In the study of the history of the Qing Dynasty, such an interesting story has been found. In the imperial temples of the Qing Dynasty, there were no emperors such as Liao Taizu, Jin Taizu, and Yuan Taizu, but monarchs such as Shang Zhongzong, Shang Gaozong, and Zhou Chengwang appeared.
So why didn't the imperial temples of the Qing Dynasty choose Jin Taizu and Liao Taizu, who were also ethnic minorities, to sacrifice, but chose the emperors of the Shang and Zhou dynasties with a relatively old age to perform the temple sacrifices?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > (i) foreign emperors</h1>
The reason why the Manchu Qing selectively ignored the three emperors of Liao Taizu, Jin Taizu, and Yuan Taizu in the sacrifice was very simple:
Because, these three ethnic minority emperors did not unify the world in the end. It's just a matter of dominating one side. Therefore, after the Shunzhi Emperor succeeded to the throne, he believed that these people were inferior in strength to themselves, nor were they the orthodox of the Central Plains Dynasty, so they should not be invited into the imperial temple for sacrifice.
So, what is the Imperial Temple? In fact, the founder of the Imperial Temple was zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, who was still a little worried about his identity as a commoner, and in order to emphasize his orthodox status of the Ming Dynasty, he established the Imperial Temple south of the Qintian Mountain in Nanjing.
In the imperial temple, he enshrined 16 emperors of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, Xia Yu, Shang Tang, King Wu of Zhou, Han Gaozu, Emperor Guangwu of Han, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Taizu of Song, and Ancestor of Yuan Shizu, which covered almost all the most representative emperors in Chinese history, which not only expressed the ming dynasty's respect for the previous dynasty, but also took the opportunity to express his orthodox status to the people of the world.
Coming to the Qing Dynasty, the emperors of the Qing Dynasty continued the tradition of setting up imperial temples in the Ming Dynasty. After the Qing Dynasty entered the Customs, during the reign of Dolgun, there were Liao Taizu, Jin Taizu, and Yuan Taizu in the imperial temple, but after Dolgun's death, the Shunzhi Emperor personally ruled and made changes to this situation. Liao Taizu, Jin Taizu, and Yuan Taizu were removed from the Imperial Temple, and subsequent emperors such as Shang Zhongzong, Shang Gaozong, Zhou Chengwang, Zhou Kang, HanWen emperor, Song Renzong, and Ming Xiaozong were added.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > (ii) Emperor of the Shang Zhou Dynasty</h1>
Secondly, the sacrifice of the Han emperor was because the Shunzhi Emperor tried to integrate the Manchus and Han Dynasties, win over the hearts of the Han people, and thus consolidate his orthodox position. The Shunzhi Emperor knew that in order to consolidate his political power, rule the Central Plains, and be the master of the large population of the Han people, he must promote the integration of the Manchus and Han in order to weaken the hostility of the Han people to the Manchus. Therefore, in terms of policy, it is necessary to greatly win the hearts and minds of the Han people. It was for this purpose that the Shunzhi Emperor added more emperors of the Han dynasties to the imperial temple.
It can be seen that the Qing Dynasty canceled the sacrifice of Liao Taizu, Jin Taizu, and Yuan Taizu, and invited Shang Zhongzong into the Imperial Temple, and the impact behind it was very far-reaching. It not only shows his intention as an emperor of the great unified regime not to sacrifice the lord of a small country, but also shows that he attaches far more importance to the Han emperor than the emperor of ethnic minorities. This move of the Qing Dynasty is also one of the ways to win the hearts and minds of the Han people, and with the blessing of various policies, the Qing Dynasty has ruled the land of China for nearly three hundred years.