When students study ancient Chinese history, watch dramas about ancient costumes, and read ancient articles and novels, they often encounter the problem of ancient emperors. In this regard, we find that the same emperor often has different titles. For example, the Tang Emperor Li Longji called Tang Xuanzong also known as Tang Ming Emperor, the Qing Emperor Ai Xinjue Luo Xuanye called Qing Shengzu also known as the Kangxi Emperor, and so on. Why is this happening? Could it be that the emperor was too willful and too casual? Of course not! This is mainly because the names of the ancient emperors in China are different from the name of the emperor, the temple number, and the era number. As an ancient civilization with a history of 5,000 years, etiquette (etiquette) is a prominent cultural phenomenon in Chinese history. The issue of the names of emperors such as the name of the emperor, temple, and year is an important aspect of the ancient Chinese ritual law (including the Chinese character cultural circles such as Korea, Japan, and Vietnam). Let's talk to the students about this topic. (1) Shì refers to the title of emperor, scholar, and chancellor in ancient China, which was given by the imperial court according to their deeds during their lifetime. The name is judgmental, equivalent to a conclusive conclusion. The title of the emperor is generally obtained after the death of the emperor, with the participation of the heir emperor, through the discussion of the court. The title of the last emperor was posthumously given by the emperor of the next dynasty, or by the remnant regime. The titles of his subjects were given by the imperial court. It is generally believed that the title of 谥 was from the Zhou Dynasty, but King Wen of Zhou, King Wu of Zhou, etc. were not courtesans, but self-titles. According to studies of bronze inscriptions from the Western Zhou Dynasty, before and after the Late Zhou Dynasty And The Zhou Dynasty, it was more common to give titles to the dead of higher status or status. The Spring and Autumn Warring States countries extensively implemented the system of the law of the Qin Dynasty, such as the Duke of Qin Mu, the Duke of Jin Wen, and the King of Chu Huai. After Qin Shi Huang unified China, it was agreed that "Emperor" would be the title of supreme ruler. At the same time, he believed that the determination of the "title" was based on the son (heir emperor), the father (the former emperor), and the subject on the king; the next discussion was disrespectful, so the law was abolished. Yingzheng called himself the first emperor, and the future generations were counted in numbers, such as the second and third generations. It was not until the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty that the system of titles was restored, and subsequent dynasties were attacked until the fall of the Qing Dynasty. The nickname is generally a general evaluation of a person's life in one or two words. There are three kinds of praise, pity, and depreciation. The beauties who belong to praise are Wen, Wu, Ming, Rui, Jing, Zhuang, Xuan, Yi and so on. For example, the emperor with the title of "Wen" indicates that he has the ability to "pass through the heavens and the earth", or the virtue of "moral generosity" and "diligence and inquisitiveness". Like Liu Heng, Emperor Xiaowen of the Western Han Dynasty, Cao Pi of Wei during the Three Kingdoms Period, Yang Jian, Emperor Wen of Sui in the Sui Dynasty, and so on. Most of the emperors who are nicknamed "Wu" have the spirit of martial arts, and the spirit of martial courage is beyond ordinary people, they are determined to expand the territory and pacify the world, and some of them are even personally wearing a strong and sharp edge and galloping on the battlefield. Such as Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che, Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, Emperor Cao Cao of WeiWu, Emperor Wu of Qing Taizu wu Emperor Nurhaci and so on. The names that belong to criticism are: Li, You, Ling, and Jiao. For example, "Li" means "violent and slow, no relatives" and "killing innocents". For example, during the reign of Ji Hu, the tenth monarch of the Western Zhou Dynasty, he was tyrannical in his administration, and the people's paths were blind, which intensified various contradictions in the country, triggered a rebellion among the people, and was posthumously known as "King Li". "You" means "no way to curb it", that is to say, the system of issuance is not smooth, and it often causes chaos in the program. For example, during the reign of the twelfth monarch of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Ji Gongxiang (shēng), he was greedy and corrupt, did not care about political affairs, aroused the resentment of the people, and eventually led to the demise of Western Zhou, and was posthumously known as the "King of You". Liu Hong, the penultimate emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, was a famous faint and absurd emperor who favored eunuchs, betrayed officials and lords, defied the court, and finally broke out the Yellow Turban Rebellion, giving him a "spirit" title after his death. The official interpretation of "spirit" is "chaos without damage to the spirit." That is, the country is in chaos, but it has not yet hurt the roots, and as a monarch, it does not govern. Therefore, sending him the "spirit" name can also be regarded as giving enough face. In the Book of Zhou, the title "炀" means "good internal and distant courtesy, going to the far away, abusing the people against heaven, good great government, thin affection and widowhood, and leaving the country of virtue and wasteland.". That is to say, to stay away from the people, not to respect the etiquette, to be very happy, to be weak and unrighteous, to have no morality, and to govern the country weakly. For example, the Sui Dynasty Emperor Yang Guang (there were two others with the title "炀": Xiao Baojuan, the Qi Dynasty Emperor during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and Chen Shubao, the last emperor of southern Chen). However, the title of Sui Emperor was given by The Tang Emperor Li Yuan in order to prove the legitimacy of the Li Tang Dynasty. Objectively speaking, it seems unfair to call it "chi". In fact, Yang Guang also has two completely different nicknames. First, Dou Jiande, who had divided Hebei, was proclaimed emperor in Luochuan, and Gave Yang Guang the title of "Min", which had the meaning of sympathy. First, Wang Shichong, who remained in the eastern capital Luoyang, supported Yang Guang's other grandson, Yang Tong, as empress, and gave Yang Guang the title of "Ming". Obviously, "Ming" has some overflowing feelings to hide it. Of course, with the successive failures of Dou Jiande and Wang Shichong, the nickname they gave Yang Guang could only be a flash in the pan. Those who belong to sympathy are: Huai, Mourning, Mourning, Sorrow (same as "Min"), Thinking, And So on. For example, there are five criteria for being called an emperor of mourning: "Early loneliness and short fold mourning, Gongren short fold mourning, virtue does not build mourning, suffering has been very mournful, execution is not righteous mourning." This means: the mourning of dying prematurely at an early age, the mourning of death before morality is established, the mourning of death due to excessive suffering, not the mourning of being executed because of righteousness. For example, Ji of Eastern Zhou was the eldest son of King Zhending of Zhou, who took the throne after his death, and was attacked and killed by his brother Ji three months after his reign, and his posthumous title was the King of Lai, that is, the King of Zhou. Another example: Liu Xin, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, died after reigning for seven years, which belongs to the early loneliness and short fold. Sima Pi, the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty, died at the age of twenty-five, which also belonged to the early loneliness and short fold. The Tang Emperor Li (chù), the last emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was deposed after 3 years on the throne, and was killed the following year at the age of 17. According to the Falun Gong, there are four situations in which the character for "愍" is "troubled in the country," "in the country when it is difficult," "when the disaster is done," and "when the people are sad." However, Sima Ye (yè), the king of the Fallen Kingdom of the Western Jin Dynasty, was in the midst of the great era of Wuhu Chaohua, and unfortunately had one, two, and four situations, so his nickname was "愍", that is, the Emperor of Jin. In addition to the Son of Heaven, the chancellor also had a nickname. The courtesy title of his subordinates was given by the imperial court and was called an official. Such as Xiao He Yu Wen Zhen Marquis, Zhuge Liang Zhongwu, Yue Fei pursued Wu Mu (later posthumously pursued Zhongwu, Feng'e Wang), Fan Zhongyun Wenzheng (worldly known as Fan Wenzheng Gong), Zeng Guofan Wenzheng, Zhang Zhidong Wenxiang, Lin Ze Xu Wenzhong, and so on. The more famous derogatory is Qin Juniper, whose nickname is "Miao Ugly", "Miao (mìu)" was originally "wrong" to speak, and then add a "ugly" word, it is obvious that this is a bad review. However, when Qin Juniper first died, he was not "Miao Ugly", but praised as "loyal", because at that time Qin Juniper was still a red man of Emperor Gaozong of Song, and it was not until later when Emperor Ningzong of Song, for the needs of the Northern Expedition, he took away Qin Juniper's praise and changed it to a degrading one. Relative to officialdom, there is also a kind of private title, that is, the ancient scholar or famous scholar or hermit gave a title after his death by relatives, friends or disciples. For example, after Tao Yuanming's death, friends privately referred to it as "Jing Festival", which was later called "Tao Jing Festival". The word "Jingjie" has the meaning of plain, high, and dignified. For example, after the death of Zhang Zai, a famous theorist of the Northern Song Dynasty, the disciple was called "Master Mingcheng", which means that his learning and virtue came from "self-sincerity" (the term "self-sincerity" originates from "Moderation"). Of course, private talk is more authoritative and attractive than official talk. Before the Sui Dynasty, people generally used the title of emperor to use the title of the emperor, because the title of the emperor who died in this period was not only more objective, but also generally more refined in terms of word count, or one word, or two or three words. However, after the Tang Dynasty, the number of words set by the emperor of the deceased world increased and became a pile of positive words. For example, Tang Taizong Li Shimin's nickname was "Emperor Wenwu Dasheng Daguangxiao"; The title of Zhao Kuangyin of song Taizu was "Qiyun Li ji ying Wu Rui Wen Shen De Sheng Gong to Ming Da Xiao Emperor", which was up to 18 characters; and the title of Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang was "Kai Tian Xing Dao Zhao Ji Li Great Saint Ren Yi Wu Junde Successful High Emperor", a total of 23 characters. With so many words, of course, it can't be called by name, but only used in specific occasions. Therefore, since the Tang Dynasty, the temple number has been used to refer to the emperor. From a vertical point of view, the emperor's title began to have some positive significance--prompting the emperor's ministers to do less evil and make more contributions to the country and the people, but later evolved into a boring, ridiculous, and protective feudal system. As the famous saying goes: "There is no beginning, but there is an end." "2. The temple number is the name of the ancient Chinese emperor who was posthumously honored when he proclaimed the worship in the Taimiao Temple. It was decided by the new emperor in consultation with the prime minister and the historian when he was in charge. Every dynasty had a temple, also called the Ancestral Temple, which was built by the emperor to sacrifice his ancestors. After the emperor's death, all of them set up tablets in the Taimiao Temple, and all the tablets had temple numbers when they set up. It is generally believed that the temple number originated from the Shang Dynasty, which attached great importance to sacrifice and worship. The first king who has made great contributions to the country and is worthy of eternal sacrifice for posterity will especially catch up with the temple number to show the meaning of eternal temple sacrifice. According to historical records, there were three monarchs of the Shang Dynasty who had temple names, namely Taijia as Taizong, Taiwu as Zhongzong, and Wuding as Gaozong. The temple number was originally very strict, according to the standard of "ancestors have merit and ancestors have virtue", the founding monarch is generally the ancestor, and the monarch with the ability to govern the country is the sect. The Zhou Dynasty established the system of posthumous titles, giving a definitive evaluation of the life of monarchs and ministers, and the temple number system was abolished. The Qin Dynasty even abolished the number system. After the Han Dynasty, the system of temple numbers was inherited. The Han Dynasty was extremely cautious about adding temple numbers, and many emperors did not have temple numbers. The emperors of the two Han Dynasties each had a nickname, but very few had a temple number. Only four of the 13 emperors of the Western Han Dynasty had temple titles: Liu Bang of the Western Han Dynasty was Taizu (but since Sima Qian's time he called him Gaozu, and later generations used it more), Liu Heng was Emperor Taizong, Liu Che was Emperor Shizong, and Liu Qing was Emperor Zhongzong. Even Liu Qi, the Han Jing Emperor who pioneered the rule of Wenjing, did not have a temple number, which shows how strict the temple number was in the early days. Only three of the 13 emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty had official temple names: Liu Xiu as Shizu, Liu Zhuang as Emperor Xianzong, and Liu Zhuo (dá) as Emperor Suzong. In addition, several emperors of the Eastern Han Dynasty had temple names: Liu Zhao (zhào) as Muzong, Liu Hu (hù) as Gongzong, Liu Bao as Jingzong, and Liu Zhi as Weizong, but these temple names were cancelled when Emperor Xiaoxian was presented. After the Tang Dynasty, except for some subjugated kings and short-lived emperors, there were generally temple numbers. Therefore, it is customary that the Tang Dynasty used to refer to the emperors of the deceased dynasty as short as the title of emperor, such as Emperor Wu of Han and Emperor Of Sui, instead of the temple number. After the Tang Dynasty, due to the lengthening of the text of the title, and generally every emperor has a temple number, so when the name of the emperor is called, all the temple names are changed, such as Tang Taizong, Song Taizu and so on. Temple numbers are often used for the characters "Zu" or "Zong". The founding emperor is generally called "zu", and the later emperors are generally called "zong". Generally speaking, the selection of the temple number does not refer to the falun gong, but it also has a slight positive and negative meaning. Taizu and Gaozu opened national businesses, such as Liu Bang of Han Gaozu, Li Yuan of Tang Gaozu, Zhao Kuangyin of Song Taizu, and Nurhaci of Qing Taizu. Chengzu, Shizu, and Shengzu ushered in a new era, which means to make the territory bigger and more stable on the basis of the country and mountains fought by their fathers, and such people are defined as Shizu, Chengzu or Shengzu. For example, the reason why Zhu Di is called "Chengzu" is because Zhu Di perfected the great achievements of the founding emperor during his reign, and made the power and influence of the Ming Dynasty reach its peak, which is called "Yongle Shengshi" in history. The reason why the Qing Dynasty Zu Fu lin (Shunzhi) is called Shizu is because he was the first emperor after the Qing Dynasty entered the Central Plains and set the capital in Beijing. The reason why The Qing Shengzu Xuanye (Kangxi) is called the Holy Ancestor is because all the problems of the Qing Dynasty were most likely made by Xuan Ye - the Kangxi Emperor was the defender of China's unified multi-ethnic state, laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Qing Dynasty, created a situation of Kangqian's prosperity, and was respected by later scholars as "the first emperor of the ages". After the founding emperor, the second emperor is generally called Taizong. As Emperor Taizong, he was generally a figure who not only consolidated the foundation of the previous emperor but also carried it forward. Such as Liu Heng of Han Taizong, Zhao Guangyi of Song Taizong, Li Shimin of Tang Taizong, Zhu Di of Ming Taizong (later changed to Zu), Emperor Taiji of Qing Taizong, and so on. Sejong, Emperor Gaozong, Emperor Renzong, Emperor Xuanzong, and Emperor Shengzong were all ming emperors, such as Emperor Liu Che of Han, Emperor Yinchen of the Qing Dynasty (zhēn, Yongzheng), Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty (Qianlong), Emperor Renzong of Song (historians refer to Emperor Renzong as "Renzong Shengzhi" during his reign), Emperor Mingrenzong Zhu Gaozi and Emperor Mingxuanzong Zhu Zhanji (during the reign of the two emperors, historians called it "the rule of Renxuan"). True Sect, Li Sect, Dao Sect and so on are good and mysterious. For example, in the later period of the reign of Zhao Heng, the True Emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, indulged in the matter of sealing Zen, extensively building Taoist temples, and laboring the people and hurting their wealth; Zhao Yun (yún), the Southern Song Dynasty Emperor Lizong, advocated Taoism, talked about the life of the sutras, and neglected political affairs; Liao Daozong Yelü Hongji firmly believed in Buddhism, widely printed Buddhist scriptures and built temples and pagodas, and labored and hurt the people's wealth. Emperor Dezong was too cowardly, such as the Qing Dynasty's Love Xinjue Luo Zaixiang (tián, Guangxu). Emperor Xuanzong fainted and decayed, and was keen on fun. Emperor Tang was an emperor who specialized in games, and the original meaning of xī was joy. Xi (xī) Zong's Xi generally refers to the emperor's early death and failed to emit his radiance, and the original meaning of Xi is the meaning of faint morning light. For example, Emperor Mingxi Zhu Youxiao (Tianqi) died at the age of 23, so after his death, the Chongzhen Emperor Zhu Youjian gave him the temple name Xizong. Emperor Aizong and Sizong were applied to the more tragic kings of the fallen country. For example, after the fallen emperor of the Jin Dynasty completed Yan Shouxu's self-hanging, the Jin Dynasty minister went to the temple and was given the title of Emperor Aizong. After the ming dynasty emperor Zhu Youjian (Chongzhen) hanged himself on the coal mountain, the Southern Ming regime went to the temple as Sizong (思宗, meaning to remember). As for the tang dynasty, a few emperors and short-lived emperors who did not have temple names, such as Li Li, the emperor of the Tang Dynasty, zhao fu (bǐng), the last emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, yelü Yanxi, the last emperor of the Liao Dynasty, that is, the Tianzuo Emperor, and the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty, Puyi, did not have temple numbers. The 7th emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Bao (bó), died after only 1 month on the throne, the shortest reigning emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, he had neither a title nor a temple number, only the era name "Tianshun". Third, the so-called era name is the name used by the emperors of The Chinese dynasty to chronicle the year. According to the custom, most of the new monarchs will issue a new year number, called the New Yuan. The era name implies the special significance of the emperor coming to the world and declaring orthodoxy, and the monarch and the public are attracting attention. The era name was only created from the beginning of the Han Wu Emperor Liu Che, "Zizhi Tongjian Han Ji Wu Emperor's Note": "Since the ancient emperor did not have a year number, it began here. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty did not have the name of the era name before, and the history books used the year of the emperor, and the time was called together with the emperor's name. For example, in the first year, second year, and third year of King Xuan of Zhou, it was extended until the change of the throne. When the king ascends the throne or changes the dynasty to change the new emperor to ascend to the pole, the year of the king of the heir or the new emperor is used instead. This method of "imperial number chronology" or "reign chronology" was used until the early Han Dynasty. The first era name that Emperor Wu of Han began to use was "Jianyuan", which means beginning, "Jianyuan", which means the beginning of the era. After the new emperor ascends the throne, he needs to determine the new year number, that is, change the yuan, to show his might. When an emperor reigns, he can also change the yuan several times. Whenever there is a major event in the military state, a major auspicious rui, or a disaster, the emperor often changes the era name. Most of the emperors before the Yuan Dynasty changed the Yuan dynasty more than twice, for example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty reigned for 44 years and used 11 era names. Among them, the emperors who used the most era names were Li Zhi and Wu Zetian of Tang Gaozong. Li Zhi reigned for a total of 34 years from 650 to 683, using 14 era names. His wife, Wu Zetian, reigned for 21 years from 684 to 704, using 17 era names. There are also individual emperors who use the era name of the previous generation of emperors when they ascend to the throne, such as the "Ganhua" era name of Later Liang in the Five Dynasties period, the "Tianfu" era name of Later Jin, and the "Xiande" era name of Later Zhou. By the Ming Dynasty, except for Ming Yingzong (the era name orthodox) who was captured by the Mongol Wallachians, was sent back and restored to the throne and re-ascended the throne, and changed to Yuan Tianshun and The First Emperor Ii, they were all one emperor and one number, so since the Ming and Qing dynasties, they also often used era names to refer to the emperor, such as Yongle Emperor, Kangxi Emperor, etc. (the Qing Dynasty only Emperor Taizong Taiji had two era names: Tiancong and Chongde). At this time, the era name became synonymous with the emperor, but it was not well known about its temple number. Since the advent of the era name, major events have occurred in history, generally based on the year number. For example, "Zhenguan" is the era name of Tang Taizong, because of the political Qingming, the history is called "the rule of Zhenguan"; "Kaiyuan" is the era name of Tang Xuanzong, and due to the early political Qingming, the history is called "the rule of Kaiyuan". Yue Fei's "ManJiang Hong" has "Jing Kang Shame, Ju Wei Xue", and "Jing Kang" is the era name of Song Qinzong. The era name is considered a sign of imperial orthodoxy. The use of the era name of one regime by one regime is considered one of the signs of vassalship and subordination. This phenomenon occurred mainly during the period of China's division. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Min and Chu states used the era names of Hou Liang and Hou Tang, the State of Wu Yue used the era names of Tang, Later Liang, Later Tang, Later Jin, Later Han, Later Zhou and Northern Song, and when Korea and Ryukyu were subordinate to China, they also used Chinese imperial era names. There is also the Ming Dynasty in Taiwan, which has always adopted the yong calendar year number. It is precisely for this reason that in many localities, separatist forces, minority regimes, and people's uprisings often establish their own chronology. Looking at the era names set by various dynasties throughout the dynasties, most of them are named after two characters, such as Han Jianshi, Wei Taihe, Jin Yongping, Tang Zhenguan, Song Jingde, Ming Wanli and so on. But it also uses three-, four-, or even six-character people. The three-character era number began with Wang Mang's "founding of the country". After that, there were Emperor Wu of Liang's "ZhongdaTong" and "Zhongda tong" and so on. The four-character era number is more than the three characters, starting from the Northern Wei Taiwu Emperor "Taiping Zhenjun", Tang Wu Zetian called the empress, once used "Long live the Heavenly Book", "Long live the Seal", Song Taizong used "Taiping Xingguo", and so on. In addition, there are still six character era names, such as the Western Xia Jingzong "Heavenly Gift Law Yanzuo" and Huizong "Heavenly Gifts ceremonial grand national day". After the victory of the Xinhai Revolution, the name of the country was changed to the Republic of China, and the Republic of China Chronicle was adopted, and 1912 was the first year of the Republic of China. Later, Yuan Shikai proclaimed himself emperor of the "Chinese Empire" and changed his name to "Hong Xian", but he was deposed soon after. In 1932, the deposed emperor Puyi took over the puppet "Manchukuo" and changed the name to "Datong"; two years later, it was renamed "Manchurian Empire" and changed to "Kant". However, it is usually not recognized by Chinese orthodox history books, but the last era name is "Xuan unification" used in the late Qing Dynasty. After the founding of New China, the Common Era era was adopted, and the era name became history. The era name originated in China and later spread to neighboring countries, and Japan, Vietnam, and Korea have all used their own era names. Because Japan still practices a monarchical system today, it is the only country in the world that uses the era name chronology. For example, the "Meiji" of the "Meiji Restoration" is the era name of Emperor Muhito. The era name of Emperor Hirohito, who launched the war of aggression against China, was "Showa". The current era name of Emperor Naruhito of Japan is "Reiwa", and this year (2021) is the third year of Reiwa. Finally, to add, at the beginning, it is mentioned that Tang Xuanzong is also known as Tang Ming Emperor, what is the reason for this? Tang Xuanzong Li Longji's temple name was Xuanzong, and because his nickname was Emperor Xiaoxiao of the Great Sage of the Dao, during the Qing Dynasty, in order to avoid the name of the Kangxi Emperor Xuanye, he was often called Emperor Tang Ming, which shows that Emperor Tang Ming came according to his name. "The water rolling in the east of the Yangtze River, the waves exhaust the heroes." The ancient Chinese national treasure of the temple, the temple, and the era name, died with the end of the authoritarian era and drifted away. However, they must have participated in the relay race of the long history of Chinese civilization, so it is still necessary for us to understand and learn about the ancient Chinese culture, draw spiritual nutrition from it, and master the relevant knowledge such as the name of the temple, the number of the temple and the year number.