There is a courtyard like the Forbidden City on the inner street of Fuchengmen, Xicheng District, Beijing, the main hall in the courtyard has the general specifications and grades of the Qianqing Palace of the Forbidden City, and the imperial monument erected by the Emperor Yongzheng and Qianlong Emperor and the dismounted stele engraved with 6 kinds of characters show that this is not an ordinary ancient building.
This is the temple of the emperors of the past dynasties, which enshrines 188 emperors and 79 virtuous ministers of China, and witnesses the continuous history of a unified multi-ethnic country.
Beijing Museum of the Emperors of the Past Dynasties (Main Gate). (Visual China).
The Imperial Temple, together with the Taimiao Temple and the Confucian Temple, is known as the three major royal temples in Beijing in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and is the royal temple dedicated to the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The temple of the emperors of the past dynasties sits in the north and faces south, and the central axis is symmetrical. In front of the temple, there were originally two archways in the east and west, and the archway was Jingde Street. In 1954, in order to widen the road, the two archways in front of the temple gate, the three white marble bridges and the sandwich walls on both sides were demolished, and the shadow wall was left alone in the south of the road, facing the main building from afar.
Layout of the temple of the emperors of the past dynasties. (*Daming Huidian).
Worshipping heaven and earth and worshipping ancestors is a long historical tradition of the Chinese nation. In the Book of Rites, it is said that all emperors who have meritorious deeds to the people should be sacrificed.
Since the death of the Yellow Emperor, there have been activities to worship the Yellow Emperor, until today, Jinyun, Zhejiang, Huangling, Shaanxi, and Xinzheng, Henan will hold a grand Yellow Emperor sacrifice every year.
After the Qin and Han dynasties, all dynasties attached great importance to the sacrifice of the previous emperors. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty built the Three Emperors Temple, the Five Emperors Temple, the Zhou Wuwang Temple and the Han Gaozu Temple in Chang'an, the capital of the country. In the Song Dynasty, more than 70 imperial tombs and temples were built and restored in various places. The Yuan Dynasty also inherited the tradition of sacrificing the virtuous monarchs of the previous generation.
The imperial temple of the past dynasties, a total of 26 cultural relics buildings, the overall layout is regular and solemn, the height of the building group is staggered, the front and back layers are distinct. (*Museum of the Emperors of the Past Dynasties, Beijing).
In the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang built a temple of emperors in Nanjing, and for the first time, the emperors of all dynasties were sacrificed together. After moving the capital to Beijing, Emperor Jiajing rebuilt the imperial temples we see today on the site of the original Baoan Temple.
The rulers of the Qing Dynasty also carried out sacrifices here, especially the four emperors of Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong attached great importance to the imperial temples of the past dynasties, not only added and repaired the temples, but also adjusted the enshrined emperors and famous ministers.
Jingdechong Temple, whether in the architectural form, or in the columns, beams, tiles, paintings and other details, all show the dignity and grandeur of the highest level of the royal building. (Visual China).
Jingdechong Temple is the main building of the imperial temple of the past dynasties, and the name of the temple means "admiring virtue and politics and advocating sages". The main hall is a heavy eaves hall roof, which was originally covered with a black glazed tile roof and green tile edges.
In 1762, when Emperor Qianlong rebuilt, he thought that since the emperors of the past dynasties were enshrined, the building level could be mentioned again, so he changed it to pure yellow glazed tiles, and also changed the eaves color painting to the golden dragon and the seal color painting, and forcibly upgraded the Jingdechong Temple to the specification of "Qianqing Palace".
The main hall is 9 rooms wide, 5 rooms deep, and takes the meaning of the ninety-five honor. There are 60 golden silk nanmu pillars in the hall, 707 ceilings are painted with a piece of gold sitting dragon color painting, and the ground is paved with royal special "gold bricks".
In the hall, there are 7 niches, a total of 188 emperors are enshrined. With dynasties as generations, they are arranged in the order of "ancestors in the middle, left and right". In the middle of the three emperors, the five emperors and the emperors of the past dynasties are divided into left and right according to the order of dynasties, just like the ancestors of a "big family", enjoying the sacrifice together.
Interior view of Jingdechong Temple. (Visual China).
In the guest book of Jingdechong Temple, a tourist asked, "Qin Shi Huang made a great contribution, why don't you worship him?"”
There are more than 460 emperors in Chinese history, and 188 of them are enshrined in the temple. Which emperors can be enshrined?What are the criteria?
This is to mention the "careful thinking" of Zhu Yuanzhang and Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty and the six emperors of Shunzhi, Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty.
Ming Taizu seated statue. (*National Palace Museum, Taipei).
There are only 16 emperors of all dynasties that Zhu Yuanzhang worshipped in Nanjing, including the three emperors and five emperors and the founding monarchs of the previous dynasties. As for the three founding monarchs of Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Jin and Emperor Wen of Sui, he believes that they are worthy of the people and do not sacrifice their merits.
Statue of Emperor Kangxi. (*The Palace Museum).
Emperor Kangxi felt that the rule of the emperors of the past dynasties was a complete and successive system, including the founding monarch and the wise and wise king, except for the emperor who was killed or died due to immorality and immorality, all of them should be worshipped. This draws the bottom line for enshrinement. He ordered the Ministry of Rites to discuss again and again with Jiuqing to add the enshrined emperor and the enshrined ministers.
It's a pity that the plan for increasing the rituals drawn up by the Ministry of Rites has not had time to be reported, and Emperor Kangxi passed away. After Emperor Yongzheng succeeded to the throne, he implemented his father's will, passed the plan of the Ministry of Rites, and put the will in place before the end of the Kangxi year, adding 143 emperors and 40 famous ministers, and the number of enshrined emperors reached 164, and the number of enshrined ministers increased to 79.
Emperor Yongzheng and his seal of "difficult for the king". (*The Palace Museum).
However, doesn't it mean that the emperor who was killed and died in the country is not enshrined?So among the emperors who are now worshipping, why are there still Tang Xianzong who was killed, as well as Jin Aizong and Ming Shuzong who died in the country?
This story starts with Emperor Kangxi. He believes that the Ming Dynasty is dead, the pot should not be carried by Chongzhen, the bane is Wanli, Taichang, Tianqi three generations, Emperor Chongzhen tried his best to turn the tide, but still failed to save the Ming Dynasty, so Chongzhen can sacrifice.
Emperor Qianlong imitated the practice of his grandfather Emperor Kangxi, and enshrined Tang Xianzong and Jin Aizong, who had similar circumstances. He also found that the bottom line of his grandfather's enshrinement was only to exclude the worst emperors, and he believed that the emperors of the past dynasties had experience and lessons when governing the country and governing the country.
Emperor Qianlong personally inscribed the inner forehead and couplets of Jingdechong Temple. (Visual China).
In the history of the development of Chinese civilization, many ethnic groups have stepped onto the stage of history. Among the emperors enshrined in the imperial temples of the past dynasties, there are not only the emperors of the Han nationality, but also the emperors of ethnic minorities, as well as many "mixed-blood" emperors. Emperor Kangxi himself has a multi-ethnic ancestry, his biological mother Empress Xiaokangzhang Tong Jia's ancestors are Han Chinese, and his grandmother, Empress Dowager Xiaozhuang, is Mongolian. Therefore, Emperor Kangxi attached great importance to the unique contributions of emperors of various nationalities.
Emperor Kangxi's grandmother, Empress Xiaozhuangwen, and her biological mother, Empress Xiaokangzhang. (*The Palace Museum).
In fact, this view was not the first of the Kangxi Emperor.
Although Zhu Yuanzhang overthrew the Yuan Dynasty and established the Ming Dynasty under the banner of "driving out Hu Lu and restoring China". However, he believes that the change of dynasty is related to the destiny of heaven and the desire of the people at that time. Yuan replaced Song, Ming replaced Yuan, all of them.
Of course, in order to stabilize the overall situation and alleviate contradictions at the beginning of the establishment of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang affirmed that Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty, had the merit of "the prosperity of public order", and included him in the Chinese orthodox imperial system and enshrined in the imperial temples of previous dynasties.
Later, Emperor Jiajing had deposed Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty, due to the invasion and disputes of the Mongolian Tatar department, but during the Shunzhi period, the regent Dolgon resumed the sacrifice of Kublai Khan, and also added Yuan Taizu Genghis Khan, Liao Taizu Yelu Abaoji, Jin Taizu Wanyan Aguta, Jin Shizong Wanyan Yong and other emperors. After Emperor Shunzhi took office, he also "invited" Zhu Yuanzhang and other emperors of the Ming Dynasty into the imperial temples of previous dynasties.
The imperial temple of the past dynasties is engraved with the first 6 kinds of words of "** people wait to get off the horse here" stone stele. (Visual China).
Not only that, but if you look closely, you will find that the emperors enshrined here are both the emperors of the great unified dynasty and the emperors of the "partial country".
The Qing Dynasty was a unified multi-ethnic feudal dynasty established by the Manchus. However, under the infiltration of Chinese civilization, the Qing Dynasty also embarked on the road of chemical weapons and reverence. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty believed that after gaining dominance by force, they had to integrate into the Chinese culture of governance in order to sit firmly in the world.
Emperor Kangxi believed that the descendants of the previous emperors in history could no longer be found, and the people who ruled the world later could be said to be the inheritors of the deeds they created, and they should be sacrificed.
Emperor Qianlong's imperial pen "China is as unifying as a line". (*Museum of the Emperors of the Past Dynasties, Beijing).
Emperor Qianlong summed it up with "the unification of China, endless as a line". That is to say, the sequence of China's governance and unification, starting from the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, during which the Great Unification Dynasty and the "Partial Peace" alternately existed and died, but they have always been in the same line, just like an uninterrupted line, the Chinese imperial system has not been interrupted, and the history of the Chinese nation has not been blank.
Emperor Qianlong believed that although the Northern and Southern Dynasties were partial regimes, Emperor Daowu and Emperor Taiwu of the Northern Wei Dynasty respected Confucianism and Buddhism, promoted learning and education, nurtured talents, and overhauled water conservancy, and were virtuous monarchs. According to such standards, he added 23 emperors from the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Northern Wei Dynasty, and Southern Dynasties to the Song, Qi, and Chen dynasties, as well as the Later Tang Dynasty and Later Zhou of the Five Dynasties.
So far, the number of emperors enshrined in the imperial temples of the past dynasties has reached 188 as we see now.
The Imperial Tablet Pavilion stands on both sides of the Jingdechong Temple, and the main hall complements each other, expounding the idea of the festival and highlighting the royal style. (*Picture Worm Creative).
On both sides of Jingdechong Temple, there are 4 imperial tablet pavilions, all of which are heavy eaves rest on the top of the mountain, covered with yellow glazed tiles, and the outer eaves are painted with golden dragons and seals. The huge monument in the pavilion, the stele and the stone carving ground of the sea water river cliff all reflect the highest level of the royal family.
From the completion of the Jiajing period to the last sacrifice in 1911, a total of 662 sacrificial ceremonies have been held in the imperial temples of successive dynasties, of which 20 times have been sacrificed by the emperor in person. Emperor Yongzheng also ordered after the first personal sacrifice that in the future, the emperor's frame honor guard should also avoid the main gate in front of the imperial temple, showing that he attaches great importance to the imperial temple of the past dynasties.
The Jingde Street archway that originally stood on the street outside the gate of the imperial temple of the past dynasties was praised by Liang Sicheng as the most magnificent archway in Beijing, which was demolished and sealed in 1954, and the new capital museum was rebuilt after the completion of the museum hall and stood in the museum hall. (Visual China).
As the only surviving temple integrating the emperors of the past dynasties, the temple of the emperors of the past dynasties carries the deep meaning of the unity of China and has become the witness of the pluralistic unity of the Chinese nation and the concept of "great unification".
Executive Producer |Wang Xiangyu.
Audit|Lan Xi Feng.
Crafting |Hu Qi.