Chairman Mao once commented on Qin Shi Huang: "Qin Shi Huang is an expert who has been thick with the present and the past. Indeed, this sentence is a very accurate evaluation of Qin Shi Huang, who was a very crucial emperor in Chinese history. His achievements in all aspects are obvious to all, and he has made many contributions to the progress of Chinese history.
And Qin Shi Huang has many initiatives and contributions, which have been used by future generations. It can be seen that Qin Shi Huang was indeed an excellent emperor with far-sighted plans.
And we all know that the ancient emperors have always used the "朕" to call themselves, then this title is actually from the Qin Shi Huang period began to use, so why Qin Shi Huang to use "朕" to call themselves, in fact, if the word "朕" is taken apart, we can understand. So what's the reason for that? It is still necessary to combine the history of the time.
The contribution and merits of Qin Shi Huang
If you want to understand the reason why Qin Shi Huang called himself like this, in fact, you still need to start with the background of Qin Shi Huang's life.
Qin Wang Yingzheng unified the six kingdoms and established the first feudal dynasty in Chinese history, which is actually all we are familiar with, and what merits and contributions did Qin Shi Huang have? This also needs to be sorted out in conjunction with history.
First of all, Qin Shi Huang created a precedent for the continental imperial system. We must know that although there were also emperors before Qin Shi Huang, the imperial system has not been pioneered, and after Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, he created the imperial system for the first time, unified the whole of China, and appointed himself as the emperor above ten thousand people. This system was later used until the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty.
Politically, Qin Shi Huang created a centralized system. It should be known that before Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, the ancient power was very scattered, and Qin Shi Huang created a centralized system in order to strengthen unification and facilitate rule. Centralization effectively unifies power and facilitates national stability and centralization of power.
At the same time, economically, Qin Shi Huang unified currency and weights and measures, which contributed to the unification of Jiangshan Sheji and the development and progress of the economy, and provided an opportunity for the development of the commodity economy at that time. Moreover, Qin Shi Huang also unified transportation. Qin Shi Huang's measures changed the chaotic situation in China in the past, but in fact, they also had a very far-reaching impact on culture and so on.
Moreover, Qin Shi Huang also built the Great Wall, although at that time there were some labors and losses to the people, but it is true that this move was very effective in the military and later civilization development.
In addition to the above, Qin Shi Huang also used the title of "朕" for the first time, that is, from him, all emperors began to use "朕" to refer to themselves.
The reason for calling oneself "朕"
So why did Qin Shi Huang call himself "朕"? In fact, there is a certain reason for this.
Experts and scholars have said after research that if they want to understand the reason why Qin Shi Huang used "朕" to refer to himself, they still have to take apart the word "朕" first. In ancient times, there was a slight difference between writing and the present, and in the qin shi huang period, the side of the word "朕" was not "moon" but "boat". So, in the beginning, the meaning of the word "朕" was related to the ship, that is, the seam of the ship. Later, in the qin shi huang period, the meaning of this word has been extended to "self-example".
At that time, Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms, and his merits were immeasurable. Therefore, in the eyes of the ministers, Qin Shi Huang played an exemplary role, so the officials decided to choose the word "朕" as the emperor's self-designation. The meaning is that one refers to the unification of the six kingdoms by Qin Shi Huang, setting a precedent, thus setting an example for later generations, and the other meaning is that as an emperor, he is also an example throughout the country. Therefore, what seems to be a simple word of "朕" is actually meaningful.
That is, from the beginning of Qin Shi Huang, the word "朕" became the emperor's specialty. Of course, with the progress of the times, no one will use this word to refer to themselves now, but this word also contains a period of history and origin.
Other self-designations of the Emperor
Of course, in addition to the word "朕", in fact, in history, the emperor has many other words used to describe himself. Let's take a look.
For example, in ancient times, emperors sometimes referred to themselves as "lonely". The use of loneliness originated in the Spring and Autumn Period, and he meant: isolated and helpless people. At that time, because the monarchs were all burdened with heavy responsibilities and needed a lot of decisions by one person, they would call themselves "lonely", so they gradually evolved into "lonely" and became the emperor's self-designation.
At the same time, there is also the "widow". Ancient emperors would also refer to themselves as "widows". This is actually a humble term, which he means "a person who is not morally good enough." Although the emperor was above ten thousand people in ancient times, and because ancient China emphasized modesty, this title is also an indication of the emperor's modest attitude.
There is also a name called "we". This title should be very affectionate to many people now. And this title was actually often used by Zhu Yuanzhang at that time. Because Zhu Yuanzhang was not born in the royal family, there are still many habits of the people. Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang communicated with the minister, he often used the title of "we", which was also very kind. Of course, this is also because Zhu Yuanzhang himself was born.
And the most unexpected is the name "Li". In fact, most people feel very familiar with this title, because many people will say it like this, which is very common. And this title is also often used by Ming Chengzu Zhu Di.
We all know that Zhu Di is the son of Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Di was also born in a civilian, Zhu Di followed his father to the southern expedition to the north since he was a child, so he developed a lot of civilian habits, not so exquisite, of course, in speech. As the saying goes: the rural pronunciation is difficult to change, so after Zhu Di became emperor, his speech was still not so exquisite, and the word "俺" was used many times. Of course, this usage is actually a different exception among all the emperors in ancient times.
epilogue
Ancient times were a period of absolute monarchy, so the emperor has always been sacrosanct. Some titles are also unique to the emperor. If someone called himself "Yuan" at that time, it was actually a disaster of killing himself. Therefore, except for the emperor, the people did not dare to say the word "朕".
And just as every phenomenon is said to have a story behind it, so is the use of the word. Now it seems that the charm of ancient Chinese culture is infinite, it seems to be a simple name, but in fact, it also contains the infinite wisdom of the ancients.
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