The Mystery of the Emperor's Lifespan Explore the reasons for the short lifespan of ancient emperors
From Qin Shi Huang to Puyi, in the history of more than 2,000 years, there are nearly 200 emperors who can be born and died, but the average life expectancy of these emperors is only 392 years old. In ancient imperial societies, the emperor had the most power, so he dressed well and ate well, why was the average life expectancy so low? I think there are many reasons.
One of the reasons: heavy workload, overwork.
Influenced by literary works, most people believed that the emperor's daily chores were very simple, so he had a lot of time to travel and talk about love, but this was not the case.
In the Qing Dynasty, for example, the emperor had to get up at 5 a.m., go to greet his elders, then start his morning reading, then have breakfast at 7 a.m., followed by a short break. The morning pilgrimage starts at 9:30 and usually lasts two or three hours, followed by lunch. After lunch, there is another short break of about two hours. In the afternoon, if the work of the early Hajj cannot be completed, the Hajj will be held again or the ministers will be convened to discuss the work.
After that, it is necessary to deal with the notes, the ancient notes are generally very long, even simple notes can write a large number of notes, and these notes generally have to be processed on the same day, otherwise there will be new notes the next day, the more accumulated the more troublesome it is. For example, after Qin Shi Huang unified the Six Kingdoms, he had to approve 120 bamboo slips every day; Ming Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang had to approve more than 400 government affairs and more than 200 notes every day.
As mentioned earlier, except for a few emperors who knew how to enjoy, the lives of most emperors were not only extremely boring, but also by no means easy, especially for those who had a stronger sense of responsibility than the emperor, and sleepless nights were almost commonplace, and in the long run, how could the body bear it.
Reason 2 Bad habits and overconsumption.
In the old imperial society, the emperor had absolute power, but it also caused many of the emperor's living habits to be extremely bad, and excessive consumption was a common phenomenon, and in the long run, the emperor's body naturally collapsed.
As the saying goes, a woman's beauty is difficult to convey, which is a typical exaggerated beauty, and when it comes to the emperor's harem, we usually think that there is"Seventy-two concubines in three palaces and six courts"、"There are 3,000 beauties in the harem", this statement is an exaggeration, but the emperor made this statement, although exaggerated, it is enough to prove that the emperor's harem is very large. For example, Emperor Ma Yan of Jin Si has repeatedly selected beauties from the people, and there are more than 10,000 beauties in his harem. For another example, Yu Wenyun of the Northern Zhou Dynasty created the miracle of five queens, and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty Liu Biao died in the arms of Zhao Hede.
In addition to beauty, some emperors also had other fatal hobbies, the most obvious being alcoholism, such as the Northern Qi Emperor Gao Yang, who was an alcoholic, not only drinking often, but also getting drunk every time. Another example is Liao Muzong Yelujing, this person not only often goes to the vassal king's mansion to drink, but also wears civilian clothes and goes to the wine shop to drink.
There are not a few such emperors, and these ancient elixirs often contain many harmful substances and even heavy metals, and long-term use will of course cause serious damage to the body.
Reason 3: Game of Thrones and Tragedy.
It is precisely because the emperor is high and powerful and has the most power that many people want to get the throne, and many emperors die in this power game. In general, there are two kinds of power games, one is an external coup d'état and the other is an internal change of power.
In ancient times, coups were not uncommon, mostly taking place in the Great Unification Dynasty, and most of the coups ended in failure. In troubled times, the situation was even more serious, and many emperors died in various coups, such as Li Ban, Emperor Cheng of Han, who was killed by his cousin Li Yue after only 116 days on the throne; Liu Che, Emperor Yin of the Han Dynasty, was killed by the rebels after only 22 days on the throne; Shi Zun in the later period of the Zhao Kingdom, only 183 days after his ascension to the throne, was killed by the powerful minister Ran Min. He was killed by the powerful minister Ran Min.
In addition to external unrest, internal power changes could also lead to the death of emperors, especially during the reign of powerful ministers or eunuchs, who often killed emperors for personal gain. For example, Tang Jingzong Li Zhang, who reigned for only three years, was assassinated at the age of 17 by the eunuch Liu Keming; Tang Wenzong Li Ang became a puppet after the Ganlu Rebellion and died at the age of 32.
Although the emperors of the past dynasties have taken precautions against coups, they still cannot completely eliminate the people's desire for power, so there are still many emperors who have died in successive coups and power changes.
Cause 4: Poor medical conditions, premature death due to disease.
In the old days, due to the relatively backward sanitary conditions, although the emperor had a special imperial doctor to diagnose and treat, he was still helpless for some incurable diseases. At the same time, there were also many emperors who died young due to various diseases.
Because the ancient emperors lived comfortably and did not have much activity, the possibility of suffering from cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases was quite high. Even today, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases are difficult**, let alone in ancient times. Modern medical analysis shows that too many ancient emperors died of sudden illness. As for malignant diseases such as measles, it was impossible in ancient times.
In addition, the level of medical care in ancient times was relatively backward, which meant that the early mortality rate of children and even members of the royal family was quite high. For example, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Liu Long, ascended the throne in one day, reigned for only 220 days, and died less than a year. Another example is Liu Wei, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who was only two years old when he ascended the throne, reigned for only 148 days, and died at the age of three.
The emperor who died of illness is fine, after all, some are already very old, and the impact on the life span of the emperor may be, but it will not be too great, and the emperor who dies early will undoubtedly greatly reduce the life span of the emperor.
As mentioned earlier, ancient emperors died prematurely or prematurely for various reasons, and the author's rough statistics show that there were 41 emperors who reigned for less than a year in ancient times. It is not difficult to understand that there were not a few emperors who lived long in the past, but the average life expectancy was very low.