In ancient history, temple numbers began during the Shang Dynasty. However, in the pre-Qin period, temple names were not widely used. Since the Western Han Dynasty, temple names, like the imperial titles, have been used more among emperors. For princes and ministers, nicknames can be used. However, the temple number was not available to civilian generals. Even in the Western Han Dynasty, the posthumous sealing of temple numbers was still relatively strict, that is, not all emperors could obtain temple titles.
Generally speaking, the temple numbers of the founding emperors are usually Taizu, Gaozu, etc., and as for the temple numbers of other emperors, they are often Taizong, Gaozong, etc. For the Three Kingdoms period that I want to talk about today, in 220 AD, after Cao Cao's death, Cao Pi took the throne. Under the threat of Cao Pi, Emperor Xian of Han was forced to cede the emperor's throne, which meant the official demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty. In 226 AD, Cao Pi died, and the temple name was Gaozu.
In 221, after Cao Pi usurped Han's self-reliance, Liu Bei ascended the throne in Chengdu as emperor. In 223 AD, Liu Bei died of illness, and the temple name was Liezu. In 229, Sun Quan ascended the throne as emperor in Wuchang. In 252 AD, Sun Quan died in Jianye, and the temple name was Taizu. Therefore, it is very obvious that the temple numbers of sun quan, cao pi, and liu bei, who are also the founding emperors, are different.
1. Cao Pi
First of all, as far as Cao Pi is concerned. Although Cao Pi was the first emperor of Cao Wei, it is reasonable to say that Cao Pi should use taizu's temple name, similar to Han Taizu Liu Bang, Song Taizu Zhao Kuangyin, Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang, etc. However, as we all know, Cao Wei's rivers and mountains were basically fought down by Cao Cao.
As early as 189 AD, after Dong Zhuo usurped power, Cao Cao devoted himself to the crusade against Dong Zhuo. In 192 AD, after the death of Liu Dai, the assassin of Yanzhou, Cao Cao gained the land of Yanzhou, which prompted Cao Cao to gain a foothold. In 196 AD, Cao Cao welcomed Emperor Xian of Han and moved the capital to Xuchang. Since then, Cao Cao has blackmailed Tianzi to order the princes to eliminate Lü Bu, Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, Zhang Xiu, Liu Biao, Ma Chao, Han Sui, Zhang Lu and many other separatist forces.
In 213, Cao Cao proclaimed himself duke of Wei and established the state of Wei under the Eastern Han Dynasty. In this regard, in the author's opinion, the establishment of the State of Wei prompted Cao Cao to completely empty the Eastern Han Dynasty, that is, to make the imperial court where Emperor Xiandi of Han was located an empty shelf. In 216, Cao Cao was proclaimed King of Wei. By this time, Cao Cao was only one step away from becoming emperor. However, Cao Cao was once a courtier of the Eastern Han Dynasty and was unwilling to bear the insult of usurpation. Therefore, Cao Cao left the opportunity to become emperor to his son Cao Pi.
On this basis, after Cao Pi ascended the throne, he posthumously gave Taizu's temple number to Cao Cao, so Cao Pi himself could only use Gao Zu's temple number. In this regard, in the author's opinion, after Cao Pi ascended the throne, if he used Taizu's temple name, he would naturally be opposed by Cao Cao's subordinates, because cao Pi's merits did not support him in using the temple name of Taizu. After Cao Pi, there were many similar situations, such as Yang Jian, the Sui Gaozu, and Li Yuan, the Tang Gaozu, although they were all founding emperors.
However, the achievements of Yang Jian and Li Yuan are all because their fathers or grandparents laid the foundation. For Yang Jian, his father Yang Zhong was one of the twelve generals of the Western Wei Dynasty, shangzhu guo and suiguo. As far as Li Yuan was concerned, his grandfather Li Hu was one of the Eight Pillar States of Western Wei and was posthumously awarded the title of Duke of Tang. Further, neither Yang Jian nor Li Yuan were self-made emperors. On the contrary, Liu Bang, Zhu Yuanzhang and other founding emperors who relied on themselves to lay down the Jiangshan often used Taizu's temple number.
2. Sun Quan
Second, as far as Sun Quan is concerned. His father Sun Jian had been attached to Yuan Shu, and in 191 AD, when Sun Jian led an army to attack Liu Biao, he was ambushed and lost his life. In this regard, in the author's opinion, although Sun Jian raised an army at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Sun Jian had no foothold, which was an important reason for his rapid defeat.
After Sun Jian, Sun Ce was also attached to Yuan Shu. However, Sun Ce still successfully pacified the six counties of Jiangdong and laid the foundation for Jiangdong. From this point of view, Sun Ce can actually get the temple title of Taizu. However, Sun Quan did not posthumously crown Sun Ce as emperor, but only posthumously named him the King of Huan of Changsha, which led to Sun Ce not being eligible for the temple title. Moreover, on the basis of the six counties of Jiangdong, Sun Quan joined forces with Liu Bei to win the Battle of Chibi, killed Guan Yu, and seized the land of Jingzhou.
More crucially, Sun Quan also won the Battle of Yiling and repeatedly defused the fierce attacks from Cao Wei. Therefore, Sun Quan not only expanded the territory of Jiangdong, but also ensured the long-term survival of Eastern Wu. In this regard, in the author's opinion, Sun Quan's contribution is completely above Sun Ce, so there are also reasonable places for him to use the temple name of Taizu. For Cao Cao, Cao Pi was left with a powerful Cao Wei. However, the six counties of Jiangdong left by Sun Ce to Sun Quan were not enough to compete with Cao Cao and Liu Bei, and if it were not for Sun Quan's efforts, Eastern Wu would not have been established, let alone become the last state of the Three Kingdoms to perish.
3. Liu Bei
Finally, for Liu Bei, there is no doubt that he is a self-made emperor. Compared with Sun Quan and Cao Cao, at the beginning of Liu Bei's army, there was no help from family forces at all. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei and others participated in the war to quell the Yellow Turban Rebellion. However, because Liu Bei had no foothold, he could only rely on Gongsun Zhan and other princes. Although in 194 AD, Tao Qian ceded Xuzhou to Liu Bei. However, because of his limited strength, Liu Bei was unable to gain a foothold in Xuzhou. In 200 AD, after being defeated by Cao Cao, Liu Bei went south to join Liu Biao, the mu of Jingzhou. In 208 AD, Liu Bei joined forces with Sun Quan to win the Battle of Chibi, which undoubtedly laid the foundation for the establishment of the Three Kingdoms.
After the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei seized the opportunity of Cao Cao's serious injuries, first capturing four counties in southern Jingzhou and then borrowing Nan Commandery from Sun Quan. In 211, Liu Bei came to Yizhou and fought the Battle of Yizhou with Liu Zhang. In 214, Liu Bei defeated Liu Zhang and seized the land of Yizhou. In 217, Liu Bei launched the Battle of Hanzhong. In 221 AD, Liu Bei ascended the throne in Chengdu as emperor, using Han as the state name.
On this basis, Liu Bei had the conditions to use the temple name of Taizu. However, as we all know, Liu Bei is a descendant of the Han Dynasty, and the country he established also uses Han as the national name, which can be regarded as a continuation of the Han Dynasty. Under the premise that Liu Bang had already used the temple name taizu, Liu Bei obviously could not continue to use it. In other words, if Liu Bei did not use Han as the national name, then his temple number should be Taizu. After Liu Bang, although Liu Xiu established the Eastern Han Dynasty, his temple name was not Taizu, but Shizu.
Now, for Liu Bei, he could only use the temple number of Liezu. In the temple number, Liezu has the meaning of building meritorious deeds, and in the last years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, when the Han Dynasty was in decline, Liu Bei played the banner of the Kuangfu Han Room and established the Shu Han Dynasty to resist Cao Wei and Eastern Wu, which indeed made a contribution to the Han Dynasty. Moreover, for Liu Bei, the title is Emperor Zhaolie of Han, and the Zhaolie in this has the meaning of being prominent and prominent, which also affirms Liu Bei's contribution to the Han Dynasty, that is, he made the dim Han Dynasty prominent again. Of course, because of its limited strength, shu Han was only a force that divided one side after all, and was destroyed by Cao Wei in 263 AD.