After Song Zhenzong granted Zen status, why did later emperors never go to Zen status again?

Many people don’t know about Song Zhenzong’s enshrinement of Zen, so follow me to enjoy it.

In ancient China, since Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty consecrated Zen, no emperor has ever gone to Mount Tai to consecrate Zen.

Many people think that the reason for this is because Song Zhenzong did not have the qualifications to go to Mount Tai to become a Zen, but he went to Mount Tai to become a Zen. Song Zhenzong's performance made later emperors ashamed to associate with him. So I don't want to do it anymore.

This statement is not unreasonable. Song Zhenzong went to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen, which was indeed like a farce.

(Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty)

Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty went to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen after entering into the "Chanyuan Alliance" with the Liao Kingdom. Song Zhenzong's failure to defeat the Liao Kingdom was not entirely his fault. This is due to the emphasis on culture and suppression of military force during the Song Taizu period, which resulted in insufficient combat effectiveness of the army. Also during the Song Taizong period, after being defeated by the Liao people relying on wrong strategic tactics, widespread panic arose in the army. At the same time, there are also reasons such as the sudden rise of the Liao Kingdom at this time.

But no matter what, Song Zhenzong was indeed defeated. He was defeated, so he went to Mount Tai to become a Zen monk.

Song Zhenzong wanted to achieve at least three goals when he went to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen.

The first is to boost the influence of the Zhao and Song royal families in the country.

The throne of the Zhao and Song royal families came from the Later Zhou Dynasty. In the later Zhou Dynasty, Chai Rong led his army to attack the Liao Kingdom and captured three states in three months, showing his strong combat effectiveness. It was only because Chai Rong died young shortly afterwards that there was no further development. When Song Taizong came to power and fought with the Liao Kingdom, and even when Song Zhenzong came to power and fought with the Liao Kingdom, they were defeated. The "Chanyuan Alliance" was also concluded, land was ceded, and compensation was paid. This can't help but make people feel that the royal family of Zhao and Song Dynasty is incompetent and cannot compare with the later Zhou Dynasty. This view will obviously seriously affect the dominance of the Zhao and Song royal families in the country.

It was precisely because of this consideration that Zhenzong of Song Dynasty went to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen. Activities such as going to Mount Tai to enshrine the throne show that the throne of the Zhao and Song royal families was given by God and not taken away from them. This also silenced those who made irresponsible remarks and ensured the authoritative status of the Zhao and Song royal families.

(Song Taizong)

Secondly, Song Zhenzong wanted to ensure the status of his own lineage.

We know that Song Zhenzong had a very special place when he was emperor. He was Song Zhenzong's father. Song Taizong inherited the throne from his brother Song Taizu. Song Taizong inherited the throne of Song Taizu, which also caused great controversy among the people. After Song Taizong inherited the throne, he lost the battle with the Liao Kingdom.

You know, when Song Taizu was conquering the world, although he almost never fought with the Liao Kingdom, he was a victorious general and rarely lost a battle. After the throne was passed to Song Taizong, Song Taizong could not win the war with Liao. Not only was Song Taizong unable to win, Song Zhenzong was also unable to defeat. This gives people a feeling that Song Taizong's lineage is not good.

This is the second purpose of Song Zhenzong to change people's ideas by going to Mount Tai to worship Zen.

Third, Song Zhenzong wanted to establish his historical status.

Song Zhenzong’s acquisition of the throne is also very special. Originally, Song Taizong never thought of making Song Zhenzong emperor. He wanted to establish Zhao Yuanzuo, but Zhao Yuanzuo went crazy because he was dissatisfied with Song Taizong's persecution of Song Taizu's descendants and Song Taizong's younger brother. It was in this way that Song Zhenzong won the throne.

Song Zhenzong won the throne. Not only could he not defeat the Liao Kingdom, he also ceded territory to pay compensation. In other words, his failure went even further. Therefore, the domestic suspicion of Song Zhenzong has reached three levels.

This is the third purpose of Song Zhenzong to change people's ideas by going to Mount Tai to worship Zen.

In order to persuade him to go to Mount Tai to become a Zen monk, Song Zhenzong repeatedly searched for "auspiciousness" throughout the country. Officials across the country who wanted to get promoted and make a fortune were constantly reporting the appearance of "auspicious things" to Song Zhenzong. So it became a farce.

Although Song Zhenzong finally did the matter of "enshrining Zen", the purpose of Song Zhenzong going to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen and the process of him obtaining "auspiciousness" are all a joke. It makes sense for later emperors not to want to learn or become a laughing stock.

Although later emperors had such considerations, this was not the most important reason. After all, although it is a joke that Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty went to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen, there were also people like Qin Shihuang and Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty who went to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen. One unified China and the other opened up new territories. In the eyes of future generations, their achievements were great and they were qualified to be enshrined in Mount Tai.

In other words, just because Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty went to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen, later generations did not deny the fact that Qin Shihuang and Emperor Wu of Han went to Mount Tai to enshrine Zen.

(Taishan Fengchan)

So, why did later emperors no longer go to Mount Tai to Fengchan?

I think there are two main reasons.

First, the political status of Mount Tai in ancient China was weakened.

There were three dynasties in ancient China after the Song Dynasty: the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty, and the Qing Dynasty. The Yuan Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty were both dynasties established by ethnic minorities. The ancestral mountain of the Yuan Dynasty should be in Mongolia, and the ancestral mountain of the Qing Dynasty was also outside the customs. Although the Ming Dynasty was a dynasty established by the Khans, Zhu Yuanzhang made his fortune from the south, and his place of Longxing was in the south.

In fact, the reason why dynasties such as the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty regarded the consecration of Mount Tai as one of the most important political activities was that the political center of the so-called "Central Plains countries" at that time was In the Taishan generation. Mount Tai is very prominent on the surrounding plains. From the perspective of geopolitical aesthetics, Mount Tai has become the political center.

However, the areas of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties have become very vast, and the understanding of the "Central Plains Country" is not limited to the Mount Tai section. Therefore, the power of Taishan's geopolitical aesthetics disappeared. Therefore, later generations rarely use Taishan to make an issue.

Secondly, the political behavior of Feng Chan has almost disappeared in later generations.

The meaning of Fengchan is the unity of nature and man, and the divine power of kings.

Later generations also emphasized the divine right of kings and the unity of heaven and man. However, this is not the most important thing. The most important thing is to strengthen personnel.

What does it mean to strengthen personnel? It means not waiting for God to take care of it, but to artificially strengthen the role of centralization. Especially in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Enough work has been done to strengthen centralization and strengthen the authority of the emperor. The central government has centralized power enough and the emperor is powerful enough. There is no need to emphasize the significance of imperial power through "Feng Chan".