The Han Dynasty lasted for four hundred years and was divided into two sections:
Western and Eastern Han Dynasties
。 Unlike the later Northern song and southern song dynasties, there was a broken dynasty between the Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasties, and there was also a "new dynasty" of Wang Mang in the middle.
However, for a long time, the "new dynasty" was not recognized by the mainstream, because Wang Mang was considered a usurper and unworthy of the throne.
In the middle and late period of the "New Dynasty", all social classes at that time also had the expectation of rebuilding the Han Dynasty. One of the more prominent manifestations is that the emperors of the Liu clan have emerged, although most of them are counterfeits. For example, some people pretend to be great-grandsons of Emperor Wu of Han, and some people pretend to be the sons of Emperor Cheng of Han.
This also fully shows that in ancient Chinese warfare, the comparison between military forces was one aspect that determined victory or defeat, but not all. The soft power of culture can often play a role in defeating the enemy.
In terms of cultural self-confidence, who can mobilize all resources to prove that they are destined to be the key to victory or defeat in war often becomes the key to victory or defeat.
In this regard, Liu Xiu, who was born a civilian, is undoubtedly the ultimate victor. In the process of establishing the Eastern Han Dynasty, how did he carry out the construction of "legitimacy"? I summarized the following interlocking "trilogy":
First, take Yao as the ancestor and Liu Bang as the ancestor
Liu Xiu was the ninth grandson of Liu Bang, the ancestor of Han Gao, but in his father's generation, it was only a county order. What is even more tragic is that 9-year-old Liu Xiu became an orphan, raised by his uncle, and became a commoner.
In the process of Liu Xiu's unification of the world, Wang Mang, Gongsun Shu, Kui Huan and others had been his most troubled enemies, but these people had an innate disadvantage, that is, they were not surnamed Liu.
In contrast, Liu Xiu, who was born of a commoner, not only claimed to be a descendant of Liu Bang, but also considered himself a descendant of Yao.
Yao is the legendary Ancient Sage King, at least 2300 years away from the age when Liu Xiu lived, how could they be related?
It turned out that this was not The first creation of Liu Xiu, but the "genius invention" of his ancestor Liu Bang.
Liu Bang was particularly good at hyping himself, and it is said that his physical characteristics were "long and long-term, beautiful beard, and seventy-two sunspots on the left side".
In order to hype, Liu Bang did not hesitate to mobilize the whole family, and in the legend, his biological father was not Liu Taigong, but a dragon.
It is said that his mother once dreamed of encountering a dragon, and this scene was also seen and confirmed by Liu Taigong: "See the dragon on it." Later, Mother Liu had Liu Bang.
Liu Bang's wife, Lü Yan, also did not forget to boast that "there is a heavenly son in the southeast", and she found Liu Bang in the deep mountains by relying on a cloud of auspicious clouds.
Not only that,
Liu Bang also carried Yao out to recognize his ancestors and return to his ancestors.
Yao's era was considered by the ancients to be the perfect ancient era, and people were eagerly looking forward to the reappearance of such a saint monarch.
Therefore, in order to prove the legitimacy of this dynasty, many emperors in later generations had to climb the dragon and attach themselves to the phoenix, and strive to have a relationship with Yao.
Kung Fu pays off,
Liu Bang's advisers really found the basis for Liu Shi's descendants in the "Zuo Biography".
Liu Bang planted trees, and Liu Xiu took shelter.
After Liu Xiu raised his army, he not only declared himself to be a fake Western Han imperial family, but also always flaunted that he had yao's noble bloodline, which not only decorated his façade, but also brought tangible benefits.
Dou Rong, who was in the Hexi region at that time, was originally oscillating between Liu Xiu and Kui Huan, and had been unable to make up his mind about who to turn to, but an elder said to him:
"Han chengyao transport, the number of years extended."
Liu Xiu is a descendant of the Great Sage Yao, so what is there to hesitate about? Therefore, Dou Rong first sent troops to help Liu Xiu defeat Kui Huan, and then took the initiative to accept Liu Xiu's incorporation.
Two
Take Han as "Fire Virtue"
"The Five Virtues Always Say" is a theory put forward by Zou Yan, a yin and yang scholar during the Warring States period, to explain the deep-seated reasons for the continuous change of dynasties.
According to this doctrine, each dynasty corresponds to the five elements of "earth, wood, metal, fire, and water," and that the five elements represent the victory of a nascent dynasty over an old dynasty.
For example, the Xia Dynasty is "Mude", "Jin Kemu", and the Shang Dynasty that replaces it is "Jinde"; and the "Huokejin", the Zhou Dynasty that replaces the Shang Dynasty is "Huode"; "Shui Kehuo", the Qin Dynasty that replaces the Zhou Dynasty is "Water Virtue".
By analogy with this relationship,
The Han Dynasty, which replaced the Qin Dynasty, should be "Tude"
。 But this is not the case. At first, Liu Bang denied the legitimacy of the Qin Dynasty, believing that the Han Dynasty was the successor of the Zhou Dynasty Guozuo, so he designated the Han Dynasty as "Water Virtue". However, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, at the suggestion of Dong Zhongshu and others, it was changed to "Tude".
At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the "Five Elements Theory of Mutual Life" appeared, which provided a theoretical basis for Zen concessions between the old and new dynasties.
The virtue of the Western Han Dynasty was once again changed to "fire virtue",
Because according to the order of "fire born of earth", Wang Mang's "new dynasty" that accepted the Western Han Dynasty's Zen concession was "Tude".
After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Liu Xiu did not define the virtue of the Eastern Han Dynasty as "Mu De" according to the Five Elements Xiang Ke (Mu Ke Tu), nor did he define the virtue of the Eastern Han Dynasty as "JinDe" according to the Five Elements Xiang Ke (Native Jin).
Instead, it continues the "fire virtue" of the Western Han Dynasty: "The first fire virtue, the color is still red." ”
This is intended to prove that the Eastern Han Dynasty is the successor of the Western Han Dynasty, not a new dynasty that replaces the Western Han Dynasty. Since Liu Xiu was a descendant of Liu Bang and regarded the Western Han Dynasty as the ancestral system, the Eastern Han Dynasty should be followed by the fire virtue of the Western Han Dynasty, so as to show that the Western Han Dynasty was not broken, and its orthodox status was also inherited by Liu Xiu.
Three
Seal Zen Taishan
Sealing Zen is the most solemn ritual in the ancient imperial sacrifice. Sealing Zen Taishan is mainly to sacrifice heaven and earth, including the two steps of sealing Taishan Mountain and Zen Liang Father Mountain.
As the Son of Heaven performs the ritual of sealing Zen, this is of course the highest manifestation of swearing one's legitimacy.
However, the requirements for Fengchan Taishan are also very strict, according to Sima Qian, the author of the "Records of History", they need to have
Deeds, virtues, merits, ordination.
In terms of "merit", Liu Xiu certainly had nothing wrong with ending the war and rebuilding the Han Dynasty; from the perspective of "virtue", there was no need to boast, liu Xiu was also the best among the ancient emperors.
As for "Fu Rui" and "Ordained", they can be purely artificially processed, and he only needs to make up some divine stories like Liu Bang.
In the thirty-second year of Jianwu, that is, in 56 AD, the Han Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiufeng Taishan and Zen Liang Father Mountain once again swore the legitimacy, rationality and authority of his imperial power, and also created another momentum for the great unification and strong image of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Before Liu Xiu,
Only three emperors completed this achievement: Qin Shi Huang and his son Hu Hai, and Emperor Wu of Han.