Why did the ancient emperors call themselves "Yuan"? Expert: Take apart the "朕" and look at it
In the Qin Dynasty, the slave society was transformed into the starting point of feudal society, and Qin Shi Huang, who unified the six kingdoms, also called himself the "First Emperor", which was literally the original emperor. After Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, he made great changes from the social system to the title of monarch, and qin shi huang's title for himself was also changed from the previous Zhou Tianzi's "widow" and "no hub" to "朕", so what is the special significance of this "朕"?
First, let's briefly mention the title of the king of a country. During the Xia Dynasty, the title of the king was still "Hou", such as "Hou Qi". After the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty gradually evolved into "Emperor", such as the King of Sui "Di Xin".
But there are not many kings who are called "emperors", because it is believed that "emperors" refer to gods in the sky, and even kings who call themselves "emperors" are considered to be disrespectful to gods.
The emperor's self-designation from "widow", "no hub", "lonely", "I", etc. are all there, and there are more emperors who claim to be "lonely" and "widowed", and in ancient times, it was believed that "lonely" and "widowed" referred to people of virtue and virtue, and could also be regarded as the meaning of one person below and above ten thousand people, rather than the lonely and widowed person who is now translated.
The word "朕" represents the emperor's self-designation, which was obtained by Qin Shi Huang after the unification of the Six Kingdoms in order to show his own dignity, and the general emperor's self-proclaimed self-designation is well thought-out, so this "朕" must have its special significance. Experts believe that the word "朕" was not written in this way before, and when taken apart, it is "month" and "灷".
In the ancient text, the moon was passed "boat", "灷" was "fire", the meaning of boat was the current ship, and "灷" was the meaning of tinder, so the word "朕" at that time meant "the fire in the ship".
In the pre-Qin period, the "boat" itself represented the ruler. In the Xunzi, it is said: "The king, the boat also; the common man, the water; the water carries the boat, and the water overturns the boat." "And fire is a more important existence in ancient times, fire not only brings light, but also allows the ancients to eat hot food, and fire can drive away wild beasts." Legend has it that in ancient times, it was the chief who was in charge of the fire, so the fire also represented the position of power at that time.
In summary, Qin Shi Huang's self-proclaimed "朕" is also justified, in fact, it represents the peak of his own rights, no one can match the meaning, Qin Shi Huang called himself "朕" is only he alone can be so called, if someone else calls himself like this, it will be considered a crime of great disrespect.
It is worth mentioning that although the later emperors also continued the self-designation of Qin Shi Huang, in fact, after Qin Shi Huang, there were very few emperors who verbally called themselves "Yuan". Now many film and television works can hear the emperor from beginning to end to call himself "朕", according to the history is not so, in ancient times most of the emperors claimed to be like "widow" and "I" These are more, in fact, "朕" mostly appears in the edict.
In fact, in the eyes of the emperor, no matter what kind of title, it must be unique and not allowed to be used at will. This also reflects from the side that in ancient times, there was a considerable emphasis on the etiquette system.
Although it is now advocated that everyone is equal, it is not surprising that in ancient times there were self-designations like "朕", after all, people in various professions in that period had their own modest titles.