Nezha is an important figure in China's myths and legends, whether in the "Fengshen Yanyi" or in the "Journey to the West", he has a brilliant role.
There are many folk legends about Nezha, and even his birth is very special. We all know "october pregnancy", but Nezha's mother actually conceived him for three years, and then gave birth to a meat ball. This way of birth is comparable to Sun Wukong's stone birth.
The ancients recorded the birth of important people, especially the founding emperors, often with some mythological overtones.
For example, Liu Bang, in the historical record, said that before his mother conceived him, he had been "lucky" by the dragon, although it was recorded that a grassland grew on the head of Liu Taigong, but it made everyone think that Liu Bang could become emperor, which was caused by the number of days, thus deepening the people's belief in Liu Shi sitting in charge of the world.
Therefore, just from Nezha's abnormal birth, it is enough to see his importance in the mythological system.
However, when it comes to Nezha, there is an obvious problem that many people have not realized, and that is his name. As we all know, Nezha is often called the "Third Prince", and this title alone is very problematic.
First of all, the crown prince is the son of the emperor and is an established crown prince, and only if both conditions are met can he be called so. For example, Kangxi had dozens of sons, but at the same time, there was only one person who could be called a prince, and the others could only be called "Brother". Similarly, the princes of other dynasties, if they are not established as crown princes, cannot enjoy the title of "prince", and are at most called princes. Since there can only be one prince, naturally there will be no "big prince", "second prince", and "third prince".
Moreover, Nezha's father was not an emperor, and even if he was the heir chosen by his father, he could only be called "Shizi" instead of "Prince". If anyone dared to call him the crown prince, it would be tantamount to trespassing, and once the emperor knew about it, I was afraid that he would be full of cuts. In the mythological system in which Nezha lived, the emperor was naturally the "Jade Emperor", and it was reasonable to say that only his son, who was established as the crown prince, was eligible to be called a prince.
In summary, according to the ancient tradition, Nezha is not eligible to be called a prince, and there can only be one prince, so it is impossible to have such a strange title as "three princes". However, Nezha's title of "Third Prince" is well known to everyone, so why is this?
The heirs of the princes of the pre-Qin era can also be called princes, and the father of Nezha is a prince of the Shang Dynasty
The crown prince was first used to refer to the heir of the monarch, and China's monarchical centralization system, since the Qin Dynasty, began to gradually improve.
In the pre-Qin period, the co-lord of the world (equivalent to the emperor of later generations) did not have much power, and the princes were independent. The crown prince of every prince, like the crown prince of the Son of Heaven, can be called a prince. And Li Jing, the father of Nezha, was a prince of the Shang Dynasty, and if he happened to be the heir, he was of course eligible to be called the prince.
Li Jing was the Heavenly King, and although his rank was lower than that of the Jade Emperor, he was above the mortal emperor
On the other hand, although Li Jing was not an emperor, he was a god after all, and he was also a heavenly king. The mortal emperor, who is only known as the "Son of Heaven", is the ruler of the world on behalf of the heavens. Therefore, in terms of rank, the emperor of the mortal world is several ranks lower than li jing, the heavenly king, and since the emperor's crown prince can be called a prince, why not call the heir of the heavenly king a prince? On the contrary, it is not called so, but it seems disrespectful.
However, if the two reasons mentioned above are to be established, there must be a premise, that is, Nezha must be Li Jing's heir. So is he Li Jing's heir in the end?
Although Nezha was the youngest son, he was most likely the heir chosen by Li Jing
Although since the Zhou Dynasty, there has been a tradition of the eldest son inheriting the throne, but Li Jing's first two sons, JinZha and Muzha, followed the Buddha and Guanyin respectively, and since they have taken refuge in Buddhism, they naturally can no longer take care of mundane affairs. Therefore, Nezha, who has not been ordained, is most likely to be chosen by Li Jing as the heir, and from this point of view, it is natural to call Nezha the crown prince.
If you can say that the prince is OK, what is the interpretation of the word "three" in the "three princes"?
However, as mentioned repeatedly, there can only be one prince, so it is understandable to call Nezha a prince, but why do you have to bring a "three" word? This may be out of respect for the elder and the young, after all, no matter how capable Nezha is, from the chronological order, or can only rank the third oldest, the ancients are very particular about the elder and the young, since Nezha was given the honorific title of "prince", out of respect for the two brothers, it is also understandable to add a "three" word in front of the prince.
Of course, regarding Nezha's title of "Three Princes", everyone does not have to take it too seriously, after all, he is not a historical figure of the Eight Classics, and his father is not based on which emperor in history is the prototype. Moreover, folk creators may not know much about royal rules, and it is certainly not a strange thing to arrange a title of "Three Princes" that is unruly at first glance.
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