The term lord first appeared in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty Chronicles, which was the title of the retainer to the master. It was widely used in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and as for the Three Kingdoms period, it was mainly an honorific title for the head of a military group. During this period, the imperial court's control over the local area declined, and many local separatist forces appeared, which could not be awarded the title of the imperial court, and they did not call themselves kings and emperors, so their subordinates were called lords.
The reason for this phenomenon was caused by Liu Bei's official position at the time. The word "lord" first appeared in "Three Kingdoms", and the title of "lord" is Liu Bei's unique honorific title, and it only began to appear after Liu Bei entered Shu. At the same time, Cao Cao's honorific titles were "Prime Minister" and "Great King", while Sun Quan's honorific titles were "Marquis of Wu" and "Marquis of Jun".
An honorific title for the Three Kingdoms period
In ancient China, each era had its own special honorific title, which was usually closely related to its official position and status. During the Three Kingdoms period, its honorific title was mainly continued from the Han Dynasty, and the ** who governed a county was usually called "Fu Jun", the one who governed a state was called "Envoy Jun", and the ** who obtained the power to open a prefecture was called "Ming Gong". For example, after Cao Cao obtained the power to open the government, his subordinates called him "Ming Gong". For a long time, Liu Bei's official positions were only General Zuo and Yuzhou Mu, so Liu Bei was often called "Liu Envoy".
Changes in Liu Bei's honorific title
After the Battle of Chibi, Liu Bei began to gain a foothold with the help of Jingzhou, and then began to prepare for the annexation of Yizhou. At this time, Liu Bei was like a prince, but Cao Cao, who "coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes", naturally could not promote Liu Bei, so although Liu Bei's honorific title of "envoy" was no longer in line with reality, there was no way to change it.
In order to fight against Cao Cao, Liu Zhang used a trick of "luring the wolf into the room", successfully invited Liu Bei into Yizhou, and recommended Liu Bei to the emperor as "the captain of the great Sima Lingsi" ("sixteen years,..).Zhang Tui is the first to lead the big Sima, and the leader is subordinate to the school captain" "Three Kingdoms. Shu Shu II"), this big Sima's official position is big enough, and he has the power to open the government. However, the problem is that this recommendation has not been approved, and it is strange that Cao Cao, who is in charge of the government, will give Liu Bei an official. Since there was no serious approval, Liu Bei was embarrassed to really open the mansion, and of course he was embarrassed to let his subordinates call himself "Ming Gong".
However, since Liu Bei's actual identity is already a prince, what kind of "honorific title" to use is no longer a trivial matter, but a major matter related to fame, after all, the name is not right. So, I don't know who had a flash of inspiration in his head, kneaded the two honorific titles of "Lord" and "Ming Gong" together, and came up with the honorific title of "Lord Lord". Therefore, from then on, Liu Bei began to be honored as the "lord".
Cao Cao was the first to be honored as the "Duke of Ming", and after becoming the prime minister, he was honored as the "prime minister", and after being crowned the "King of Wei", he was also honored as the "Great King". Sun Quan was honored as "General" because of his earlier position as a general of the Prisoners, and then "Marquis of Wu", "Marquis of Jun", etc.
After Cao Cao coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, he proclaimed himself the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, and his subordinates called him the prime minister instead of the lord.
First of all, this is just a cover for Cao Cao to say that he doesn't want to be the emperor, if his subordinates call him the lord, it means that he is the same as Liu Bei and Sun Quan and other warlord forces are the local emperors of one side, and Emperor Han Xian is still at this time, Cao Cao is impossible to compete with the emperor on the surface, so he can only let his subordinates call themselves prime ministers and not lords, but in fact, Cao Cao will not be afraid of Emperor Han Xian at all, Emperor Han Xian is under his control, he has no power and status, just a puppet.
Secondly, letting his subordinates call himself prime minister can also confuse his subordinates, making his subordinates think that Cao Cao is really loyal to the Han family, and has no intention of replacing the emperor himself, which can also make his subordinates more loyal to follow him.
Moreover, if Cao Cao makes his subordinates his lord and not the prime minister, he will alienate the relationship and distance between himself and his subordinates, which is not in line with Cao Cao's consistent style, Cao Cao has always known how to win over and buy people's hearts, how can he let his subordinates alienate himself because of a title?