What is the difference between Taizu and Gaozu? Zhao Kuangyin is the Taizu of the Song Dynasty, and Li Yuan is only the ancestor of the Tang Dynasty.
The legal system of ancient China was strict, especially when it came to maintaining the authority of the monarch, and the regulations were extremely strict. Once you violate the dignity of the royal family, you will be judged as a crime of defrauding the king, and not only your own life may be in danger, but also your family will be affected, and the consequences will be serious.
In ancient times, the title of the emperor was also very particular, and there was no room for error. For example, Li Yuan, the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was called Tang Gaozu, Yang Jian, the founding emperor of the Sui Dynasty, was called Sui Gaozu, Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was called Ming Taizu, and Zhao Kuangyin, the founding emperor of the Song Dynasty, was called Song Taizu.
What is the difference between Taizu and Gaozu? As the founding emperor, why is there a difference in title? Zhu Yuanzhang was honored as Taizu, while Li Yuan was known as Gaozu. Zhu Yuanzhang and Liu Bang are both well-known grassroots emperors in the history of our country.
Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born poor, worked as a monk, a beggar, and even joined the rebel army under the recommendation of a friend, so that he could have a long-term "job". At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the people were struggling to make a living, and the uprising conformed to the will of the people, while Zhu Yuanzhang's rebel army had strict military discipline and had never oppressed the common people, so it had a high reputation among the people.
As the ranks of the rebel army gradually grew, Zhu Yuanzhang led them to fight everywhere, and finally realized the unification of the country and established the Ming Dynasty. As the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, although Zhu Yuanzhang did not have much education and did not have prominent elders in his family, he knew the needs of the common people because he had personally experienced the most difficult years.
After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended to the throne, in order to let the people of the world recuperate, reduce taxes, vigorously develop the economy, and introduced many policies that benefit the people and the country, so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment.
Under his wise rule, the economy of the Ming Dynasty was rapidly restored, and the military power was fully developed, which laid a solid foundation for Zhu Di to create a prosperous era of the Ming Dynasty and even Zheng He's trip to the West.
Judging from his political achievements, Zhu Yuanzhang is undoubtedly a virtuous monarch. Although later generations criticized him, mainly because of his "purge" of meritorious heroes, this was a common practice of the emperors of the previous dynasties to defend the inheritance of the country.
Therefore, we cannot bury Zhu Yuanzhang's merits because of this.
Zhu Yuanzhang, the Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, was the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty and the originator of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty in later generations. Speaking of the emperors of the early Ming Dynasty, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan and Tang Taizong Li Shimin will inevitably be mentioned.
Li Yuan was born in a famous family, and after being an official eunuch and nobleman, he was appreciated during the period of Emperor Wen of Sui and became an important minister in the court. However, Emperor Yang Guang of the Sui Dynasty was unscrupulous, profligate, and wasted money on the people, which made the lives of the world miserable.
At first, Li Yuan still wanted to calm the civil strife for the Sui Dynasty, but when he saw the hardships of the people's lives, his loyalty began to waver. Under the influence of his son Li Shimin, he saw the opportunity and firmly joined the anti-Sui camp, and finally overthrew the Sui Dynasty, pacified the civil strife, and established the Tang Dynasty.
Li Yuan, as the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty, was honored as Tang Gaozu. However, in the reputation of the people and the evaluation of later generations, his status is far inferior to that of his son Li Shimin.
Although Li Yuan was the founder of the Tang Dynasty, it was his son Li Shimin who really made the greatest contribution to the overthrow of the Sui Dynasty. Li Yuan himself is very aware of this.
To a certain extent, Li Yuan can become Tang Gaozu, and Li Shimin is also promoted. However, considering the issue of succession, Li Yuan insisted on following the "primogeniture inheritance system" and planned to pass the throne to his eldest son, and even tried to restrict Li Shimin in order to pass on the throne smoothly.
This can be said to be the act of unloading the mill and killing the donkey. In order to protect his rights and interests, Li Shimin launched the Xuanwumen Rebellion, which not only saved his life, but also forced Li Yuan to pass the throne to himself.
After Li Shimin ascended the throne, he comprehensively strengthened the military, economy, and culture, and reformed the selection system to appoint talented people. While expanding his territory to the outside world, he also greatly promoted the integration of diverse ethnic groups.
Under the leadership of Li Shimin, the people lived and worked in peace and contentment, and the economy and culture of the Tang Dynasty reached the peak of prosperity, which was hailed as a prosperous era. He laid a solid foundation for the continued development of the Tang Dynasty.
In contrast, Li Yuan's contribution and merits to the development of Datang are minimal. Although Li Yuan's merits were not as good as Li Shimin's, he was honored as Tang Gaozu because he was the first founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
And Li Shimin, as the second emperor, was honored as Tang Taizong.
Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang and Tang Gaozu Li Yuan were both founding emperors, why is the former called Taizu, but the latter is only called Gaozu? It has to do with their identity background and title hierarchy.
Zhu Yuanzhang was born from the grassroots, and there were no prominent nobles in the family, he was the leader who created prosperity in the Zhu family, so he was called Taizu. And Li Yuan came from an extraordinary background, the Li family where he belonged was already extremely prosperous, and he was a nobleman himself.
Although he was the first emperor of the Tang Dynasty, the prosperity of the Li family did not arise because of him, he only increased the glory of the Li family. Therefore, Li Yuan was called Tang Gaozu.
In simple terms, those who came from the grassroots and started a dynasty were called Taizu, while those who had status and became the founding emperor were called Gaozu.
It is worth noting that Liu Bang was born at the grassroots level and created the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, and his temple name is also Taizu, and his nickname is Emperor Gao. The reason why he was called Han Gaozu by later generations was entirely because of the influence of Sima Qian.
Because Sima Qian referred to Liu Bang as Han Gaozu, later generations followed Sima Qian's title and always referred to Liu Bang as Han Gaozu. Although there is a difference in one word, the meaning is very different. Taizu's entrepreneurial road is nothing, and compared with the ancestors, it is naturally very difficult.
The difference in the title is also to remind future generations not to forget this.