Heir is not a very good word, especially for the emperor, since the transition from the power to the family world, as long as the dynasty is still there, the monarch's position must only be passed on within the monarch's family, the Shang Dynasty also has more brothers and brothers, and by the Zhou Dynasty, a systematic system of primogeniture has been formed.
Later dynasties, but also the descendants of the succession more than brothers, which also reflects the nature of the dynasty, that is, the world is the monarch alone, the country and mountains are the property of the monarch, the so-called "the whole world can not be the royal land", the monarch, the rich people of the world, ask who will be willing to pass on their property to their brothers and even outsiders instead of their sons?
In this case, the extinction of the heir became something that all emperors did not want to face. Extinction does not mean the absence of children, but the absence of male descendants who can inherit property, childless and childless, and no successor.
Before the emperor was alive, this matter was easy to handle, and wouldn't it be better to adopt an adopted son? The choice of adopted sons is generally limited to the clan room, especially the near branch clan room, such as the emperor's nephew, cousin nephew, etc., of course, there are also expanded to the far branch clan room and even choose a foreign surname, which is a special situation.
Whether it is the Yangzong family or the Yang foreign surname, when the emperor himself was alive, these adopted sons had to obediently call them daddies, but after the emperor died, it is difficult to say, they also have biological fathers, are they called biological fathers or adoptive fathers? As a result, a big drama of who the emperor should call his father slowly began.
In fact, the problem of extinction appeared at the beginning of the imperial era, the second emperor Qin II did not have a son, of course, this is man-made, Qin II died in the Zhao Gao coup, when he died was still very young, the problem of extinction can not be put on the table, who talks about who dies, Qin II in his early twenties will never think that he will be extinct.
The same as Qin II was Han II, that is, Emperor Hui of Han, who had sons, or four, two of whom became emperors, but unfortunately one was deposed by Lü Hou (former Shao Emperor), one was deposed by the chancellor (Later Shao Emperor), and the remaining two were also killed, on the grounds that they were not the sons of Emperor Xian, emperor Xiandi was heirless, and Liu Heng, the younger brother of Emperor Yingxian, succeeded to the throne.
The Acting King is called a lieutenant. The lieutenant went to the edict, and all ten of the Gurudwara went away with their soldiers. The acting king then entered and listened to the government. In the night, the Division of you destroyed Liang, Huaiyang, King Changshan, and Emperor Shao at his residence. ("History of Empress Lü Benji")
In this way, the first heirless emperor in history to have an heir should be Emperor Han Zhao, as the youngest son of emperor Qiangu Yi, he succeeded to the throne at the age of eight, died at the age of twenty-one, and died before he had time to leave his own heirs, which is estimated to be something that Huo Guang, the powerful minister who restricted Emperor Zhao's sexual life, did not expect.
Emperor Zhao's empress Shangguan was Huo Guang's granddaughter, in order to let his granddaughter give birth to an imperial heir as soon as possible, huo Guang, who was in power and opposition, put his hand into the harem and forbade the palace women to serve Emperor Zhao, and Empress Shangguan was able to monopolize the harem, but when Emperor Zhao died, Empress Shangguan was only 16 years old, and it was normal that she did not conceive and give birth, and Huo Guang had to face the inexplicable situation of the emperor having no heirs and the imperial throne hanging empty.
Unlike the situation faced by the group of heroes who eliminated Zhu Lü, Emperor Zhao was innocent and meritorious, Emperor Hui made the Lü clan dictatorship, which almost caused the change of lords in the country, and the heroes had a bad impression of him, coupled with the reasons of the Lü clan, they gave up his parents and children to establish his brother, and Emperor Zhao gave Huo Guang extreme trust, and there was also a zhongxing light in governing the country, so it was reasonable that Huo Guang should not let him die.
Since this was the case, he could only choose an heir for Emperor Zhao, and the first choice was of course Emperor Zhao's nephews, and Huo Guang looked around and chose Liu He, the king of Changyi.
Emperor Zhao's close relatives were actually not many, Emperor Wu of Han had a total of six sons, the eldest son Liu Zhao's family was almost wiped out in the scourge of the witches, and only one grandson, Liu Yi, was left, because of this stain, Liu Yi had been regarded as a sinner and was directly screened out by the sieve; the second son Liu Hong died early and had no children; the third son Liu Dan wanted to rebel and seize his brother's throne, failed to commit suicide, his sons were not implicated and killed, and the succession was even more thoughtless; the fourth son Liu Xu had six sons, but he was strong and powerful, and he made his son his heir to trouble. Huo Guang naturally wouldn't be so stupid; then there was only five sons left, Liu Qi, who had only one son, Liu He.
It is reasonable to say that Liu Qi had already died, so he counted on this son to continue the incense, huo Guang moved him to be the son of Emperor Zhao, and Liu Ji would soon die? This was also too unreasonable, but Huo Guang didn't care, he just did it, and he hadn't found an heir for Liu Qi to top, and Liu Ji was so desperate.
What was irritating was that in just twenty-seven days, Huo Guang was deposed on the grounds that Liu He was adulterous and absurd, becoming the first deposed emperor in history. This matter was very unhappy for Liu He, but not necessarily for Liu He, because he had a son again, and if he knew about it, he didn't know how to feel.
After deposing the emperor, Huo Guang did not dare to sit on his own, so he had to choose again, the candidates were the above ones, Huo Guang pondered for several days, and finally selected Emperor Zhao's nephew Liu Yiji.
After Liu Yi had succeeded to the throne, he changed his name to Liu Xun (劉洵) for Emperor Xuan of Han, and his relationship with Emperor Zhao was somewhat chaotic. In terms of blood, the two are grandchildren, and from the patriarchal point of view, the two are father and son, although this is not specified in the Yingli Edict, but it can be inferred from the identity of Empress Shangguan, because Emperor Xuan honored Empress Shangguan as empress dowager instead of empress dowager, that is to say, he took his uncle as his father, which can be said to have messed up the etiquette, and it is no wonder that Ban Gu commented in the Book of Han that Huo Guang "did not learn and had no skills".
Throw it aside first, anyway, Emperor Zhao has a son, the imperial lineage of the Han Dynasty can be stabilized in Emperor Wu - Emperor Zhao - Emperor Xuan, things are not so simple, Emperor Xuan really does not want to call his biological father a father?
Obviously, in the first year of his succession, Emperor Xuan of Han began to mention the matter of honoring his father and ancestors.
When the emperor took the throne at the beginning of the reign, he issued an edict: "Therefore, the crown prince is in the lake, and there is no trumpet, and when he is a temple, his discussion is set up in the garden." "The Ritual 'For man the latter, for the son also', so his parents are not allowed to sacrifice, and the righteousness of the ancestors is also honored." His Majesty is the Empress Xiaozhao, inheriting the ancestors' ancestors, and making ceremonies is not idle. Emperor Xiaozhao's former crown prince was elevated to the throne at Lake, Shi Liang's tomb was in the north of Bowangyuan, and Emperor Shi's grandson was seated in Guangming Guobei. The Dharma says, 'The one who does the deeds', and the foolishness thinks that it is advisable to mourn the pro-mourners, and after the mother mourns, it is better than the princely kingdoms, and the three hundred houses are placed in the Fengyi. Therefore, the crown prince was given two hundred houses. Mrs. Shi Liangdi, who guarded thirty houses. The garden is placed by the chief, and Zhou Wei abides by the law. (The Book of Han and the Biography of the Five Sons of Wu)
The report of the relevant departments makes it very clear that everything is according to the "Rites", And His Majesty has inherited the throne from Emperor Zhao, so he can't still respect his parents as emperor and throw Emperor Zhao aside, right? After consultation, the relevant departments reported that they had set their nickname, Liu Zhiyu '匳匫'êпсписпиисслплi," and that his honorific title during his lifetime was crown prince, called "Prince Jiao"; Emperor Xuandi's grandmother Shi Liangdi was called Lady Jiao; Emperor Xuan of Han's biological father Liu Jinchen was mourned, and Emperor Xuan's biological mother of Han
Under the suppression of the etiquette, Emperor Xuan of Han agreed to the report, but when naming his grandmother's cemetery, he called it the Houyuan instead of the Lady, which was a hand.
Emperor Xuan's urgent mention of his grandfather was not out of affection, not long after his birth, his father and grandfather died one after another, and he had never seen any feelings, he wanted the ministers to recall that twenty years ago, his grandfather was the prince of the Great Han and the heir to the throne, and his lineage was orthodox, although his throne came from the hands of Emperor Han Zhao, but it was just an accident.
In addition, Emperor Xuan even took advantage of the great-grandfather Emperor Wu, and two years after succeeding to the throne, he also proposed to give the great-grandfather a temple name, and forcefully suppressed all opposition, giving Emperor Wu the temple name Shizong, and Emperor Xuan presided over the establishment of the temple as a son of Emperor, further consolidating his position.
Eight years after succeeding to the throne, Huo Guang had died, the Huo family had also been dealt with, and Emperor Xuan of Han officially honored his grandmother as empress dowager, and at the same time, the relevant departments dug up a record in the "Rites": "The father is a soldier, the son is the son of heaven, and the son of heaven is sacrificed", so Liu Jin and his wife can enjoy the treatment of the son of heaven in name only.
The etiquette system of the Han Dynasty can be said to be relatively powerful, so powerful that the emperor cannot be overthrown, Emperor Xuan has always taken Emperor Zhao as his father, but he is unwilling, in front of the emperor who is arbitrary, the ministers made concessions, reinterpreted the etiquette system, let the emperor's father enjoy the treatment of tianzi, the emperor can be called the emperor examination (for the deceased father's title, strictly speaking, Emperor Xuan can only be called Emperor Zhao).
Emperor Xuan's practice has always been criticized by Confucianism for being uncivilized, but some things are only once and countless times different, with this precedent, similar things will only become more and more, and even more and more excessive, such as the next Han Emperor.