Why was the title of Zhu Yuanzhang "Ming" after the founding of the People's Republic of China?

In 1368, on the fourth day of the first month of the 28th year of Zheng Zheng, Zhu Yuanzhang proclaimed himself emperor in Yingtianfu (now Nanjing), with the title of Daming and Jianyuan Hongwu. So why did Zhu Yuanzhang name the country "Daming"? Where does the word "Ming" come from?

Professor Mao Peiqi, the doctoral supervisor of China Renmin University, will join us on a new historical journey, clearing the historical fog of Daming and seeking the truth. On April 14, Lecture Room broadcast the mystery of Zhu Yuanzhang's title in The Mystery of the 17th Emperor of Ming Dynasty, so please pay attention!

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Today we will talk about the mystery of the name of the Ming Dynasty. Everyone knows the Ming Dynasty. Of course, the name of the country is "Ming", but the Ming Dynasty is also called "Daming". How did this "Ming" come from? Today we will talk about four questions to explain the name of the Ming Dynasty.

First, where did Wang Xiaoming's "Ming" come from?

Second, why should the Red Scarf Army give priority to Wang Xiaoming?

Third, why did the Ming people generally accept the word "Ming" as the country name?

Fourth, Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor. What kind of country does he want to build this Daming country into? Here are four questions.

Let's start with the first question. What is Ming in Wang Xiaoming? As we all know, there was chaos in the world at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, and class contradictions and ethnic contradictions were very sharp. Finally, there is the rebellion of Han He. Han Liner, known as the eighth grandson of Song Huizong, said that he came out to rule the world again. But what do they use to call on the people? Their propaganda is "Maitreya Buddha was born, Wang Ming was born". After the Ming king came out, the world was at peace and the people's lives were better. This "Ming" is the Ming of Ming Wang. The common people hope to live a good life in hot water. Therefore, to publicize the birth of the Ming King is actually to call on the people to revolt. So, where did this Ming king come from? This Ming king comes from Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrianism, also known as Manichaeism, was founded by a man named Mani in the 3rd century.

When did this Manichaeism spread to China? It was in the Tang Dynasty when Wu Zetian was there. At that time, in order to win over Uighurs in the Tang Dynasty, Uighurs were ethnic minorities and believed in Zoroastrianism. In order to win over the Uighurs, they raised the status of Manichaeism, which is equivalent to acknowledging the legal status of Manichaeism. But after the destruction of Uighur in the Tang Dynasty, this Manichaeism was no longer taken seriously. Because many people who suffer often oppose the imperial court under the banner of religion and the slogan of "Maitreya was born, Wang Ming was born", they are driven underground and cannot move normally. During the Song Dynasty, Manichaeism was once recognized. However, due to the nature of this religious rebellion, the court still refused to allow it to exist normally and was forced to go underground again.

In the Yuan Dynasty, as we all know, it left the traditional Confucian orthodoxy in China, so it was more open to religion. Manichaeism once became a religion that could spread freely. But later, this Manichaeism was also used to resist the imperial court and was once again driven underground. This Zoroastrianism or Manichaeism has been driven underground. In order to protect themselves, they are desperately linked to Buddhism and to the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism, Bailian. That is, in the Yuan Dynasty, many people used the White Lotus Sect to gather people. In fact, they believe in such a religion that Manichaeism and Bailian are mixed. What are they promoting? The propaganda is "Maitreya was born, Wang Ming was born". We talked about it twice before. At that time, Liu Futong said that "ten people fight the Yellow River with one eye against the world" and "Maitreya Buddha was born and Wang Mingsheng was born", calling on the people to rise up against the imperial court and strive for a happy life. At this time, they carried out their slogan, that is, playing the banner of Wang Ming. Therefore, this "Ming" in Wang Xiaoming means that Manichaeism is the "Ming" of Zoroastrianism.

The second question, why does the Red Scarf Army give priority to Wang Xiaoming? Now let's look at Wang Xiaoming's slogan. At that time, the slogan was "The mountains and rivers have the land of China, and the sun and the moon will reopen the Great Song Dynasty". What do these slogans mean? "Mountains and rivers have Han land" is the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, dominated by Mongolian nobles. It divides people into several classes and practices national oppression. They play "mountains and rivers have their own places", which means to drive away the Mongolian aristocrats and rule by the Central Plains people again. "Sun and Moon will reopen DaSong", and they can only be more appealing if they say that they are the heirs of DaSong. The word "day" and "month" implies a word "Ming", calling on people with Zoroastrianism.

Call on the people to achieve two purposes:

One is to resist class oppression and restore the rule with the Han nationality as the main body, and no longer be oppressed by ethnic groups.

The second one wants to live a good life and welcome the birth of Wang Ming. Therefore, for a long time, in order to make his team more authoritative and appealing, Zhu Yuanzhang also gave priority to Wang Xiaoming. For a long time, he called himself DaSong with the title of Wang Xiaoming. Therefore, his title is based on the title of Dragon and Phoenix in the Song Dynasty, and his country was ruled by the Song Dynasty and Wang Xiaoming. Since Zhu Yuanzhang accepted the title of Wang Xiaoming, he worked as a deputy marshal under Wang Xiaoming, a Wu Guogong under Wang Xiaoming, and was later named the King of Wu. Therefore, it has an indissoluble bond with Wang Xiaoming's "Ming". Then everyone will ask a question, since Zhu Yuanzhang has become the emperor, why not ask for another title and the word Wang Xiaoming?

I think there are two reasons: first, many people who took part in the uprising, many people who resisted the rule of the Yuan Dynasty, still believe in Ming Chengzu's statement. They joined the ranks of the rebels, hoping that Ming Chengzu would be born. To satisfy the wishes of this group of people, we can't throw away this slogan. If you throw away this slogan, you will lose this part of the people's hearts. Who is Ming Wang? Zhu Yuanzhang himself is the Ming king, and he is Daming. Who wants to be the king of Ming Dynasty? There's no room. He's already taken a seat. However, after all, Zhu Yuanzhang's team was transformed by Confucian intellectuals, and they and the original group gathered through burning incense in Bailian Sect. The uprising team went further and further. So, Zhu Yuanzhang later said this in the battle against Zhang Shicheng:

He said that because the Yuan Dynasty was very dark, everyone was looking forward to changing their living conditions, so they fell into witchcraft by mistake. The witchcraft he refers to is white lotus religion, which is Zoroastrianism. Foolish people were misled by witchcraft, confused by the false birth of the proposal, and mistakenly believed that Maitreya really existed. They don't understand this statement at all. This spell is nonsense. They especially believe that Maitreya will be born in the afterlife, and Wang Ming is real. Why? Miracle rules the world and Su Qi suffers. I hope he can govern the country and save his own pain, but what should these people do together? This happened. It's "burning incense at the party." As the shadow said, spread Heluo. As long as the evil words are good, the evil plan will be obvious. Burning battlements, killing scholars, poisonous creatures, endless reason. " That is, although Zhu Yuanzhang used the titles and titles of Zoroastrianism and Wang Xiaoming to revolt, after the uprising was successful, he came back to criticize Bailian and Zoroastrianism, saying that they were "unprovoked". Therefore, it can also be seen that Zhu Yuanzhang has ideologically divorced from Zoroastrianism and the primitive white lotus religion believed by most insurgents who participated in the peasant uprising.

He has been reformed by Confucian intellectuals. In that case, why is this statement still accepted? There are many intellectuals belonging to Zhu Yuanzhang, including Zhu Sheng, Tao An, Liu Ji and Li Shanchang mentioned last time. They all believe what Confucianism says, and they accept Daming. In fact, they have explained the word "Ming" in another way. It is said that in ancient China, there were sacrifices to Daming, the sky, the sun, the earth and the moon, which was related to the ancient sacrificial ceremony in China and the ancient Five Elements Theory in China. They also put forward a saying that Mongolia originated in the north, and it was declared that it was a water virtue, while Zhu Yuanzhang originated in the south, which was a fire virtue. Also said, said the word "Zhu", after the surname Zhu Rong, who is Zhu Rong? It was the ancestors who mastered the fire, called the fire and called the fire officer. He brought light to people. Zhu Yuanzhang inherited this fire virtue. Starting from the south, he will definitely defeat the water virtue in the north, so this Ming and fire are interlinked.

Why were there many legends when Zhu Yuanzhang was born, all related to fire? It is said that the temple where he lives is thought to be red by others. Is it on fire? Many people say no. When I was born, I saw if their house was on fire, but it still wasn't. This fire actually indicates that he is a fire virtue and will be associated with the word "Daming" in the future. Used to be a royal official. In order to make their rule more legal, they used these Shinto doctrines to fool the people, strengthen their authority and publicize the divine right of imperial power. So he planted a lot of foreshadowing in advance, and finally said that Zhu Yuanzhang was justified in the world.

Confucian intellectuals believe that it is natural for Zhu Yuanzhang to take Daming as his country name, build the country by virtue of fire, get heaven and help from heaven, and he wants to rule the whole country. Therefore, even though Zhu Yuanzhang gave up the theory of Maitreya's birth and the theory of Wang Ming's birth, he still kept the name of Daming. One more thing, last time we left a small question, that is, who is the king, say who is the king. Why is Wang Xiaoming a small print? Who made the title? From ancient times to now, it is a two-word title, but there is no one-word title. Why did Zhu Yuanzhang have a title of Wu Yuannian when he was king of Wu before the founding of the Ming Dynasty? In a word, what do you mean?

According to the current analysis, Zhu Yuanzhang called it "Daming", but Wang Xiaoming can never call it "Daming". He must make this "Wang Ming" a Wang Xiaoming, and show that he is taller than him, so everything should be publicized on such materials as Wang Xiaoming. Therefore, Han Liner can only be Wang Xiaoming, not King Daming. Although the word "Ming" was used, it was made small, and only Zhu Yuanzhang himself was big. The enlargement of the country name originated in the Yuan Dynasty, but it didn't exist before, like the Great Song Dynasty, which was later called. The Yuan Dynasty was called Dayuan. How did the name of this Yuan Dynasty come from? This is a sentence in the Book of Changes, called "Great Gan Yuan", Dayuan. The Ming Dynasty inherited the Yuan Dynasty, also known as "Daming".

Besides, in the first year of Wu, why did people use a two-word title, and when they arrived at the king of Wu, they gave them a one-word title? In fact, Mitchell accidentally let the cat out of the bag when compiling history. Why do you say that? Because he used the year of Dragon and Phoenix, which was 1367, the twenty-seventh year of Zheng Zheng. Zhu Yuanzhang sent Liao Yongzhong to meet Wang Xiaoming. When Liao Yongzhong arrived in Guazhou, the ship sank. This Wang Xiaoming is gone, and this Dragon and Phoenix Year can't be used. However, this year is not the year to change the first year, that is, it is not the year to establish the New Year's number. So when describing this history, can we still use the year of dragon and phoenix? If no other year is available, use "Wu", which is the first year of Wu, so there is a first year of Wu in history. This year of Wu Canyuan just let us know that it was the year before the founding of Zhu Yuanzhang, and he was still named as the Dragon and Phoenix in Wang Xiaoming. But when Mitchell writes, he can't write like this. The three questions we talked about earlier are about Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming. How did this "Ming" come from Manichaeism or Zoroastrianism? Finally, it is generally accepted.

Let's start with Zhu Yuanzhang. He said that he wanted to show the world that Ming Wang was born, Maitreya was born, and Ming Wang was born. Everyone should live a good life. There is nothing wrong with you following Zhu Yuanzhang. So what kind of country did Zhu Yuanzhang want to build the Ming Dynasty into?

In the Northern Expedition, Zhu Yuanzhang had a few words, one of which was "expel the Tatars, restore the discipline of China and Chen Gang, and help the Sri Lankan people". "Expelling Tatar" means expelling Mongolian aristocrats, restoring China, and restoring the rule of the Central Plains with the Han people as the main body and no national oppression. Of course, Zhu Yuanzhang once said later that this is our supplement. Zhu Yuanzhang didn't mean to oppress the Mongols. He said that Mongolians should also be equal. Everything is covered by the sky and accommodated by the earth. Everyone is my son and should be equal. When he said that the restoration of China was not to oppress Mongolians, he did not say that Mongolians were not allowed to stay in the mainland. "Expulsion of Tatars and Restoration of China" is to overthrow the rule of Mongolian nobles. What do you mean by "Chen Ji" and "Chen Ji"? Is to establish social order, establish system, rectify order, and "establish discipline in Chen Gang". There is also a saying called "saving the people from fire and water". The people in the Yuan Dynasty, especially in the Yuan Dynasty, had a hard life and were in dire straits. I want to "save the people from fire and water" Then, these words, I think, contain Zhu Yuanzhang's ideal of governing the country and have so much content. I think there are three:

First of all, he wanted to drive away the rule of Mongolian nobles, and he did it.

Second, we should rectify social order.

Third, we should save people from the hot water. The first one has been realized, and the second one is being done. The purpose of the first and second items is to liberate the people from dire straits. How did he do it? How did he achieve his goal? There was a saying in the past that after Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor, he betrayed the peasant revolution and peasant uprising and became the enemy of the peasant class. Later, didn't you? In the traditional patriarchal society, no one can escape this law at the level of productivity development at that time. When he became a ruler, he must be on the opposite side of the common people, but Zhu Yuanzhang himself was once one of the most local ruffians in society, and his considerations and starting points were different from those of other emperors.

Shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, Zhu Yuanzhang said: "At the beginning of the world, the people were in poverty." The world has just stabilized and the people are in financial difficulties. They lost a lot because of the war. "People's talents are trapped, just like a bird just started flying. You can't pluck its feathers or shake its roots. Rest in peace. Only honest people can make an appointment with themselves and benefit others, so you should remember it deeply. " In other words, when a bird wants to fly, you can't pluck its feathers. The tree has just been planted. You can't shake it or move its roots. How do we do this? Relying on honesty, relying on banning greed and stopping violence, cherishing the people and letting them recuperate. He once discussed with Liu Ji how to develop production and how to make people healthy. Liu Ji said that he was generous to the people, and Liu Ji said that he would implement the policy of giving benevolence and righteousness to the people. Zhu Yuanzhang said that leniency is not enough. How can I put it? He said: "human feelings can be dispensed with, but neither can leniency." In my opinion, forgiveness must be the wealth and strength of the people. If you don't save money, the people will be exhausted. If you don't save the clothes, the people will be trapped. If you don't know the etiquette, you will be greedy and violent, and the people will be miserable. If you are so generous, you will have a name and the people will not be embarrassed. "

What do you mean? You can't just talk about leniency. They have no wealth and no economic development, okay? Say that you are always engaged in projects, projects, and people are very tired, okay? No, they all say that your education is not good, etiquette and legal system are not good, and people don't know how to educate. Can we just say leniency? He said that you can't help those corrupt officials and enrich the people, but the people are still oppressed and exploited. It is not enough to talk about leniency. If we can't do all these things well, if we only talk about leniency, the people will not benefit. These words contain Zhu Yuanzhang's idea of governing the country.

Zhu Yuanzhang's concept of governing the country, I summarized him into five:

First, we should develop production and enrich the people. This is the first rule.

Second, save money, save people's money and save people's strength.

When Zhu Yuanzhang had no land, he realized the hardships of ordinary people's lives. He doesn't allow others to waste material and financial resources casually. He said that these are the essence of the people, the people's bit by bit labor income, and the people's hard work. After Zhu Yuanzhang became emperor himself, he was very frugal in food and clothing. As we all know, Nanjing is a stove, and it is very hot. He was sweating like a pig when he went to various government offices to see things. Someone is helping him with his clothes. When it was wet, he changed it. The official next to him saw that the clothes he changed were not new. He has nothing. He said that I am rich in the world and can't have anything, but I must have it. Therefore, Zhu Yuanzhang, who lived a poor life, understood the sufferings of ordinary people. He did not do anything extravagant and corrupt.

He said: "People's hobbies are very heavy. Practicing thrift is enough to cultivate one's morality. Advocating extravagance will lead to moral decay. " What do you mean? He said that when he became emperor, he would like the following atmosphere. It is said that advocating frugality can cultivate one's morality, and advocating extravagance and waste will lose one's morality.

Once in the palace, Zhu Yuanzhang saw several ladies-in-waiting throwing a silk thread into the ground. He called the maid-in-waiting back and said who threw it. Do you know that this is the blood and sweat of ordinary people? Throw a heavy penalty next time. I dare not enter the palace. Seeing two eunuchs wearing new shoes, they rushed to drip when it rained and dared to step on the mud. Why don't you take care of the clothes and shoes provided by ordinary people This is the blood and sweat of ordinary people. I can't let you spoil it casually, just say that he advocates frugality in the palace and on himself, which is related to his background, his thoughts of cherishing private capital and protecting people's livelihood, not only because he was born in poverty, but also because many people forgot their roots, right?

So he has an idea, that is, let everyone live and work in peace and contentment, let the people save money, and don't waste the people's money.

Third, fewer projects will not add more burden to the people.

Zhu Yuanzhang also rewarded farmers and mulberry trees. He stipulated how many trees, mulberry trees and jujube trees a family could plant. He said that if there is a famine, these jujube trees can also save lives. He leads a hard life, and he manages it very carefully. He said that I read Dear People in Shangshu, and he said that I had many feelings. How does it feel? It is said that people who used to be emperors are masters of life, and they don't always consider the problems of ordinary people, saying that we have to consider the interests of ordinary people. Why? It is precisely because we only consider the interests of the people that we can last for a long time, so Zhu Yuanzhang can care about the people, not only for the people, but also for his rule. I think this was inevitable at that time. At home, the country is home, under such a political pattern. What's this sentence called? As the saying goes, "all governance focuses on people's security, and people's security is national security." As we all know, Emperor Taizong once said, "Water can carry a boat and also overturn it". He said, "All governance is based on the safety of the people, and the safety of the people is the security of the country." It means the same thing. Just now we were discussing what kind of Daming State Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to build. He advertised himself as King Amin and Emperor Amin, so he hinted that he was born King Amin. He stood in this position and did what he wanted to do.

Fourth, conduct moral and legal education. This is too modern, this word, this word. In fact, it is like this, carrying out moral and legal education, running schools, advocating education and letting people know the law.

Zhu Yuanzhang attached great importance to people's education. An important way of education is to run a school, which he attaches great importance to. We don't need to elaborate on this. He also has some measures to educate people all the way to the rural grassroots. For example, he put up a notice, called "The Notice of Teaching the People", in just a few four-word paragraphs, asking the people to abide by morality, not to commit crimes, not to steal, to be filial to the elderly and to unite with the countryside. Lists of parishioners are posted everywhere. Every village should have a muduo. What is muduo? Muduo is a bell. What is muduo? It's a bangzi. Some people regularly walk in the village and knock on the bangzi to show filial piety to their parents, prohibit theft and love labor. That's all. Let these moral constructions be carried out among the people in this way, which is a kind of ...

The other is an ancient ceremony in the Ming Dynasty. What is this ancient ceremony? It is called "rural drinking ceremony", and "township" is the "township" in rural areas. Drinking began in the Zhou Dynasty and was implemented in the Ming Dynasty. What does this mean? On holidays, especially during the Chinese New Year, these venerable old people in the village will preside over the drinking ceremony in the village, sum up what happened in the village in the past year, and judge the villagers' performance in the past year. Those who behave well sit down and drink, those who behave badly stand and drink, and those who behave badly again, don't drink, stand and drink, put forward punishment and give some people a warning. He walked all the way to the grassroots in moral construction.

Also, about the law. We will also say that his law book is called Da Gao, and there is also a legal text called Daming Law in the Ming Dynasty. Daming Law requires that every county school should have it, and all students should learn it. Da Gao should be available in every household. What is a big height? We'll talk more about it later. In Dagao, there are various regulations to punish corrupt officials for doing evil. He compiled a "big draft" for every household to collect and collect for themselves. In the future, if you commit a crime, say that you have been sentenced, and your crime will be reduced by one level. You can take a look and downgrade. It is illegal to say that there is a "big height" at home? No, wait a minute. This became a habit followed by the Ming Dynasty. When ordinary people have something to do, they go to the government and say what they have sentenced. If there is a "great coat", they say it is reduced. In fact, it is not necessarily true, but it is left over by tradition, which was left by Zhu Yuanzhang.

Fifth, the last one is to crack down on corrupt officials and rectify official management, and not let them do whatever they want.

Zhu Yuanzhang hated the oppression of corrupt officials and enriching the people because he lived at the bottom of society. He has personal experience. He said that when I met state and county officials before, they drank all day, regardless of the lives of ordinary people, and they only knew how to collect taxes and take bribes. He said I asked officials to be honest. If you are honest, you are walking on a smooth road. If you are dishonest, you will walk among thorns, which won't work. He will use the rule of law and his strictness.

Just now we were discussing what kind of Daming State Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to build. He flaunted himself as King Amin and Emperor Amin, so he implied that he was born King Amin, so he occupied this position and did what he wanted to do. Therefore, when Zhu Yuanzhang established the Daming Kingdom, he hoped that there would be an orderly and harmonious society, a clean government, a government that could develop production and let people live a better life. Is that he has his ideal of governing the country. However, we say that Zhu Yuanzhang lived five or six hundred years ago after all. So, can he do these things thoroughly and carry out his ideas to the end? He's ambivalent. For example, these meritorious ministers who followed him to the war, and his prince and princess? What should they do when they become officials, officials, ministers, kings and Xu? He will give a lot of money to the fields. Isn't he trying to limit enriching the people? But the new generation will grow up again, and they will go back to the old ways and fight against ordinary people. But this is another problem, and Zhu Yuanzhang himself can't escape this strange circle. What he thinks is one thing, and objective historical development is another. .