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In the sixty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1722), the Kangxi Emperor ordered the emperor's fourth son, Yin Chan Gong, to take the place of emperor in Changchun Garden, and then died of illness. Yin Chan succeeded to the throne as the fifth emperor of the Qing Dynasty, serving as the Yongzheng Emperor.
After the Yongzheng Emperor ascended the throne, when discussing the number of the Kangxi Emperor's temple with the ministers, he directly made a final decision and enshrined Kangxi as the "Holy Ancestor" at the Taimiao Temple. At this point, the Qing Dynasty Saint Zu Kangxi became the second "ancestor" after the founding emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Taizu Nurhaci (to be precise, Emperor Taiji was the founding emperor, but the Manchus insisted on calling Nurhaci the founding emperor).
Photo note: Portrait of Kangxi
Generally speaking, not only the temple number of the founding emperor can be called "ancestor", and the latter can only be called "Zong". Why can the Kangxi Emperor be called "Zu"?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > let's first talk about the origin of the Emperor Temple number</h1>
Most of the titles of emperors in ancient China came from the title of emperor and temple. The name of the temple and the temple number have appeared as early as the Shang Zhou, and the name is the final conclusion of the coffin before the ancient emperor's death, playing the role of "one word praise and Hua Gong, one word depreciation and axe". Before the Tang Dynasty, most emperors used nicknames, such as Emperor Jing of Han and Emperor Wu of Han.
The temple number is the title used by the ancient emperor after his death to set up a room in the Taimiao Temple, and a unified system was formed during the Han Dynasty, so-called
"Ancestors have merit, sects have virtue, self-merit is not a meritorious examination, and they must not be good at the name of the ancestors, and they must live in the temple of the second ancestor." ---- WeiShu Lizhi
The founding emperor temple name is "ancestor", and those who have great merits after it can be called "zong". Therefore, not all emperors can have temple numbers, must make significant contributions to be eligible to enjoy the worship of their descendants, the entire Western Han Dynasty only Han Gao Emperor (Taizu), Han Wen Emperor (Taizong), Han Wudi (Sejong), Han Xuan Emperor (Zhongzong), Han Yuan Emperor (Gaozong), Han Ping Emperor (Yuanzong) six people have temple numbers.
However, after the Tang Dynasty, the title began to become a tool for singing praises to the emperor, becoming a large number of words and difficult to remember (such as: Tiantian Fa Dao Ji Gong Quande Shenwen Shengwu Rui Zhe Ming Xiao Emperor - Song Renzong; which of these two do you remember??) And with the strengthening of imperial power, the Tang Dynasty began to abolish the emperor, almost all emperors can enter the temple to enjoy the temple number, so the simple title of the temple number has become the most familiar business card for everyone to the emperor.
Then come back to talk about why the Kangxi Emperor Temple can be called "Holy Ancestor".
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > on the one hand, Yongzheng insisted on doing it </h1>
After Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, on the issue of the Kangxi Temple, Yongzheng said, "Saint Zu Ren filial piety, wisdom and courage Tianxi." Inherit the great cause early, be diligent in government and love the people. The scriptures are unified, and the universe is unified, although it is known that it is kept, it is the same as the creation of the Yan." It means that Kangxi seems to be the king of Shoucheng, but the merit is actually no different from starting a dynasty, so it is called Zu.
Photo note: Kangxi stills
Seriously speaking, although the Kangxi Emperor in this life leveled san francisco, collected Taiwan, three conquests of Gardan, etc., but this does not negate the efforts of his previous three generations, the Qing Dynasty did not expand the territory on a large scale, the Kangxi Emperor only roughly consolidated the imperial power on the territory of the Shunzhi period, how to start it?
In contrast, Emperor Liu Of Hanzhong (Emperor Xuan of Han) completely eliminated the Xiongnu militarily, quelled the Qiang rebellion, and established the Western Regions Capital Protectorate, and the Great Han Tianwei has since reached thousands of miles away from the Onion Ridge. Economically, industry and commerce were straightened out, mergers and acquisitions were suppressed, and the people were well fed and clothed, and grain prices reached the lowest level in the Han Dynasty. Culturally sorting out the classics, promulgating the "History of History" to the world, the ruling ideology of "overlord and miscellaneous" has influenced future generations for more than 2,000 years, and people dare not call them ancestors.
Why did Yongzheng do this?
Because Yongzheng succeeded to the throne through the Conquest of Kowloon, at the beginning of the succession, many ministers above the court and themselves were not the same heart, so the Yongzheng Emperor's throne was extremely unstable, and he wanted to improve the status of Kangxi to show his filial piety and achieve the role of stabilizing the imperial throne.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > on the other hand, it is a microcosm of the growing imperial power </h1>
Before the Ming Dynasty, the scholar and the emperor almost ruled the world together, and the emperor wanted a good title and entered the Temple of Tai, you could not offend the civil officials, otherwise you would not be able to get off the dragon chair in minutes.
Picture note: Zhu Yuanzhang stills
However, China's feudal dynasty was more and more concentrated in the future, and after the Ming Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang got rid of the chancellor, it reached the point where the monarchy crushed everything, and under the high concentration of monarchy, the tradition of "ancestors have merit, sects have virtue" is not a thing.
Therefore, in this situation of high concentration of monarchy, the Ming Dynasty produced a Chengzu and the Qing Dynasty produced a Holy Ancestor.
It's just that the Ming Dynasty still has a bit of a bottom line, Zhu Di, as the son of Zhu Yuanzhang, should have succeeded him to the throne, but Zhu Yuanzhang hurt his grandson and messed up the generations. After Zhu Di's death, his son Zhu Gaozi only gave him the title of Taizong Temple, and more than 100 years later, in order to suppress the civil officials, the Jiajing Emperor forcibly upgraded Zhu Di's Taizong Temple number to Chengzu Temple.
The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty became the "Holy Ancestor" as the fourth generation of emperors, and the key is that the temple number of "Shengzu" is not the general ancestral temple number, like the Tang Dynasty Li Clan Royal Family recognized Lao Tzu as the ancestor and posthumously named him the Holy Ancestor, and the Song Dynasty posthumously named Zhao Gongming, the god of wealth, as the Holy Ancestor.
Looking at the Qing Dynasty Yongzheng to his father Kangxi Ding "Shengzu" temple number, it can be described as shameless. But so what? During the Qing Dynasty, did you still want to find a scholar who could fight against the imperial power?
Author: Yuan Zaiyu, a writer of literature and history, author of "A Brief History of the Internet", focusing on popular science historical knowledge, sharing public historical materials, and disseminating human treasures. Follow and private message me reply to the number "01" and share with you my treasured 100G historical documents, including old photos, historical documents, etc.
Reference: Jing Xuefeng. The connotation and evolution of the ancient Chinese temple number system[J].Yellow River. loess. Yellow Race People, 2019(02):54-58.
WANG Qi. From "TangZong Songzu" to the title of the emperor[J].Yangtze River Series, 2019(19):70-75.