On August 23, 1735, the Yongzheng Emperor fell ill and died. According to the Yongzheng Emperor's secret edict, his fourth son, the 24-year-old Hongli, succeeded him as emperor for the Qianlong Emperor.
The Yongzheng Emperor gave birth to a total of 10 princes. In addition to those who died prematurely, when the Qianlong Emperor succeeded to the throne, there were also five brothers Hongzhi and six brothers Hongyao. At this time, the Qianlong Emperor was faced with a choice: should he order Hongzhi and Hongyao to change their names in order to avoid the qianlong emperor's name?
Avoiding the name of the emperor is a traditional practice in ancient China. After Emperor Taizong of Tang became emperor, Guan Shiyin was renamed "Guanyin" and Minbu was renamed "Hubu". After Zhao Kuangyin, the grandfather of the Song Dynasty, became emperor, his brothers Zhao Kuangyi and Zhao Kuangmei could not use the word "Kuang" and changed to Zhao Guangyi and Zhao Tingmei respectively.
Before the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, there was no practice of avoidance. After the Qing Dynasty entered the customs, in order to ease contradictions and stabilize people's hearts, the Shunzhi Emperor Fu Lin issued an edict to Buen, and the special subjects could not avoid the word Fu: "Do not unite one person, so that the people of the world are not blessed." The Shunzhi Emperor set an example by naming the second son of the emperor born to Concubine Dong E as Fuquan. Both the father and son's names use the word "Fu", which is incredible for the Central Plains people.
After the Kangxi Emperor succeeded to the throne, with a large number of contacts with the Culture of the Central Plains, he accepted the system of avoidance. When everyone writes the word "Xuan" or "Ye", they must avoid the name of the Kangxi Emperor Xuan Ye and use another way of writing. Fortunately, the Shunzhi Emperor named his son more casually, and the Kangxi Emperor brothers did not take names with the character "Xuan" or "Ye", and there was no need to avoid it.
The Kangxi Emperor, in accordance with the custom of the Central Plains, named all his sons "Yin" (胤) characters. When the Yongzheng Emperor Yin Chan succeeded to the throne, it was clearly stipulated that the word "Yin" would be used exclusively by me, and no one, including my brothers, could use it. As a result, several brothers of the Yongzheng Emperor changed their names to "Yun". For example, YinFu was changed to Yun, Yin was changed to Yun, Yin was changed to Yun, Yin was changed to Yun, Yin was changed to Yun, Yin was changed to Yun, yin was changed to Yun, and so on. Only the thirteenth brother Yinxiang had a good relationship with Yin Chan since he was a child, and when he died, he was allowed to change his name from "Yun Xiang" back to "Yin Xiang".
According to the practice of the Yongzheng Emperor, the two younger brothers of the Qianlong Emperor, Hongzhi and Hongyao, needed to change their names. However, the Qianlong Emperor did not intend to do so.
The Qianlong Emperor was the biological son of the Yongzheng Emperor, who was favored by his father from an early age and inherited the throne under the trust of the Yongzheng Emperor. However, the Qianlong Emperor disagreed with his father, the Yongzheng Emperor, on certain practices, such as brutally attacking his brothers.
At that time, the "Nine Sons and Sisters" was too fierce, almost to the point where you were dead or alive. After the Yongzheng Emperor seized the throne, he cleaned up all the brothers who opposed him, and most of them were imprisoned to death, resulting in extremely tense relations within the imperial family. After the Qianlong Emperor succeeded to the throne, he corrected the behavior of the Yongzheng Emperor and effectively adopted some measures to ease tensions within the imperial family, such as the release of Yun Yu and Yun Yu, who had been imprisoned for a long time by the Yongzheng Emperor, and the restoration of his clan status to Yun Yu, who had been tortured to death in prison. This practice of the Qianlong Emperor helped to win people's hearts and minds and ease contradictions.
Therefore, in order to convey the concept of brotherhood, the Qianlong Emperor allowed Hongzhi and Hongyao to continue to use the word "Hong" on the grounds that their names were given by the Kangxi Emperor. Hongzhi and Hongyao did not need to change their names, but when writing their names, no one except the Qianlong Emperor could write the last stroke. This practice was unanimously praised by both inside and outside the imperial court. Later, the Qianlong Emperor relied heavily and trusted Both Hongzhi and Hongyao.
Of course, the Qianlong Emperor was able to do this because Hongzhi and Hongyao did not pose a threat to his power.
Hirohito is the Prince of He, and although he has an obedient and bohemian personality, he is not attached to power. He has long passed a song in the "Golden Bottle", "The world is impermanent and the golden bottle is delayed, and the cup and cup are drunk and red dust." It is rare to have a confidant in life, push the cup for the ancient and modern words", expressing the unintentional imperial throne, only want to drink wine and rejoice in time. Hongyao was the youngest brother of the Qianlong Emperor, younger than some of the qianlong emperors, and he was only 2 years old when the Qianlong Emperor succeeded to the throne, which was not a threat.
After the Qianlong Emperor, did the Qing Emperor still have the practice of asking his brothers to change their names? The answer is no more. Because the Jiaqing Emperor and the Daoguang Emperor changed their names in order not to trouble their brothers, they took the initiative to change their names. The Jiaqing Emperor was originally named "Yongyan", but after succeeding to the throne, his name was changed to "Yongyan". The Daoguang Emperor was originally named "Mianning", but after succeeding to the throne, his name was changed to "Minning".
As for the later Xianfeng Emperor, the Tongzhi Emperor, the Guangxu Emperor, and the last emperor Puyi, the practice of avoiding the names of the brothers was simply abolished, and everyone did not change their names. As a result, the Yongzheng Emperor became the only emperor in the Qing Dynasty who asked his brothers to change their names. This also shows the meanness and ruthlessness of the Yongzheng Emperor.