Liu Xiu ascended the throne to recognize Emperor Han Yuan as his father, but why he did not recognize his own father

Guangwu Emperor Liu Xiu established the Eastern Han Dynasty in 25 years under the banner of reviving the Han Dynasty. However, after Liu Xiu proclaimed himself emperor, he did not respect his father and grandfather as emperor. Instead, he respected Han Xuan Emperor Liu Xun as his ancestor and Han Yuan Emperor Liu Xi as his father. Why is Liu Xiu ungrateful? It turns out that Emperor Guangwu must be in love, and he has his own unspeakable concealment, so what is going on?

"Zuo Zhuan" has a saying, "The important matter of the country is to worship and Rong". Ancestry is a very important thing. After Liu Xiu became emperor, in the second year of Jianwu, he set up an ancestral temple in Luoyang, the capital, to worship the emperors of the Western Han Dynasty. In the third year of Jianwu, Liu Xiu set up a temple in Luoyang to worship his father "from the above of Nandun to the Chungling Festival". However, Liu Xiu's actions did not conform to the Confucian ritual system, so he was criticized by the officials.

It was not until the 19th year of Jianwu, when the world was completely settled, that there was no opportunity to discuss the ancestral temple issue. Liu Xiu wrote a letter entitled "Zou Chuqin Temple". They thought that Emperor Guangwu “has the same creation and revolution, and the name is Zhongxing, and it is appropriate to serve the first emperor, and to honor the worshippers”, “the fourth emperor of Zhongling, the monarchs and ministers are juxtaposed, and it is not courteous to respect the humble toilet”, so they suggested that Liu Xiu remove Pro temple.

As everyone knows, Liu Xiu is the descendant of Changsha King Liu Fa, the son of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty. In the Han Dynasty Emperor Wu's period, the Tweet Order system was implemented and Liu Xiu's ancestor was a concubine, so when Liu Xiu's father, Liu Qin, there was no title. Liu Qin has held the largest official position in his life, but it was just a county magistrate. Therefore, although Liu Xiu is a royal family member, his blood relationship is far away.

However, Liu Xiu became the emperor and claimed to have inherited the orthodox of the Western Han Dynasty as "Guangwu Zhongxing". So there is a contradiction in respecting ancestors. Liu Xiu wanted to enshrine his direct ancestors in the ancestral temple, but they had never been an emperor after all. This behavior was not in accordance with the etiquette system, so Zhang Chun and Zhu Fu only asked Liu Xiu to remove the temple.

Liu Xiu issued an edict and referred the matter to the ministers for discussion. In the end, Da Situ Daishe and Da Sikong Dou Rong proposed a compromise plan. "It is advisable to take the four generations of Xuan, Yuan, Cheng, Ai, and Ping the five emperors to the present temple, and the Xuan and Yuan emperors are respected as ancestors and fathers. That is to say, in the temple, the five emperors including Emperor Xuan are enshrined. Liu Xiuzun honors Emperor Xuan of Han as his grandfather and Emperor Han and Yuan as his father.

According to generation, Hancheng Emperor is his own cousin, and other emperors are his own juniors, so these emperors are also his own juniors. Arrange worship. For Liu Xiu's direct ancestors, "Don't set up an emperor's temple for Nandun (referring to Liu Qin), and the worship will go up to the Chungling Festival, and the officials will worship at the temple." In the end, Liu Xiu agreed to this plan. After all, he could keep his father's temple.

Liu Xiu regarded himself as the orthodox Han Dynasty and pursued Emperor Han Yuan as his father, so he lost the reason to pursue his biological father Liu Qin as emperor. Therefore, when later generations called Liu Xiu’s father Liu Qin, they respectfully called him Nanton Jun, because Liu Qin's official post was Nanton County magistrate. Later generations may feel that this approach is not very human, but it was stipulated in ancient times that “rituals are the sons of the latter, and if they are serious, they will be private relatives”. (Source: Fun Reading History Network)