When we think of the Han Dynasty, we usually think of it as a long-lived dynasty that experienced 29 emperors and existed for 407 years, although there was a brief period of turmoil and division in the middle, but in the end it achieved ZTE and revived the Han Dynasty.
It is precisely because of this period of turmoil that the Han Dynasty was divided into two eras: the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty. Most people believe that the Western Han and Eastern Han dynasties are the inheritance and development of the same dynasty, but is the relationship between the two dynasties really so close?
From my personal point of view, the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty are more like two dynasties under the same national name, after all, the emergence and establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty was achieved under the premise that the Western Han Dynasty was completely replaced.
Judging from the rulers and historical records, the Eastern and Western Han Dynasties were not one dynasty
Reason 1: Between the Western Han And Eastern Han Dynasties, there was a short-lived new dynasty that survived for 17 years
The establishment of the Western Han Dynasty was in 202 BC, when Liu Bang defeated Xiang Yu, ending the situation of the Chu-Han rivalry and unifying the world, and the time of destruction was in 8 AD, when Wang Mang, the powerful minister, killed his widow Liu Bao and established himself as king.
The eastern Han Dynasty was founded in 25 AD, and there was a gap of 17 years between the two dynasties, and these 17 years were precisely the most easily overlooked dynasty - the new dynasty.
There was a dynasty spaced in the middle, meaning that the connection between the Western and Eastern Han dynasties was severed by a short-lived dynasty. Therefore, in order to judge whether the Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasties are a dynasty, it is also necessary to start from Wang Mang and the new dynasty he established.
When it comes to Wang Mang, we have to mention the foreign relative family behind him, Wang Zhengjun, the empress of the Han Yuan Emperor at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, who is the longest-lived empress in Chinese history, and also the patron of the foreign relative Wang Clan. After the death of Emperor Yuan of Han, Wang Zhengjun lived for more than sixty years, assisting four emperors in a row.
In the past sixty years, the power of the foreign relatives Wang Clan has also been expanding, and finally it has become the most beautiful foreign relative family in the court, and Wang Mang is the most favored young man in the foreign relative family. With his outstanding talent and humble character, Wang Mang won the hearts of the court ministers and the people of the world.
Subsequently, the powerful Wang Mang killed Liu Bao, who was supposed to ascend to the throne, and became emperor in the name of togu's reform, and the Western Han Dynasty was officially destroyed.
At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the power of the state had declined, and Wang Mang had gained a good reputation since he took control of the government, so the new dynasty he founded was initially supported by the majority of the people.
However, after Wang Mang became emperor, he vigorously implemented the new reform policy, and because the speed of implementation was too fast, social contradictions were further intensified, peasant army uprisings broke out in various places, and Wang Mang also changed from an emperor that everyone admired to a traitor who everyone shouted and beat.
Peasant uprisings broke out one after another everywhere, and the new dynasty established by Wang Mang lost the hearts of the people and died out after only 17 years of existence.
However, the new dynasty really exists in history, and the change of dynasties means replacing the old with the new, and the collapse of the old dynasty will only bring about the emergence of a new dynasty.
The new dynasty replaced the Western Han Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty replaced the New Dynasty, this is the change between the three dynasties, there is a new dynasty sandwiched between the East and the West, how can the two dynasties be easily merged together?
Historical records are divided into the Book of the Former Han Dynasty and the Book of the Later Han Dynasty.
In addition to the short-lived dynasty of the New Dynasty, sandwiched between the Western Han And Eastern Han Dynasties, there is no historical data in history that runs through the Eastern and Western Han Dynasties. Dynasties generally write history, through which you can see the development, prosperity and decline of a dynasty.
The historical material that records the history of the Han Dynasty is the Book of Han, also known as the Book of the Former Han Dynasty, while the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty is the Book of the Later Han Dynasty, and the history of the two dynasties is recorded separately. If the Eastern Han Dynasty established by Liu Xiu was the result of the restoration of the Western Han Dynasty, there is no need to open another article to record the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
If the Question of whether the Western Han And Eastern Han Dynasties are one dynasty, if everyone still has doubts, it is advisable to compare the Eastern Han and shu han, even if Liu Bei claims to be a descendant of the Eastern Han, no one will really regard the Shu Han as a continuation of the Eastern Han.
For example, the Song Dynasty was divided into the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, but the history of the two dynasties, the History of the Song Dynasty, was directly throughout the two dynasties and recorded in a historical material.
Reason three: The Western Han Dynasty was different from the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the system also changed
The difference between the two dynasties is not only this, ancient China has always had the concept of "five elements", in the eyes of the ancients, whether a dynasty prospers or not, it must depend on what the moral fortune of this dynasty is.
During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, it was established that the virtue of the Western Han Dynasty was "Tude", and later Wang Mang, in order to logically replace the Han Dynasty, let the scholar Liu Xin of the late Western Han Dynasty hype the new dynasty as also "Tude". The same five elements of the two dynasties mean that Wang Mang established a new dynasty and became an emperor, which is a matter of course, and there is nothing wrong with it.
But after the fall of the new dynasty, Liu Xiu established the Eastern Han Dynasty, redefined the five elements of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu set the "five elements" for the Eastern Han Dynasty is huode, although it is only a small change, but the impact on a country is very large, first of all, in the five elements, huode is to restrain Tude.
Secondly, after the replacement of a "five elements", the corresponding national system must also undergo certain changes, and there must also be a new set of national systems. The most obvious difference between the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty is that the theological atmosphere of the Eastern Han Dynasty was very strong, which was a point that was completely absent during the Western Han Dynasty.
Reason four: Liu Xiu and Liu Bang's temple numbers also mean: starting from scratch to create a dynasty
The temple number after the death of the Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu also has a great mystery, and the temple number of the ancient emperor has very strict regulations, which is also to respect the ancestors. Usually, the emperor's temple numbers are "Zu" and "Zong".
Ancestors have merit, Zong has virtue, can be called ancestors, generally are the emperors who fight the world and set the world, and the emperors after that are called Zong, which means the emperor who guards the Jiangshan and protects the Jiangshan.
After the death of the Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu, the temple name was Han Shizu, and liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, had a similar temple number, which was also an ancestor, which meant that he recognized the fact that Liu Xiu started from scratch and founded the dynasty.
At the same time, this is also a kind of separation from the Western Han Dynasty, no matter how the people at the bottom view, at least in the eyes of the Eastern Han royal family, the Western Han and Eastern Han are two dynasties.
From the perspective of bloodline, Liu Xiu and the Western Han Imperial Family could not fight
Reason one: Liu Xiu's royal bloodline is just a gimmick, and the bloodline of the collateral branch has no inheritance rights
Although Liu Xiu was a member of the imperial family and restored the name of the Han Dynasty when he started the army, in fact, Liu Xiu and the Western Han Imperial Family were not close in blood relations, and it could even be said that the eight rods could not be beaten.
Although Liu Xiu's ancestors were of royal blood, because they were collateral branches, they had no right to inherit the throne. Coupled with the continuous evolution of the family, to the generation of Liu Xiu's father Liu Qin, there is already a name of a royal bloodline, but it cannot enjoy the treatment of the royal bloodline.
Liu Qin did not have any title, and could only serve as a small county commander, and after Liu Qin's death, Liu Xiu could not even be a small official with a sesame seed.
After Liu Qin's death, Liu Xiu could only go to his uncle's house to board, and when he was in his 20s, he encountered taixue to expand enrollment, so he entered taixue to study, during which the tuition fees were earned by renting donkeys in partnership with others, and even the most basic living expenses had to be earned by their own hands, and there was not much difference between them and the low-level people.
For Liu Xiu, the royal bloodline is just a gimmick that can be used, and his success does not depend on being a collateral of the royal family, but on strong strength.
Reason two: The restoration of the Han Dynasty was only an excuse for the uprising, and Liu Xiu relied on strength to unify the world
Liu Xiu, who was called a member of the imperial family and in the name of restoring the Han Dynasty, on the one hand, was to expand his influence, and on the other hand, to conform to the people's will and find an excuse for the uprising.
At that time, the new dynasty established by Wang Mang caused dissatisfaction among the people. People found that it was better to follow the reformer Wang Mang than to follow several emperors in the last years of the Western Han Dynasty, although the days were hard, but the good villains could still survive. Therefore, most of the peasant uprisings in various places at that time were also under the slogan of overthrowing the new wave and restoring the Han Dynasty.
Although Liu Xiu and the imperial family were far apart, they were also a remote side of the clan, and with such an identity to use, they could naturally win the support of more people at that time.
But apart from this, Liu Xiu and the Western Han Dynasty had no other relationship. From pulling up the banner of the uprising to sweeping away all the forces to unify the world, Liu Xiu relied on his own strength.
In addition to the emperor's surname Liu and the country's name is Han, the Eastern Han And Western Han are completely two dynasties, and there is no clear relationship between inheritance and development.
Reason three: The Emperors of the Western And Eastern Han Dynasties were not in the same Temple
In terms of ancestor sacrifice, it can also be seen that Liu Xiu did not intend to inherit the Western Han imperial family, and after he established the Eastern Han Dynasty and became emperor, he had a conflict with the chancellor on the issue of worshipping ancestors.
Originally, after he had sacrificed Gaozu, Emperor Wen, and Emperor Wu, he should sacrifice Emperor Yuan, Emperor Cheng, Emperor Ping, and Emperor Wu. However, these four people had nothing to do with Liu Xiu, and out of selfishness Liu Xiu planned to sacrifice his four ancestors, that is, four generations from his great-grandfather Liu Buy, but this move was opposed by the chancellor.
The chancellor of the court believed that since he had inherited the name of the Han Dynasty, the ceremony of sacrifice should strictly follow the orthodoxy, and Liu Xiu had no choice but to give up.
However, after Liu Xiu's death and Emperor Ming of Han succeeded to the throne, a Taimiao Temple was built for Liu Xiuxin, and Liu Xiu was not allowed to enter the Taimiao Of the Western Han Emperor, and the emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty also entered the Shizu Temple, and the Taimiao Temple of the Western Han Dynasty was clearly divided into two branches.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Bei established the Shu Han, and the same situation occurred during the sacrifice, which was obviously not something that should be done after the succession and development of a dynasty.
summary
Although later generations often refer to the two dynasties of the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty as the Han Dynasty, in fact, the two dynasties are different, and the relationship between the two is not the inheritance and development we think, even if "people think of han, Liu Shi Dangfu", which is often seen in the historical materials of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is also regarded as the mainstream historical narrative.
Even though the eastern han and western han dynasties had the same name, the new dynasty had also been recognized by the people, and strictly speaking, the western Han imperial family perished at the hands of Wang Mang. If it were not for Wang Mang's wanton reforms after he came to power, regardless of the actual situation, the imperial family of the Han Dynasty would have been erased in people's hearts long ago.