"Emperor" was originally an idealized title for the legendary ancient sages, the three emperors were called emperors, the five emperors were called emperors, "emperors" were called emperors, "emperors" were used to show their sacred virtues, and "emperors" were called supreme. He Yingzheng was called the "First Emperor" by taking the title of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors with the heart of the private world, and the future monarchs did not change because of their raids, whether they were right or wrong in the way of the world, whether their merits in ruling the world were prosperous or not, they were all called emperors.
In the Tang Dynasty, the monarch not only called himself "emperor" as usual, but also gave birth to various names, such as honorific titles for birth and honorific titles for death, in addition to the year number, the temple number for the temple, and the mausoleum number for the mausoleum, which was more than the Qin, Han, Jin, and Sui. Let's talk about the names of the emperors of the Tang Dynasty.
1. Honorific title
The honorific title is also known as the "emblem". The addition of honorific titles to ancient Chinese emperors before their deaths was a custom formed in the Tang Dynasty, and since Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi was called "Emperor", Wu Zetian was later honored. and Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian's restoration, along with the non-change, Xuanzong, Suzong, Daizong, Dezong, Shunzong, Xianzong, Muzong, Jingzong, Wenzong, Wuzong, Xuanzong, Yizong, Emperor Zhaozong all had honorific titles.
For example, when Wu Zetian was listening to the government, he added the title of "Holy Mother Of God Emperor", whose meaning was Still Ming, and Jianzhou was called Emperor, and the honorific title was "Holy Spirit Emperor", and added again and again, and the calendar was called: "Golden Wheel Holy Spirit Emperor", "Yuegu Golden Wheel Holy God Emperor", "CiShi Yue Ancient Golden Wheel Holy God Emperor", "Tiance Golden Wheel Great Saint Emperor". If you don't study it carefully, I really don't know what the purpose of these hard-ripped words is.
The formulation and addition of honorific titles not only indicates the merits of the emperor, but is often also related to some special events, especially the Xiangrui Lingzheng and the like. For example, after Emperor Xuanzong Li Longji ascended the throne, he was honored with the title of "Kaiyuan Shenwu Emperor". And in the twenty-seventh year of the Kaiyuan Dynasty (739), the Wenwu Hundred Officials praised his Wenzhi Martial Arts, and added the honorific title of "Kaiyuan Shengwen Shenwu Emperor", which was added several times, and finally became the "Kaiyuan Heaven and Earth Great Treasure Saint Wen Shen Wu Xiaode Dao Dao Emperor", with a title of up to fourteen characters.
The title of emperor already contains the meaning of praising merit and praising virtue and honoring God. The frequent addition of honorific titles by the emperors of the Tang Dynasty not only made the emperor's original intention quite discolored, but also encouraged the monarch's self-esteem and arrogance, and the habit of courtiers to flatter and take advantage. Gaozu and Taizong, the founding fathers of the country, wrote meritorious deeds and did not have honorific titles during their lifetime. Subsequent emperors, there are few wise and many fools, and the honorific titles they receive are one after another, and they are extremely honorable. It is not difficult to see that the true intention of the title is nothing more than to honor the monarch and the inferior subject, and it is completely detached from the actual situation of the monarch, such as the size of the merit and the thickness of the virtue.
2. Year number
Ancient Chinese chronicles, before the Han Dynasty, did not have a special name, generally only recorded a certain year of Wang Moudi. As for Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing of the Western Han Dynasty, there were names such as "hou", "front" and "middle". Subsequently, Emperor Wu of han ascended the throne and established the name of "Jianyuan" and the era name, which was customized.
The basis for formulating the era name is nothing more than "the chapter describes virtue and beauty, the auspiciousness of the show, or the victory of the disaster, and the merits of the merits." It can be seen from this that the establishment of the era name system not only reflects the self-esteem of the absolute monarch, but also closely related to the development and change of personnel in the heavens. If carefully considered, there is no doubt that the characteristics of a certain dynasty, a certain period and even a certain emperor can be glimpsed from the era name.
The era names made by the emperors of the Tang Dynasty are also based on nothing more than this. For example, Emperor Taizong changed the yuan to "Zhenguan" with the words "Three In Dan, all nations come to the court, the art of the eternal world is promoted, but the new destiny begins, the body is in the right place, and the order is timely". The formulation of the era name often reflects a political ideology, which is naturally closely related to the political situation at that time.
The era name of the Tang Dynasty was the most chaotic during the chaotic government of Wei Hou, since Wu Zetian entered the government as an empress, to the ascension of Emperor Xuanzong, during which more than fifty years, frequent era names, such as Xianqing, Linde, Qianfeng, Shangyuan, Yifeng, Yonglong, etc., these years are known as Shen Songgong, not unbeautiful, on average about a year and a half to change the era name. Especially during the Wu Zetian period, it was changed almost once a year, or even several times a year. But in fact, the political situation in this period was obviously not so satisfactory.
3. Nicknames
After the death of the emperor, he was honored with honor for his merits, and his system has existed since ancient times. However, before the Tang Dynasty, the title was generally only one word, and occasionally there were multiple words, and it did not exceed two words. In the Tang Dynasty, not only did the emperor's honorific titles become more and more complex during his lifetime, but also after his death, his titles became longer and longer.
In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the title was not very cumbersome, with Gaozu Li Yuan as "Emperor Dawu" and Emperor Taizong Li Shimin only as "Emperor Wen". Emperor Gaozong Li Zhi and Emperor Zhongzong Li Xian, the title is only two words. After the death of Emperor Ruizong Li Dan, he was known as the "Great Saint Xuanzhen Emperor", and the title of Emperor Xuanzhen began to be complicated. After the death of Emperor Xuanzong, the title of "Emperor Xiaoxiao of the Great Saint of the Dao" soared to seven characters. After Emperor Suzong's death, he was known as "Emperor Xuanxiao of the Great Sage of Civilization and Virtue", and added two words, becoming the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
In addition to the first words, there are also chases. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, he posthumously honored Gaozu as "Emperor Gaozu Shenyao" and posthumously honored Emperor Taizong as "Emperor Wenwusheng of Taizong". Subsequently, the emperors followed suit, and the posthumous texts became increasingly cumbersome. During the reign of Emperor Xuanzong, gaozu was posthumously honored as "Emperor Gaozu Shenyao Dasheng", and later added as "Emperor Guangxiao of Gaozu Shenyao". The tang dynasty emperors posthumously the longest number is Xuanzong. In the thirteenth year (872) of Emperor Yizong's Xiantong Dynasty, he posthumously honored Xuanzong as "Emperor Xuanzong Xuansheng Zhi Ming Chengwu Xianwen Ruizhi Zhangren Shen Cong, Yi Dao Daxiao Emperor", and the yuwen listed almost all the words of praise, which were not only cumbersome and difficult to remember, but also far from the merits of Xuanzong himself.
4. Temple number
After the emperor's death, he not only had to formulate a title to show respect, but also built a temple to prepare for sacrifice. The determination of the temple number, not only in line with the customs of the patriarchal system, but also to consider the emperor's meritorious deeds, the principle of building a temple and establishing a number, as early as the three generations period has been basically formed: "The system of three generations, the king who first sealed is called Taizu." In addition to Taizu, the ancestors have merit and virtue. ”
In the Han Dynasty, this principle continued to be used and developed. When the Tang Dynasty was founded, the Zongmiao system inherited three generations and imitated the two Han Dynasties, and the Zongmiao was fixed and sacrificed, which generally did not exceed the Rules of the Han Family. However, the actual content is not static, "the ancestors have merit and virtue", this principle is often mentioned, but when it is implemented to the real point, it is inevitable that the emperor intentionally or unintentionally ignores the essence of the word "merit" and only uses a false name to perfunctory posterity.
The emperors of the Tang Dynasty were known as Gaozu and Taizong from li yuan and li shimin temples, and the rest were called "zong" as usual. Not only that, the emperors of the Tang Dynasty not only called the emperors as usual, but also did not seem to be satisfied. After the death of Emperor Xianzong Li Chun, the heirs and courtiers praised his merits and wanted to call him "ancestor". The emperors of the Tang Dynasty not only called themselves emperors, but also posthumously awarded the title of emperor and built temples for the princes who could not be heirs.
The confusion of the names of emperors in the Tang Dynasty not only caused many disputes at that time, but also made posterity often helpless. For example, when historians were revising, they were routinely called by their titles, such as Gao Zu in the Book of Han, all of whom were called emperors, and all subsequent histories followed this example. As for the new and old "Book of Tang", once the old view is changed, it is called the temple number, and it is difficult for those who read history to understand the truth.
In fact, this change, on the one hand, reflects the development of ancient authoritarian politics and the resulting proliferation of the wind of honor; on the other hand, this change is also the result of expediency. The tang dynasty emperors were extremely cumbersome, and it was inconvenient to write and recite, so they had to take the temple name and call it. Later, the emperors of the Song and Ming Dynasties did not change, and expediency became the norm, which may have been unexpected.