People who know the history of the Western Han Dynasty probably know Empress Dou's daughter Liu Yan, who in order to consolidate her position, constantly offered beautiful women to emperor Jing of Han, and after hoping to be related to Li Ji and Wang Ji, there was a famous story of "Jinwu Zangjiao", which also brought down the crown prince Liu Rong and let Liu Che ascend the throne, which can be said that she created Emperor Wu of Han. However, in the history books, her title is generally "Dou Tai Lord", why use her mother's surname to call her?
Princess Liu Yan, born to Emperor Wen and Empress Dou, was the only sibling sister of Emperor Jing, and the first eldest princess and eldest princess of the Han Dynasty, with an extremely respectable status, because her mother's surname was Dou, so she was also honored as "Dou Tai Lord" or even "Dou Tai Huang" at that time.
As the royal heir of the Surname Liu, it was called motherhood, in fact, this phenomenon was not uncommon in the Han Dynasty, and even very common, for example, Liu Rong, the son of Emperor Jing, was once called "Prince Li" because of his mother's surname Li; among The daughters of Emperor Wu was a "Princess Wei Chang", because she was born to Wei Zifu; Liu Xie, the Emperor of Han Xian, was raised by Empress Dong, so he was also called "Dong Hou" in the past. The Han Dynasty honored the matriarch, and the imperial heirs surnamed Liu were called by the maternal surname very much.
First of all, the imperial heir's maternal surname is to facilitate the distinction
There are many imperial heirs, and they all have the same surname, but sometimes it is more troublesome in terms of title. The Han Dynasty implemented a parallel system of counties and states, and all the princes had to be divided into titles if there were no accidents after they reached adulthood, and then went to the fiefdom to take the domain, and most of the princesses also had their own Tang Muyi. If you have a fiefdom, it is convenient to call, such as Liu Yan, the daughter of Emperor Wen of Han, who is called "Princess Guantao" because her fiefdom is in Guantao. However, when the imperial heirs have not yet had a fiefdom, it is more troublesome for others to call them, and they cannot call the names of the princes and princesses directly.
Wei Zifu
In this case, the Han Dynasty had the habit of distinguishing between the titles of the princes and princesses by their mother's surnames. For example, Liu Zhao, the son of Wei Zifu, was known as "Prince Wei" in the harem, and later known as "Prince Wei", which was distinguished from Liu Rong, the previously deposed Prince of Li. Although it is possible that the royal heirs have the same surname as their mothers, it is a minority after all. The Han Dynasty used the surname of the emperor's mother to refer to the imperial heir, which was originally a practice to facilitate the title and distinction.
Second, the Han Dynasty attached great importance to filial piety and respect for the matriarch
The Han Dynasty can be regarded as one of the most powerful dynasties in history, the Eastern Han Dynasty needless to say, the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty have almost no sense of existence, as for the Western Han Dynasty, from the beginning of the first empress dowager in history, Lü Yan, began to bow to the government. However, at that time, Although Lü Yan said that although there was a lot of discussion in later generations, at that time, this was not an out-of-the-ordinary behavior, but it was very legitimate. The regulation of the Han Dynasty was that although the emperor advocated the former dynasty, his mother, the empress dowager, whether it was the concubine or the birth mother, had the power to supervise the emperor's handling of the imperial government, which was in accordance with the etiquette.
Liu Heng
The Han Dynasty did not have a system of examinations, and the main criterion for the selection of talents in various places at that time was filial piety and honesty, which is the so-called "filial piety and honesty" system. The Han Dynasty paid attention to filial piety, especially respect for the mother, whether it was the Son of Heaven or the people at that time, the respect for the mother was extremely important. Princess Liu of Guantao was the only daughter of Emperor Wen of Han and Empress Dou, and the only sister of Emperor Jing, and was deeply favored by Emperor Wen and Dou. Under the overall atmosphere of respecting the mother and respecting the mother at that time, the subjects called her "Dou Tai Lord", which was also a sign of respect.
In addition, the mother and uncle are old, and the royal heirs are also the influence of the uncles
In the pre-Qin era, during the matrilineal clan period, most people in the world only knew the mother but did not know the father, and everyone was at peace, and after the advent of the patrilineal era, especially after the establishment of the feudal system linked by patrilineal blood, there were countless internal disputes between the patrilineal clans. This kind of thing is especially true in the royal family, for example, most of the people who compete with the princes are their uncles and uncles, while the uncles of the princes are mostly very supportive of their nephews. Although it cannot be said to be absolute, on the whole, there are many conflicts of interest in the patrilineal line, while the matrilineal line is mostly related by blood.
Liu Qi
In the pre-Qin era, in order to consolidate its own rule, the royal family usually married with foreign surnames, after all, once the royal family changed, these foreign surnames would be strongly supported for their own interests, and the Han Dynasty basically inherited such a tradition. The imperial heirs of the Han Dynasty usually took the surname of their mother, and they also drew in on their uncles' families to show their closeness. In most cases, the crown prince would take the title of mother before taking the throne or ascending the throne, and then remove it, while the emperor would usually give his uncle a marquis after ascending the throne. Princesses are generally like this, but princesses are exceptional, even if princesses have fiefs, they are still given the mother's surname, after all, princesses are not the same as princes, and the matriarchy is actually more reliable for princesses.
Finally, liu yan can be honored as the lord of Dou is also an isolated case, which is rare in history
Generally speaking, the emperor's sisters are called "long princesses", and their aunts are called "big princesses", and although "tai lord" is also the honorific title of the emperor's aunt, it is extremely rare to be honored as "tai lord" in history, and Princess Guantao is the first person. Princess Guantao was the only daughter of Emperor Wen and Empress Dou, the sister of Emperor Jing of Han, and later because she married her daughter to Emperor Wu of Han as empress, her son married the sister of Emperor Wu of Han, and Emperor Wu was in a position of great fame and nobility. In ancient times, the "too" person, Daye, who could add the word "too" before the title was not an ordinary nobleman, and Princess Guantao was not enough to be called Princess Dachang, but also known as "Too Lord".
The daughter is the mother's little cotton jacket, and Empress Dou is such a daughter as Princess Guantao under her knees. The eldest son Liu Qi was the emperor of the day, the mother-son relationship was not so close, the younger son Liu Wu was not around for many years, so Empress Dou was also particularly fond of Princess Guantao, and even left all her private property to this daughter in the end. At that time, The Golden House was hidden, and Liu Che, who was not a concubine and a non-long woman, could become emperor, princess Guantao made a great effort, and at the beginning of Emperor Wu's ascension to the throne, the government was still dominated by the Dou clan, and the status of Princess Guantao was naturally conceivable. Princess Guantao was honored as "Dou Tai Lord", and it was the Han Dynasty tradition of honoring mothers and mothers to be honored with "Dou Surname", and the honor of this "Tai Lord" was the embodiment of her glory as the emperor's aunt and mother-in-law, and not everyone could be called Tai Lord.