In the relatively long history of the Chinese nation, from the Xia to the Yin Shang Dynasty, from the Shang to the Zhou royal family, and then from the Zhou to the Qin Empire, why did the Heavenly Sons claim to be descendants of the Yellow Emperor? Why did the orthodox name originate from the Yellow Emperor? This article will take you to reveal the first ancient family established by the Yellow Emperor - the Yellow Emperor Family.
1 The exploits of the Yellow Emperor
For the ancestors of China, each of us has a worshipive cognition of the Yellow Emperor, putting aside the narrative of the deification color, the yellow emperor's deeds, from both internal affairs and military aspects, the yellow emperor's deeds are very brilliant. (The Yellow Emperor may have done more than a generation of deeds, as well as Yao and others, and if there is an opportunity, Zi Yu will elaborate on it below.) ）
First, militarily. Before the Yellow Emperor, Emperor Yan was the leader of the Huaxia Tribal Alliance. The relationship between the Yellow Emperor tribe and the Yandi tribe should be similar to that of the later Shang and Zhou. Emperor Yan wanted to strengthen his rule and control over the tribes, which caused dissatisfaction among the princes. The Yellow Emperor took the opportunity to gather the tribes, strengthen military training, and rose rapidly, gradually surpassing the Yan Emperor in strength.
Emperor Yan wanted to invade the princes, and the princes returned to Xuanyuan. Regulus is a Shude Zhenbing. - "History of the Five Emperors"
The Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor fought many battles around Hanquan (three battles should mean many times), and the Yan Emperor was defeated militarily, indicating his submission to the Yellow Emperor. The Yellow Emperor replaced Emperor Yan as the leader of the Huaxia tribe, and judging from the title of Descendants of Yan Huang and the later wars against Xuan You, the Yellow Emperor retained a considerable position for Emperor Yan within Huaxia.
Regulus... In order to fight the Yan Emperor in the wilderness of Hanquan. Three battles, and then its ambition. - "History of the Five Emperors"
Then, the more closely united Huaxia tribes, under the command of the Yellow Emperor, began to expand abroad. This was met with fierce resistance from the Nine Li chieftain Xuan You. The Yellow Emperor commanded the princes and defeated Xuan You at the Battle of Zhuolu and killed him.
With the great prestige of the victory, the Yellow Emperor was able to completely replace the status of the Shennong clan (YanDi), and was revered as the "Son of Heaven" and established the title of "Yellow Emperor".
The worms are in turmoil and do not need the emperor's orders. Therefore, the Yellow Emperor was a prince of the Zhengshi Division, and fought with Xuan You in the wilderness of Zhuolu, so he killed Xuan You. And the princes Xianzun Xuanyuan was the Son of Heaven, and the Daishen Nong clan was for the Yellow Emperor. - "History of the Five Emperors"
After military reunification, the Yellow Emperor began to establish a system in internal affairs: first of all, a division of labor in the administration of military, supervision, and civil rule was established.
The Yellow Emperor established an army that had long followed and obeyed his orders; the Yellow Emperor's larger princes set up supervisory officials (left and right supervisors), and also arranged special officials to govern the people.
Secondly, the Yellow Emperor established a basic farming system (shi sowing hundreds of grains of grass and trees) and domestication of livestock (Chunhua birds, animals, insects and moths), so that the people could obtain relatively stable living materials. In order to make the harvest richer and the diet healthier, the Yellow Emperor also established a basic calendar based on the sun, moon and stars.
It is worth mentioning that during the Yellow Emperor period, he also understood the preciousness of "earth, stone, gold and jade" and began to establish a basic financial system (saving water and fire).
These records show that with great prestige, the Yellow Emperor's ruling authority was significantly strengthened, and he began to have a certain degree of control over materials, troops, princes, and people.
So, is the Yellow Emperor, who already has such a huge power, really a moral model? Did he do any other small moves?
2 From the perspective of the Golden Family, does the Yellow Emperor Family exist?
There are often two characteristics of ancient history, one is that it has obvious mythological overtones, and the other is that there are many beautiful political legends.
The mythological color is because many phenomena cannot be explained by science, many things are difficult for ordinary people to understand, and there is no written record, relying on oral transmission, so it is falsely spread, and it is deified by later generations to strengthen the legitimacy of the orthodoxy of the dynasty.
But most of those political legends, distinguished from later historical events, have profound historical connotations, and the legends themselves are only appearances, not even the whole truth.
The Yellow Emperor's name was Xuanyuan, and many of his events in that era are difficult to prove in detail, but history proves that the development of society is similar. That is to say, we may be able to glimpse a glimpse of one or two through some of the development of primitive tribes of other ethnic groups that are later than in China.
Then, the most representative value, the clearest development, and the relatively late time (the later the time, the more detailed the record) is the Mongol Khanate.
In fact, the development of the Mongol Khanate does have a very similar place to the early development of China.
The Xuanyuan clan began to establish its own unique title "Yellow Emperor", rather than being called Yandi as in previous generations, which is very similar to the Mongolian Temujin jian "Genghis Khan";
The Xuanyuan clan established an army that followed itself, and this army went wherever it went, which was very similar to the "Xue Army" of the Mongol Great Khan;
The Xuanyuan clan set up a left and right overseer to supervise the various tribal princes, which is like the primary version of the Mongolian system of thousands of households and ten thousand households;
The Xuanyuan clan began to control and manage their property, which was very close to the unified distribution of prisoners and booty during the Mongol Temujin period, and the prohibition of enrichment.
Then, the Mongol Temujin established the so-called Mongolian "Golden Family", ensuring that the leaders of the future Mongol Empire were descendants of the Golden Family; did the Xuanyuan Clan also establish a similar Yellow Emperor Family?
History does not find any relevant records, but from The Qin Dynasty to the Qin Dynasty, each ruler claimed that they were descendants of the Yellow Emperor and listed their specific lineage with the Yellow Emperor. From this point of view, the answer is yes.
3 The Yellow Emperor family
In fact, the reform of the Yellow Emperor made the Huaxia ethnic group begin a huge reform, and in terms of the direction of reform, it was the first step from the tribe to the state.
The country is symbolized by the government, the army, the population, and the territory. The Yellow Emperor's reforms were mainly in these aspects: the initial system of left and right supervisors and rulers; the standing army - camp guards, which migrated erratically; the huge population that ruled the people in four directions; and the richest land in the Yellow River Valley occupied by the Jiuli people who were driven away.
It can be said that the Yellow Emperor, with his great military prestige, opened a huge reform of internal affairs, made Huaxia the first step towards state power, and greatly strengthened the Yellow Emperor's personal authority and control over other tribes and populations.
When power was concentrated in the hands of individuals, the Yellow Emperor family began to show a clear difference from the rest of the tribe.
First of all, the nobility of the Yellow Emperor family.
The main manifestation is that more than half of the sons of the Yellow Emperor have surnames, specifically 14/25, about 56%.
The Yellow Emperor had twenty-five sons, and fourteen of his surnames. - "History of the Five Emperors" Do not underestimate this surname, the name needs words to represent, in that era when there was just writing, the name was a very rare thing. Therefore, it can be said that the name is the beginning of aristocratic status.
In the pre-Qin era, there were many titles, there were surnames, surnames, names, characters, numbers, etc., and the more noble people in general had, the more surnames and surnames were the most basic standard of the nobility. And surnames and surnames, mostly derived from two people - the Yellow Emperor and the Yan Emperor.
This is why, the rulers before Qin could say that they were descendants of the Yellow Emperor, but in the Han Dynasty, only Liu Bang, who had no surname, gave up.
Secondly, the family inheritance of the yellow emperor's tianzi throne. This is a concept that only exists in the family world, although it does not reach the normative system of father-to-son transmission like the Hou Dynasty, but until Xia, it is a clear and traceable descendant of the Yellow Emperor.
This also shows the difference between the Yellow Emperor's Tianzi and the Yellow Emperor's family.
At the same time, this is very similar to the Mongolian Golden Family, which was weakened until the ming Dynasty collapsed the Yuan Empire, but the Golden Family still has great authority and appeal.
Again, the Yellow Emperor began to have the concept of concubines and concubines.
The five emperors after the Yellow Emperor were all from the Yellow Emperor's two sons, Xuan Hu and Changyi, and these two people had a common feature, their mother was a person - Changzu.
Yellow Emperor·· And the daughter of the Xiling clan was married to the ancestor. Concubine Changzu was a concubine of the Yellow Emperor, and had two sons, all of whom were born under the heavens: the first of them was Xuan Huan; The second is Changyi. - "History of the Five Emperors"
Combined with the previous record of the twenty-five sons of the emperor, at least two problems can be explained:
First, the Yellow Emperor took many wives, proving that he, as the Son of Heaven, already had the option to choose a woman as his spouse and possess it separately. In an era when many people did not know their father, this was already a very great privilege.
Second, the emperor had a distinction between a wife and a concubine. Where there is a proper wife, there is a concubine (tentatively called so), and where there is a concubine, there is a concubine. The popularity of Changzu shows that she is different from other concubines, while at the same time, her son and his descendants have the right to inherit the power of the Yellow Emperor alone (until the Zhou Capital claimed to be from the Changyi and Xuanhu branches), which shows her difference.
Similarly, even when the Mongol Empire was fragmented, the Great Khans of the Khanates could only be the sons of the Great Concubine Polo and their descendants.
Zi Yu said
These three points show the difference of the Yellow Emperor family. The Yellow Emperor not only established a huge personal authority, but also established the power and status of the Yellow Emperor's family to enjoy the exclusive huaxia Tianzi.
At the same time, the privileges of the Yellow Emperor made him have a wealth of heirs, which made his descendants spread all over China, multiplying and powerful.
Because the folk customs in the pre-Qin period were relatively simple, this power was relatively stable and passed on, although the wind and clouds changed, but the rulers until the Zhou Dynasty were all descendants of the Yellow Emperor. At the very least, they have to claim it.
In this way, the Yellow Emperor established the longest-lasting first family in Chinese history, the Yellow Emperor family. (End)
Reference: "History of the Five Emperors"