Look at my life, the twists and turns. I've been on the road of escape all my life. I've been wandering, wandering, and lost all the way! He ran and ran all the way to the west! In the year 1162, Zhao Gou announced that he was too tired and should take a break from the long-distance running stage! Zhao Gou was frightened on the way to escape and lost his ability to reproduce. At the beginning, his only son, who was three years old, died early, so he had no biological children!)，Zhao Gou went back to being the retired emperor. This time, he was the emperor for a full 26 years. In 1187, Zhao Gou, who had lived for 81 years, finally finished running the marathon of his life. This scumbag really liked to run long distances in order to live a long life. Life was full of marathons!
Recently, a reader asked me which one is more powerful, the Retired Emperor or the Emperor. If the Emperor wants to pay his respects to the Retired Emperor, should he kneel three times and kowtow nine times? It would be inconvenient to answer this question in the comments section. Therefore, I will use this question to talk about those Retired Emperors in the history of the Heavenly Dynasty.
The Retired Emperor usually referred to the Emperor's father or brother, and the position of Emperor was inherited from them. Other than Qin Shihuang's father, King Zhuang Xiang, who was honored as the Retired Emperor after his death, and Liu Bang, who was the founding emperor, who honored his father, Taigong, as the Retired Emperor, the rest were all emperors.
In the history of our country, the titles of Taishang Emperor were King Zhuang Xiang, Liu Taigong, Emperor Xianwen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Emperor Wucheng of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Emperor Houzhu of the Northern Qi Dynasty, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Ruizong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Shunzong of the Tang Dynasty, Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Xiaozong of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Guangzong of the Song Dynasty, Emperor Yingzong of the Ming Dynasty, and Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty. If one counted the kings of troubled times, there were roughly 23 of them.
Although these people were Retired Emperors, their courtesy was very different. Some were imprisoned, such as Tang Xuanzong and Ming Yingzong. Some of them were even invited out to show off when the heir emperor had some political needs. For example, in the fourth year of Zhenguan (630), when Taizong was jointly elected as the "Heavenly Khan" by the chiefs of the western and northern vassal tribes, Taizong hosted a banquet for the chiefs in Chang 'an and invited his father Gaozu to attend the banquet to show off his merits.
There were also many retired emperors who held real power, such as Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi, Emperor Gaozong of Southern Song, Emperor Gaozong of Qing, and so on. These Retired Emperors were in charge of the government, so from the Emperor to the subjects, no one could ignore their existence. If there was a major festival celebration, the civil and military officials would kneel three times and kowtow nine times to the Retired Emperor under the leadership of the heir emperor. Only then could the Emperor himself rise to the throne to accept the three kneeling and nine kowtows of the officials.
However, no matter how the Retired Emperor was treated when he was alive, their funerals after death were extremely grand. At this time, those emperors who had not cared about the Retired Emperor when he was still alive jumped out to play the role of filial sons. They even cried their hearts out when they worshipped the mountain mausoleum, vividly demonstrating the kindness of their relatives.
At the same time, after the death of those retired emperors who held great power, the emperor held a grand funeral on one hand, and on the other hand, he attacked his father's favorite officials. For example, after Emperor Jiaqing became emperor for three years and his father Qianlong passed away, he expressed his dissatisfaction with the military and government affairs in Qianlong's later years. All the generals, border officials, and important officials favored by him were criticized. He also had the power to reconcile with Shen and was sentenced to death.
Then, why did the Emperor treat Retired Emperor like a completely different person after his death? If one looked at the surface, it was not difficult to see. The reason for this was that the emperor's pursuit of supreme power was restrained and interfered with by the existence of the Retired Emperor.
The emperor claimed to be the son of heaven, and the imperial power could not be violated. In such an environment of thinking and consciousness, it was ridiculous to add a retired emperor above the emperor. In this way, the Retired Emperor's power and the Imperial power would have a direct and unavoidable confrontation and conflict. In the end, one side would have to lose and admit defeat. Either the Retired Emperor would be imprisoned and unable to participate in state affairs, or the Emperor would obediently be a subject and listen to the Retired Emperor's arrangements. It could be said that the relationship between the Retired Emperor and the Emperor was one of the most difficult problems to overcome in the feudal era.
It was precisely because the imperial power had an exclusive advantage that those emperors who won in the struggle for imperial power could not care less. They all forgot their side as sons and were not afraid of being cursed for killing their fathers. Therefore, the filial piety of a son in front of his father became empty talk.
But then again, every dynasty had pursued the rule of filial piety. As the saying went,"Whoever governs the world and the country must focus on the root before the end." Why did the rulers of the past dynasties pay so much attention to filial piety? According to the Book of Filial Piety and the Book of Rites," The wife is filial, so the people are filial, so they cultivate the disease, defend the war, and do not stop the north." Filial piety was undoubtedly the foundation for the maintenance of imperial power and the stability of the rule.
Therefore, those emperors who did not fulfill their filial duties during the Retired Emperor's lifetime sincerely became filial sons after their father's death. This was nothing more than wanting to show filial piety to the world so that the subjects could learn from him and be filial and loyal to the emperor. On the other hand, since the Retired Emperor was already dead, no matter how high the standard of courtesy was given to him, it would not affect the supreme imperial power in his hands, so why not?
Our country not only has the Retired Emperor, but also the Retired Empress. In history, only eight women have obtained this title.
It was believed that almost everyone knew of Retired Emperor. This was the short form of Retired Emperor, a title given to an emperor who had abdicated before his death. There were not many emperors in history. The more famous ones were Liu Taigong Liu Wei (the father of Liu Bang, Emperor Gao of Han), Li Yuan, Emperor Gaozu of Tang Dynasty, Qianlong, Emperor Gaozong of Qing Dynasty, etc. However, the editor was not going to introduce the Retired Emperor today, but the Retired Empress. In the history of the Celestial Empire, there was not only the Retired Emperor. Correspondingly, the Empress of the Retired Emperor was the Retired Empress. In the history of the Celestial Empire, there were only eight women who received the title of Retired Empress. The first Retired Empress was the concubine mother of Han Gaodi Liu Bang, Li, who was also the concubine wife of Liu Taigong. After Liu Bang ascended the throne and established the Western Han Dynasty, he honored his father Liu Taigong as the Grand Imperial Emperor. At that time, Li was still alive and was honored as the Grand Imperial Empress. Both Li and Liu Taigong died in 197 B.C. (Note: Grand Duke Liu was the first Grand Imperial Sire of the Celestial Dynasty who had never been an Emperor before his death. However, the first Grand Imperial Sire of the Celestial Dynasty was not Grand Duke Liu, but King Zhuang Xiang of Qin, Ying Chu, the father of the First Emperor of Qin, Ying Zheng.) After the First Emperor of Qin unified the six countries, he became the emperor. At this time, King Zhuang Xiang of Qin had died. The First Emperor of Qin honored King Zhuang Xiang as the Retired Emperor. Although he was not an emperor when he was alive, he was a king. His situation was different from that of Grand Duke Liu.) The second Retired Empress was Empress Hu of Gao Zhan, Emperor Wucheng of Northern Qi. Empress Hu was born into a noble family in Northern Qi and later became the wife and princess of Gao Zhan, the King of Changguang. Gao Zhan became the empress after he ascended the throne. Empress Hu gave birth to two sons for Gao Zhan, namely Gao Wei, the Latter Ruler of Northern Qi, and Gao Yan, King of Langya. Gao Zhan was cruel and indulged in wine and sex. Empress Hu was unwilling to be lonely and actually opened up with Gao Zhan's trusted aides and scholars. In 565 AD, Gao Zhan passed the throne to the Latter Ruler Gao Wei and was honored as the Supreme Emperor. Empress Hu was also honored as the Supreme Empress. It was worth mentioning that if the Retired Emperor passed away and the Retired Empress was still alive, the Empress Dowager would be revered. For example, after Gao Zhan's death, Empress Hu changed her respect to the Empress Dowager. After the fall of Northern Qi, Empress Hu was captured and brought to Northern Zhou. After Northern Zhou fell, she finally lived until the Sui Dynasty's Founding Emperor. The third empress was Empress Muxieli of the Northern Qi Latter Ruler Gao Wei. Mu Xieli was Gao Wei's third empress. She was born a maidservant and later, because of her beauty, she was favored by Gao Wei and gave birth to Gao Heng, the young ruler of Northern Qi. The first Empress of Gao Wei, Hulu, and the second Empress, Hu, were deposed one after another. In 577 AD, on the eve of the fall of Northern Qi, Gao Wei passed the throne to Gao Heng, who honored the Retired Emperor, and Muxie Li honored the Retired Empress. After the fall of Northern Qi, he was deposed as a civilian.
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