Qin Shi Huang was the first "emperor" in The history of our country, although before him, there were also co-lords of the world such as the King of Zhou and the King of Shang, but these people did not have the title of "Emperor", because the word emperor was specially created by Qin Shi Huang in order to show his merits as an emperor throughout the ages.
Qin Shi Huang's surname is Yin, the name of the government, so posterity will also call him "Yin Zheng", which is a typical "surname + plus" name of the salutation model, in line with the Chinese tradition. In contrast, Europe and the United States are basically the first name in front and the surname in the back.
However, the strange thing is that the sons of Yingzheng, everyone does not call them Yin XX. Speaking of his sons, the most famous ones should be the eldest son Fu Su and Qin II Hu Hai.
Just by looking at the two names of Fusu and Huhai, it is difficult to see what they have to do with Yingzheng, why don't we give them a surname and call them "Yingfusu" or "Yinhuhai"? By calling it this way, can't we let everyone know at a glance about their father-son relationship with Yingzheng? To answer this question, we must first find out whether the fusu and Huhai brothers can use names such as "Yinfusu" and "Yinhuhai".
According to the Zhou Dynasty ritual law, men are called by family name but not surname, but there is one family that is the exception
People who know the history of the Spring and Autumn Period should know that the men at that time were called surnames and not surnames, for example, Duke Wen of Jin, as a descendant of Tang Shuyu, the younger son of King Wu of Zhou, was surnamed Ji, but no one called him "Ji Zhong'er", at most he would call him "Jin Zhong'er", of which "Jin" was his clan, and more commonly, he was called "Gongzi Zhong'er", and Gongzi was the honorific title of the son of the princes, because he was the son of the former king of the Jin Dynasty, Jin Xiangong.
Although men in the Zhou Dynasty called the family name not surname, there was one family that was an exception, that is, the Zhou royal family. The Zhou royal family is the co-lord of the world, and in order to highlight its honor, members of the royal family can directly call their surnames. For example, King Wu of Zhou, the descendants called him Ji Fa, and his younger brother Zhou Gong, the descendants can also call him "Ji Dan", in addition, the "Zuo Biography" also records That Wang Sun Ji Man and others, which shows that the male members of the entire royal family can be called surnames. On the other hand, even if the princes are as honorable as the Duke of Qi Huan, if they want to call him by his name, they can only be called "Qi Xiaobai". Now some people call him "Jiang Xiaobai", which is actually inconsistent with the Etiquette Law of the Zhou Dynasty, and it was an act of trespassing at that time.
Since the Qin state became king, members of the Qin royal family can also be called surnames without surnames
Before King Huiwen of Qin became king, the State of Qin was a vassal of the Zhou royal family, so the sons of the Duke of Qin at that time, including the monarch of the State of Qin himself, were not qualified to be called "Yin XX", at most they could only be called "Qin XX", and it may also be "Zhao XX" (there is research that says that the Qin Gongfu clan Zhao).
However, after the Qin state became king, the situation was different, because in terms of status, the Qin royal family was already on an equal footing with the Zhou royal family, so the privilege of calling the surname without the surname should also be enjoyed, so whether it was Yingzheng or Yingfusu, such a title was no problem.
In fact, as early as the beginning of the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Chu was already enjoying this privilege, and later generations of monarchs who called the State of Chu called it "Qi XX", of which Qi was the surname of the Chu royal family. However, not many people really recognize the Chu royal family, so in most texts, the members of the Chu royal family are still referred to as "Xiong XX" according to the treatment of the princes.
Fu Su and Hu Haiming are obviously qualified to be called "Yin XX", why are they not called that in the history books?
As mentioned above, as the sons of Qin Shi Huang and members of the Qin royal family, Fu Su and Hu Hai were all qualified to be called surnames and not surnames, but why were they not called Yingfu Su and Yin Hu Hai when the history books recorded them? This is actually the embodiment of the critical attitude of later generations of writers of history to Most of Qin.
The most obvious is the "History of History", in this history book, Taishi Gong even used "Zhao Zheng" to call Qin Shi Huang, which is a typical failure to recognize the orthodox status of the Qin royal family, that is, still treating the Qin state at that time as a prince under the Zhou royal family.
However, in fact, as early as the third age of Qin Shi Huang, the Zhou Dynasty had already perished, and king Zhou Zhao died in 256 BC, three years before Qin Shi Huang was born. So if you really want to say it, from the death of King Zhou Zhao to the time Qin Shi Huang was called emperor, in the intervening decades, there was no co-lord of the world, or there were multiple lords of the world, so the royal members of each country should be qualified to call the surname and not the surname.
The short life of the Qin Dynasty also made Fu Su, Hu Hai and others lose their qualifications to be called surnames and not surnames to a certain extent
To say that before Qin Shi Huang became emperor, members of the Qin royal family were not qualified to call their surnames and not surnames, but it is forgivable, after all, there are still equivalent families in the world. However, after Qin Shi Huang became emperor, he was already the only co-lord in the world, and it was reasonable to say that his sons should be called "Yin Moumou" like the princes and grandsons of the Zhou Dynasty. Unfortunately, however, the Qin Dynasty was too short-lived, and it died only two times. Such a short-lived dynasty that left a tyrannical impression on the world could not be compared with the Zhou Dynasty before it or the Han Dynasty after it, so in the orthodox view of history, it would deliberately ignore the "privileges" that members of the Qin royal family should enjoy.
However, Qin Shi Huang's merits are too great, so everyone does not dare to deprive him of the privilege of "calling his surname and not calling him a family name", as for his sons, he is not so lucky, which is why Qin Shi Huang can be called "Yingzheng", while his sons can only be called "Fu Su" or "Hu Hai".