When we look at the founding emperors of ancient dynasties, we can find that these people all have a title called What Ancestor. And it is generally called Taizu or Gaozu or the like. Many people can't figure out, the same founding emperor, why are some called Taizu, some are called Gaozu? In fact, although the difference between the two titles is only one word, the difference in merit is very large.
Whether it is Taizu or Gaozu, it is a temple number, and these are the titles in the temple number. The temple number originated from the Shang Dynasty, simply put, after the death of the emperor, the future monarch put the emperor's tablet in the temple, so that he could enjoy the offerings of the future generations. The title in the temple is called the temple number, after all, future generations cannot directly call the ancestors by name, which is a great disrespect in ancient times. Of course, there are many regulations for temple numbers.
To put it simply, the founding monarchs are generally ancestors, and the subsequent monarchs are generally called zong, which is the origin of the word ancestor. However, not all emperors are eligible to enjoy the offerings of the hereafter, and can be put into the temple after death. In the beginning, no matter how many emperors there were in a dynasty, the temple could only enshrine seven people. That is to say, the future generations will select the seven people with the greatest merits and put them into the temple. However, no matter how the selection is made, the founding monarch is to be put in, and the title must be the ancestor, which is stipulated. And it's basically one of Taizu and Gaozu. So, what is the fundamental difference between these two titles?
Let's first look at the temple number is the emperor of Taizu. Liu Bang of han Taizu, Zhao Kuangyin of Song Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang of Ming Taizu, Nurhaci of Qing Taizu, etc., the temple names of these emperors are All Taizu. If we look at the general situation of these people, we can see that these temple names are the commonality of Taizu.
Han Taizu Liu Bang, many people will misunderstand this, they all think that it is Han Gaozu Liu Bang. In fact, Liu Bang's temple name is Han Taizu, and his nickname is Emperor Gao, so he is also called Emperor Taizu Gao, and later generations will become Han Gaozu Liu Bang. We all know Liu Bang's lineage, a commoner, and later became a Surabaya pavilion chief, and when the peasants revolted at the end of Qin, they rose up to participate in the uprising. Later, he defeated Xiang Yu in the Chu-Han War and finally became emperor.
Emperor Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty
Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, his origin is a little better than Liu Bang. Zhao Kuangyin's family has been a soldier for generations, and they are all officers. When Zhao Kuangyin was young, he threw himself into the account of Guo Wei, a secret envoy of the Later Han Dynasty, and accompanied Guo Wei in his conquest of Hezhong Jiedu to make Li Shouzhen rebel, and made many military achievements. After the establishment of later Zhou, Zhao Kuangyin gained the emperor's trust. After the death of Zhou Shizong Chai Rong, Zhao Kuangyin took the opportunity to launch the Chen Qiao Mutiny, and the yellow robe was added to become emperor.
Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin
Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, this is more familiar to everyone. Everyone knows that Zhu Yuanzhang was born into poverty, had to eat when he was young, worked as a monk, and later joined the Red Turban Army. Finally, he was called emperor and unified the whole country. It can be said that his country and mountains are all made by himself little by little.
Qing Taizu Nurhaci, born better than Zhu Yuanzhang, has been a chieftain in his family for generations, but the territory is not large. Nurhaci started an army at the age of 25, later unified the entire Jurchens, and later established Houjin.
After we look at these four temple numbers, people who are Taizu can find two things. First of all, no matter what their origins, they can eventually become god kings, they all rely on their own hard work; secondly, these people are not very tall. None of them were the sons of powerful ministers or the sons of princes and ministers, Liu Bang and Zhu Yuanzhang were both from commoner backgrounds, and Zhao Kuangyin and Nurhaci were only petty officials, and neither of them held much power.
Look again at the temple number is gaozu's emperor. Chen Gaozu Chen Baxian, Sui Gaozu Yang Jian, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan. Among them, we are familiar with Yang Jian and Li Yuan, one of whom established the Sui Dynasty and the other who established the Sui Dynasty. These two dynasties had a very great influence on history. As before, let's take a look at the general introduction of Yang Jian and Li Yuan.
Yang Jian, the ancestor of the Sui Dynasty, was a military nobleman of the Western Wei Dynasty. Yang Jian's father Yang Zhong followed Yuwen Tai in the Rebellion of The Western Wei Dynasty, and the officials were appointed to the Pillar State and the Great Sikong. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Zhou, Yang Zhong was made the Duke of Suiguo. After Yang Zhong's death, Yang Jian inherited his father's title. Moreover, Emperor Xuan of Northern Zhou ascended the throne, with Yang Jian as the pillar state and the Great Sima (大司馬). The power in Yang Jian's hands is getting bigger and bigger. After the death of Emperor Xuan of Zhou, Yang Jian gradually took power. In 581, Yang Jian forced Emperor Jing of Northern Zhou to take the throne to himself, and began to claim the title of emperor, establishing the Sui Dynasty. In this way, Yang Jian officially became the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty.
Sui Gaozu Yang Jian
The history of Tang Gaozu Li Yuan and Yang Jian is really similar, and the relationship between the two families is also very close. According to the generational division, Yang Jian was Li Yuan's uncle, and the Sui Emperor also called Yang Jian an uncle. Li Yuan's grandfather, like Yang Jian's father, was a Guanlong nobleman of one rank. Li Yuan's grandfather was named Li Hu,who was already a lieutenant during the Western Wei Dynasty, and later followed Yuwen Tai's uprising. After the establishment of Northern Zhou, Li Hu was made the Duke of Tang. Li Yuan's title was also handed down from his grandfather's time. In 617, Li Yuan saw that the Sui Dynasty was full of rebels and began an uprising. However, after Li Yuan attacked Chang'an, he did not claim the title of emperor, but established a puppet emperor, which was later Emperor Gong of Sui. In 618, Yu Wenhua and the Sui Emperor were executed, and when Li Yuan learned of this news, he forced the Sui Gong Emperor Yang You to take the throne and establish the Tang Dynasty.
Tang Gaozu Li Yuan
Looking at the introduction of these two Gaozu, we can find that the commonality of people called Gaozu is common. First of all, they are all from famous families, and their families are very powerful; secondly, these people have relied on the power of the family to rise, and the reason why they can successfully claim the emperor has a lot to do with their family lineage; finally, these people are the imperial thrones obtained by forcing the previous emperor Chan.
Now we can compare Taizu and Gaozu to find the difference between the two temple numbers. People named Taizu are simply from ordinary origins and rely on their own efforts to become emperors. The person named Gao zu was born better, and relied on his family connections to fight with himself to become emperor. Although they are all called emperors, they can be seen at a glance that Taizu's temple number has a higher gold content than Gaozu. After all, one is completely on its own, and the other can only say that it is half by itself and half by the family.
Now is it found that although Taizu and Gaozu are only one word apart, the disparity is still relatively large. Although they are all founding emperors, there is still a huge disparity in merit. Therefore, when future generations gave these emperors temple numbers, they were still self-aware. Although they are all temple numbers given by their own descendants, they cannot be confused with their conscience, so that future generations will also laugh. Of course, the emperor whose temple name is Gaozu will definitely give one of his ancestors the temple number of Taizu. The Sui Emperor Yang Jian gave his father Yang Zhongshang the temple title Taizu. The temple number that Li Yuan, the emperor of Tang Gaozu, gave to his grandfather Li Hu was Taizu. It can be seen that they also agree that their own country and mountains started from these people.
However, not all dynasties in ancient times obeyed these rules. In the development of society, the rules of temple numbers also began to change, from seven to multiple. And a dynasty no longer has only one ancestor, some have two or even more. But in any case, the two temple numbers of Taizu and Gaozu are still the most special, after all, they are the founding emperors, and they cannot go to the temple numbers at will, and they should still abide by them.