Why was the Sui Dynasty called "Emperor" and the Tang Dynasty called "Zu"?
I don't know if you have ever encountered such a strange phenomenon. Before the Sui Dynasty, emperors such as Emperor Wen of Han, Emperor Jing of Han, Emperor Wu of Han, Emperor Wu of Jin, Emperor Wen of Sui, Emperor Yang of Sui and other emperors were called"Emperor so-and-so", but from the Tang Dynasty, the emperor was called"So-and-so ancestor"or"So-and-so"。So-and-so", such as Tang Taizong, Tang Xuanzong, Song Taizu, Ming Taizu, Ming Renzong, etc.; In the Qing Dynasty, he was directly called the emperor, such as Emperor Kangxi, Emperor Yongzheng, Emperor Qianlong, etc. What is the reason for this?
This is actually the result of the development of the old temple number and posthumous name system.
The name of the temple originated from the Shang Dynasty and was the name of the room where the Shang king worshipped him in the temple after his death. Often, the king who helped build it was called"Ancestor", the king who helped protect it was called"Sect"。Nicknames are more common and not exclusive to kings, and ministers generally have nicknames after their deaths, such as"Wenzheng"It is the highest attribute of the Wenchen name"Chungwu"It is the highest attribute of the general's name.
After Qin Shi Huang unified the world, in order to emphasize the dignity of the emperor, he abolished this system, believing that the system of fathers seeing sons and kings seeing ministers after death was unreasonable. After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang restored this system after his death, and still followed the rules of the Zhou Dynasty, according to the behavior of a person before his death, the Han Dynasty was known for filial piety, so it was treated"Filial piety"The word is placed in front of the name of the emperor after his death, we know Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and the actual nickname is actually Emperor Xiaowen of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Xiaowu of the Han Dynasty, but we all have it"Filial piety"word, so it's all omitted. omitted"Filial piety"Word.
So, why were the emperor's names before the Sui Dynasty recognized, but the emperor's temple names after the Tang Dynasty were not?
One of the reasons for this is that every emperor cannot have a temple number in the first place. Especially in the Han Dynasty, the use of temple numbers was very strict. Of the 28 emperors of the Han Dynasty, only 7 had temple numbers: Emperor Liu Bang of the Han Dynasty, Taizu; Emperor Liu Heng of the Han Dynasty, Emperor Taishang; Emperor Liu Che of the Han Dynasty, Sejong; Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty Liu Xun, Zhongzong; Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty Liu Xiu, Shizu; Emperor Liu Zhuang of the Han Ming Dynasty, Emperor Xian; Emperor Liu Zhen of the Han Dynasty, Suzong. Each emperor did not have a temple number, so it cannot be commemorated by a temple number, while every emperor had a nickname, so the emperors before the Sui Dynasty were commemorated with a nickname.
But from the Three Kingdoms onwards, temple numbers became popular, and with the exception of a few former emperors who did not have a temple number or were overthrown in a coup d'état, they generally had temple numbers. At the same time, the emperor's nickname is getting longer and longer, and it seems a little embarrassing to call the emperor by his nickname, such as the beginning of Tang Taizong's nickname"Emperor Wen", but his son Li Zhi, out of piety, repeatedly added the nickname to the end"Emperor Daguang of the Great Sage of Civil and Military Affairs"。If Li Shimin is called the Emperor of Tang Wenwu Daguang Xiao, it is inevitably a bit cumbersome, so since the Tang Dynasty, the emperor has been called by the temple name.
But in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the emperor's name changed again, and he began to use the era name to name it. Before the Ming Dynasty, the emperor often changed the era name during his reign, and the most common one was Tang Gaozong Li Zhi, who used 14 era names during his lifetime. However, the emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties felt that changing the era name would not help the era, so except for the beginning of the reign of Ming Yingzong, Zhu Qizhen and the supreme leader of Manchuria, Huang Taiji Chengjin, used two era names, and the rest of the emperors only used one era name when they were alive. Gradually, all the Ming and Qing emperors began to use era names.