However, looking back at history, we can find an interesting phenomenon. Although from Qin, the first unified empire in China, except the dynasties ruled by ethnic minorities, all previous dynasties basically followed the eldest son inheritance system, but many famous emperors were not born by the eldest son, such as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. What is the reason for this phenomenon?
I. Evolution of the ancient system of succession to the throne 1. During the period of Three Emperors and Five Emperors, abdication system was the mainstream.
The eldest son inheritance system originated in the Western Zhou Dynasty, but before the Western Zhou Dynasty, abdication system was always the main choice system for succession to the throne. In fact, before the Western Zhou Dynasty, it may not be appropriate to call it the throne, but it is more reasonable to call it the throne.
According to historical records, the polis did not travel at that time. Everyone takes the tribe as the activity center, and several tribes form a collective together. Wang has to take care of these small tribes, which sounds similar to the village head, but they have more people to take care of than the village head. For example, as we all know, the Yellow Emperor and Yan Di are kings of various tribes.
At that time, there was no clear patriarchal clan system, and the development of social civilization was relatively limited, which was regarded as a primitive society. So at that time, there was no eldest son inheritance system, but abdicated, that is, selecting talents recognized by the public, such as the three emperors and five emperors of Yu, Shun and Yao.
However, for later generations, the abdication system will occasionally appear in the course of history. According to "Tongzhijian", Li Shimin's throne was ceded to him by his father Li Yuan in the Tang Dynasty, but that was after the Xuanwumen mutiny. Therefore, for future generations, abdication is often an act of self-help, which belongs to unwillingness.
2. The establishment of patriarchal clan system made the eldest son inheritance system on the historical stage.
Next, let's talk about today's theme-the eldest son inheritance system. As mentioned above, the eldest son inheritance system first began in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which belongs to the initial stage of the emergence of imperial power, and it is also a historical stage in which people gradually formed city-states from tribes. This also made people further have the concept of blood clan, so the patriarchal clan system was established in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and it has been used in almost every subsequent dynasty.
As the name implies, it is not that simple for the eldest son to inherit the throne. The word "di" is very important in the inheritance system of the first eldest son. In ancient times, the first wife married by Ming media was called "Di" and the concubine was called "Shu". Therefore, the first eldest son is the first child born by the first wife, and for the ancient royal family, it is also the eldest son of the queen, which is actually related to the ancient concept of seniority.
Of course, things are not absolute. In a dynasty, the queen was infertile, and finally the princess's children inherited the throne. Moreover, the dynasties led by ethnic minorities such as the Yuan Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty also had their own unique inheritance system, which did not follow the eldest son inheritance system.
Second, the advantage of non-Di Zi is 1 with a large base. More "ordinary" and less "Di Zi" are the fundamental reasons.
Then go back to the core of the article: Why are most famous emperors not born under the eldest son inheritance system? In fact, as far as the history of China is concerned, during the rule of the ancient feudal class for thousands of years, the emperor was called the title of the country from the time of Qin Shihuang, but by the end of the abdication of Puyi in Aisingiorro in the Qing Dynasty, only 408 emperors appeared.
The base is not very large, but there should be no more than 30 people who can really make everyone famous or make a little contribution in history. Therefore, in a great sense, whether an emperor can leave a deep impression on future generations has nothing to do with whether he is the eldest son or not. Whether he is a son or an illegitimate child, most emperors are mediocre. Moreover, on the basis of these 30 emperors, emperors who are not the eldest son should only account for almost half, so they cannot be called "two people."
Furthermore, in the order of first come first served, there was generally only one eldest son, and there were many princes who were not the eldest son, so the group with a large base had its own advantages. Coupled with physical health problems and the existence of some force majeure factors, the probability of a non-lineal prince winning the prize far exceeds that of a lineal prince, so from a mathematical point of view, it is not difficult to find out the reason.
2. The medical conditions are backward, and the son's health becomes force majeure.
Next, continue the above and talk about health problems. For ancient times, medical conditions were relatively backward. Even in our opinion, conventional influenza was a serious illness that people could do nothing about in ancient times. Although the royal family over-treated doctors better than the people, the backwardness of facilities and knowledge was inevitable, so the little prince died from time to time.
Take the Qing Dynasty, which ruled for a long time in China's history, as an example. According to Records of the Qing Dynasty, nine emperors were born in history of qing dynasty. These nine emperors had a total of 146 children, more than half of whom died before the age of fifteen. Sixty-four of them died before the age of five, and thirty-eight died. The survival rate can be imagined.
Therefore, the harem of emperors in past dynasties were all 3,000 beauties, either for other reasons or for the continuation of the royal family. After all, no one knows when it will happen outside.
Under such a chance, the eldest son's chance of survival is much smaller than that of the general prince. Some of them died before they succeeded to the throne, and the succession to the throne naturally fell to princes who were not the eldest son.