The broad sense of "eldest son" refers to "the establishment of the legitimate to grow not to virtuous, the establishment of the son to expensive not to grow".
Introduction
The eldest son succession system is the most basic principle of patriarchal clan system, that is, the throne and property must be inherited by the eldest son. The eldest son is the eldest son born by his wife. The throne of the emperor of the Western Zhou Dynasty is inherited by his eldest son, while the other common sons are other sons. They were enfeoffed to the important strategic places in the country. The throne inherited by the eldest son can ensure the status of the majority of the Zhou Dynasty from generation to generation. The purpose of the eldest son succession system in the Western Zhou Dynasty is to solve the inheritance and distribution of power and property, and stabilize the ruling order of the society. "Daming order · household order" stipulates: "every man who has a legitimate son, in addition to the official shadow, should first do his own eldest son's work. He should analyze the family property, regardless of his wife, concubine and maidservant's birth, and only divide equally according to the number of sons; if there is no other son, he should set the successor as the heir, and divide equally with the traitor's son; if there is no successor, he can inherit the whole."
In the pre Qin period of China, the title of nobility was integrated with the property of fiefdom, so the property of land was mainly inherited by the eldest son. In the feudal era of Japan and other places, there was a similar situation. The eldest son inheritance system in European feudal society included the eldest son inheriting property, the feudal nobility's title and land were passed on to the eldest son, and the rest of the sons became knights for lack of property to make a living. China was deeply influenced by the idea of equal distribution of the minefield system, so the property was divided equally among the various schools. In Europe, because of the feudal society for a long time, in order to prevent the family feudalism and property strength from becoming smaller and weaker due to the division of future generations, the property was also inherited by the eldest son.
Historical
Throughout the history of China, the eldest son inheritance system is a kind of inheritance principle (system) under the system of monogamy and multiple concubines in ancient China, which is one of the core systems to maintain the patriarchal clan system. The first born is the first born. According to the law, the eldest son has the priority of inheritance. The system began at the end of Shang Dynasty and was set at the beginning of Zhou Dynasty. The specific provisions are "to establish a legitimate person, not a virtuous person, and to establish a son, not a virtuous person.". In the era of slavery (ritual system), it was mainly applied to the succession of Zong Yi, when the family and the state were integrated. Zong Yi succession could cover the succession of the throne, the succession of the title and the succession of the official position. In the feudal era, the law strictly distinguishes between the legitimate and the common, and implements the system of eldest son inheritance in the succession of the throne, the title, the official position and the clan. In the property inheritance, all the sons have the right of inheritance, and the eldest son is still in the dominant position - the throne, the title, the official position and the clan can not be separated, and the property can be divided is one of the reasons. This system embodies the concept of hierarchy, which is different from patriarchal system and wife concubine system. However, under the condition of polygamy (concubine) system at that time, conflicts in inheritance were avoided to a certain extent.
The inheritance system of Shang Dynasty was that the father died and the son succeeded, supplemented by the elder brother and the younger brother. (in the early Shang Dynasty, the system of the elder brother ending with the younger brother was mainly implemented. From the late Shang Dynasty, the trend of the development of the succession of the throne was to change to the system of the eldest son.). Zhou system: the ruling class is divided into four levels: Emperor, princes, officials and scholars. Property and status are handed down from generation to generation. In all levels, the inheritor of property and position must be the eldest son of his wife; if his wife has no son, he is the son of the most respected concubine. The so-called "Li Di to long not to virtuous, Li Zi to expensive not to long" (the spring and Autumn Annals of Gongyang hidden year). Compared with the commercial system, this inheritance system effectively avoided the chaos caused by the brothers fighting for power and property inheritance within the ruling class, thus maintaining the majesty of the royal power and social stability.
Popular explanation
"To establish a legitimate person is not to be virtuous, and to establish a son is not to be virtuous." This is the so-called system of direct succession. “
If the eldest of the sons of the emperor's wife (Queen), for example, the queen has two children, the first one must be the prince. No matter how good the second prince is, as long as the eldest is alive, the second one will not be the prince, unless the eldest brother dies early. Even if the elder brother is retarded, he must be the prince.
Popular explanation: your mother is the queen. The queen gave birth to her eldest son. Your mother gave birth to two sons. You are the second. Although you are excellent, your eldest brother was born earlier than you. Therefore, you must first make your eldest brother the crown prince. Even if your eldest brother has IQ problems, you must also make him (such as Sima Zhong, the emperor of Jin Hui), which is called making the elder brother the first. If you want to be an emperor, you have to wait for your elder brother to die early or be abandoned before your turn.
Li Zi is more expensive than long: it means that Li Prince (Prince) is based on the noble birth, not on the birth order. For example, the Queen's child is born, but the emperor's other concubines have already given birth to children, and the children are several years old. However, according to the identity, the Queen's identity is always more noble than the concubines, so even if the Queen's child is later than the concubines' child Born, it must also set the Queen's child as the crown prince, which is to set up the son to give priority to status, not to be born early.
Popular explanation: you are the youngest. Your brothers were born several years earlier than you. But because your mother is the queen and your brothers are born to concubines, you must be the first to establish the crown prince, because your mother's status is the most noble and your son is the mother's.
. King Zhou of Shang had two brothers of the same mother. The eldest brother was called Weiziqi. King Zhou's parents wanted to make Weiziqi the crown prince, but according to the power struggle, a minister said: when Weiziqi was born, King Zhou's mother was a concubine, and when he was born, his mother was a wife. If he had a wife's son, he could not make a concubine's son the crown prince, although he was the same mother.
The system of eldest son succession can explain some strange historical phenomena. For example, in the Ming Dynasty, why did Zhu Yuanzhang pass his throne to his eldest grandson Zhu Yunwen instead of his son Zhu Di? In fact, the reason is very simple. To explain this problem with the system of direct eldest son succession can make a big difference. Because Zhu Yunwen is the son of Zhu Biao, the eldest son of Zhu Yuanzhang. He is his eldest grandson, and Zhu Di is not his eldest son. The reason for selecting the eldest son's son (the eldest son) as the legal heir is that "the emperor and the grandson are rich in the spring and Autumn period, and they are in the position of reserve and the heart of the world." Later, Ming Cheng's ancestral family went to Zhu gaoxu, the second son with outstanding achievements, and established Zhu gaochi, the eldest son, as the crown prince. This is also based on the understanding that "the eldest son inherits the rule, and the law is right for all generations.". Although Zhu Di had this understanding later and had many historical achievements in his reign, he was still criticized for the simple reason that his throne was not legally inherited. Coincidentally, at the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan had three sons. According to the inheritance system of feudal society, Li Jiancheng, the eldest son, should be the crown prince. However, Li Shimin, the second son, was superior to the crown prince in both ability and military achievements, but he still had no right to inherit the throne. Moreover, Prince Li Jiancheng and his younger brother hurt Li Shimin, forcing Li Shimin to launch the "Xuanwu Gate change" to shoot and kill the prince and his younger brother. Soon, Li Yuan abdicated and passed the throne to Li Shimin, the Emperor Taizong of Tang Dynasty. After Emperor Taizong ascended the throne, he carried out the policy of recuperation, which led to the first relatively clear period of the Tang Dynasty, that is, the rule of Zhenguan, which laid the foundation for the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty. Li Shimin was a famous and outstanding emperor in feudal society. However, he was also criticized because his throne was obtained after launching the "Xuanwu Gate change" to destroy his relatives. In feudal society, it was an unjust act and he was not the eldest son.
In the feudal society of China, the succession system of the eldest son is a successful and mature one. This succession system ensures the smooth transition of the political power, makes the people's mind stable and the political power stable. It is an effective inheritance system in line with the reality of feudal society. However, the system of eldest son succession in feudal society also had its shortcomings. For example, three sons, the eldest son is an idiot, and the younger son is very clever, capable, and superior in life. But according to the law of ancestors, the throne should be inherited by the idiot son. So there was the incident of Zhu Di conspiring against Li Shimin and killing his relatives. In my opinion, I think the abilities of these two people are the most suitable for Li Shimin among all the heirs. However, because of the inheritance system at that time, they made a very rebellious move. In Chinese feudal society, many emperors were idiots or young emperors. For example, Emperor Hui of Jin Dynasty was an idiot emperor. When the minister told him that the people had no food to eat, he asked them why they didn't drink porridge. There are also many little emperors, countless in history. When such emperors were in power, their power was controlled by powerful officials, eunuchs or relatives, which led to the chaos of the imperial court and social corruption. All kinds of powerful forces, such as the eunuch and the concubine group, often interfere with the implementation of the system for their own interests. For example, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, in order to control the government, some relatives and concubines even deliberately "greedily established their young masters for a long time"; in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, eunuchs not only controlled the government, but even abandoned the emperor for the need of political struggle. Of course, it was not strictly the eldest son inheritance system. In this case, there are bound to be some adaptations or aberrations in the system of the head of the family. For example, Tang Jingzong's heirless biography is located in his younger brother Wenzong, Wenzong's heirless biography is located in another emperor's younger brother Wuzong, and song zhezong's heirless biography is located in Huizong; the second is to choose the lineage's children to follow. Usually, when the emperor had no heir, he adopted one from the royal family's close relatives to fill the vacuum of the succession of the throne. For example, Emperor Xuan and Emperor AI in the Western Han Dynasty, emperors an, Zhi, Huan and Ling in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yingzong, Xiaozong and LiZong in the Song Dynasty, Shizong in the Ming Dynasty and so on all belong to this situation. It should be said that just as far as the system of the direct leader of the throne itself is concerned, its disadvantages are also obvious. Under this inheritance system, both "Li Di" and "Li Chang" openly gave up the requirement of talent and morality.
The monarch also often interferes with and destroys the implementation of the system of direct leader out of personal likes and dislikes. For example, in his later years, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty loved Liu Fuling, his youngest son, and often praised him as "like me". Later monarchs often use this as a reason to abolish the legitimate love. Besides, the change of the emperor's feelings for the birth mother of the prince is also an important variable. Therefore, the heirs' qualification under the system of direct leader is ultimately determined according to the status of the birth mother. Once the birth mother of the heir to the throne shakes the Queen's status due to her fall out of favor, it is bound to endanger the status of the crown prince. In the case of the emperor's favor, the favored object often changed at any time, which inevitably led to the continuous destruction of the system of the chief. For example, when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was in favor of empress Wei, the crown prince Liu Ju was not protected; Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu moved to favor Yin Lihua from the Guo family, and the crown prince Liu Qiang was only afraid to abdicate to the son of the Yin family (Liu Zhuang of the Ming Dynasty).
The system of succession of the eldest son of the throne is a mature system in feudal society, which plays an important role in stabilizing the society. But in today's view, it is a non intelligent system. With the progress of society, it will be abandoned and replaced by a progressive system.
