Zhu Yunjiao)
After the fall of the Ming Dynasty, in order to win the hearts and minds of the people, the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty posthumously honored Zhu Yunjiao as Emperor Huizong in July of the first year of Hongguang (1645).
However, because the later Qing Dynasty did not recognize the legitimacy of the small court of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yunjiao's "Let the Emperor" and "Ming Huizong" temple names were still not circulated in the early Qing Dynasty.
It was not until the first year of the Qianlong Dynasty of the Qing Dynasty that the Qianlong Emperor officially gave Zhu Yunjiao the title of Gong Min Hui Emperor, referred to as Emperor Hui, which was an official recognition of Zhu Yunjiao's orthodox status, and his "Ming Huizong" temple name began to be widely recognized.
Resources:
History of the Ming Dynasty, Records of the Ming Dynasty