As the main dynasty in ancient China, the Western Han Dynasty shared the kingdom for 210 years and experienced the rule of twelve emperors successively. Unlike almost every emperor since the Tang Dynasty, which had its own temple number, the standard of temple number in the Western Han Dynasty was still very strict, which led to only four of the twelve emperors receiving temple numbers and being sacrificed for a long time. So, who are these four emperors, and what kind of deeds do they have?
First of all, As the founding prince of the Western Han Dynasty, Liu Bang will naturally get the temple number, but it is worth mentioning that people often say "Han Gao Zu Liu Bang", but in fact, Liu Bang's temple number is "Taizu". The rules for the granting of temple numbers are actually very simple at the beginning, generally speaking, "the foundation of the foundation is called 'too', the meritorious person is 'high', the Zhongxing person is called 'zhong'" and "the ancestor has merit and the sect has virtue". Liu Bang created the foundation of the Great Han Dynasty and made great achievements in the world, so it is natural to be revered as Taizu. As for why people often call him Gao Zu and Gao Di, it is actually because his nickname is "Gao Emperor".
Although he was only a small pavilion chief in the Qin State before the age of forty-seven, Liu Bang accurately grasped the direction of the development of the times and actively threw himself into the peasant uprising movement at the end of Qin. Relying on his talent for knowing people and good responsibilities, his unique personality charm and excellent luck, Liu Bang stood out among the princes and won a decisive battle with Xiang Yu, the king of Western Chu. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, on the one hand, successively eliminated the princes with different surnames to consolidate his rule, and on the other hand, he adopted a policy of recuperation to govern the country, so that the people were given a breathing space after the turmoil at the end of Qin. Although there were mistakes such as the Siege of Bai Deng during his reign, and his personal conduct was also quite criticized, and he was considered to be a completely "rogue emperor", Liu Bang's historical merits are also undeniable.
After Liu Bang, his fourth son Liu Heng of Han also received the temple title. During Liu Heng's reign, he followed the governing concept of "ruling without doing anything" advocated by Liu Bang, and continued to let the people cultivate and recuperate and resume production. On the other hand, Emperor Wen also took the lead in advocating thrift and thrift, so much so that the history books record that he "reigned for twenty-three years, and the palace court was confined to dogs and horses", that is, during his reign for more than twenty years, no palaces, gardens, dogs and horses, clothing, carriages, and so on were added.
Externally, Liu Heng tried his best to ease relations with the powerful enemy Xiongnu to avoid the loss of manpower and financial resources caused by the war, and also achieved good results. In short, under Liu Heng's vigorous rule, the national strength of the Han Dynasty was further developed, social contradictions were significantly alleviated, and for a time the world showed a thriving scene. Due to his good performance and major contributions during his reign, Emperor Wen received the temple title of "Taizong", and he is also considered to be the founder of the "rule of Wenjing".
After Emperor Wen's Liu Heng, Emperor Wu's Liu Che also earned the temple title of "Sejong" by relying on the almost unprecedented Wenzhi martial arts. As mentioned above, the Han Dynasty before Emperor Wu had always had a relatively weak attitude toward the outside world due to its adherence to the national policy of recuperation and recuperation, and Emperor Wu, who was not willing to accept the constant intrusion of the Han Dynasty, had been accumulating strength to prepare for the initiative since he succeeded to the throne at the age of sixteen. During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, he launched several large-scale attacks against the Xiongnu and established the national prestige of the Great Han.
In terms of civil rule, Emperor Wu honored Dong Zhongshu's reformed Confucianism as orthodox, and built the official school "Taixue" and established the talent selection system "Inspection and Examination System", many of which are still influential today more than two thousand years later. Of course, Emperor Wu of Han was by no means a perfect emperor, he was impatient, poor and militaristic, leaving many controversies, but like his ancestor Liu Bang, his exploits made him fully worthy of the long-term sacrifice of future generations.
In the end, Emperor Wu's great-grandson Emperor Xuandi was given the temple title of "Emperor Zhongzong". Combined with the previously mentioned rules for the selection of temple numbers, it can be seen that Liu Qian's main act was to realize the ZTE of the Western Han Dynasty. In the late period of Emperor Wu's reign, the Han Dynasty was already seriously injured, and although its successor, Emperor Zhao, opened the situation of "zhaoxuan rule" with the assistance of Huo Guang and other ministers, he died young at the age of twenty-one, and it can be said that he could not really use his own ability to govern this huge empire.
After Emperor Zhao's death, Emperor Xuan was chosen by Huo Guang as the new monarch of the Han Dynasty, and he experienced hardships in his childhood, and later traveled to the people, knowing well the sufferings of the people. After ascending the throne, Emperor Xuan attached the greatest importance to the people's livelihood, and he encouraged production, committed to reducing the burden of the people, and restored the once powerful national strength of the Han Dynasty. What is valuable is that recuperating with the people does not mean that Emperor Xuan gave up fighting the Xiongnu, on the contrary, the military strength of the Western Han Dynasty reached its peak during his reign. In the third year of Ganlu (51 BC), the Xiongnu Hu Han Evil Shan Yu personally went to Chang'an to meet Emperor Xuan and expressed his submission, which was a great cause that Neither Emperor Wu of Han could achieve.
In general, Taizu Liu Bang single-handedly established the Han Dynasty, with the merit of creating a foundation, Taizong Liu Heng and the people rested, laying a deep foundation for the strong rise of the Han Dynasty in the future, Sejong Liu Che was active and enterprising, and had far-reaching achievements in wenzhi martial arts. Finally, Emperor Zhongzong, on the basis of inheriting the inheritance of his ancestors, exerted great efforts to govern, pushed the national strength of the Western Han Dynasty to the peak, and created the "rule of filial piety". Although these four emperors have very different personalities and different directions of governance, they are all outstanding emperors, and they can be said to have received the temple title.