How dare Kangxi call himself the Holy Father?

The following are the reasons why Kangxi can call himself a saint:

In feudal society, as long as it is a unified dynasty, the temple name of the emperor generally follows the principle of "ancestors have merits and ancestors have virtues". Moreover, in most feudal dynasties, only the previous generation or two generations were called "ancestors", and the later generation was called "zong". But there was one dynasty exception, and that was the Qing Dynasty.

The heir emperor held a funeral for the dead old emperor, which was no exception in any dynasty. However, the high standard and significance of Yong Zhengdi's service for Emperor Kangxi's funeral are extraordinary. The fundamental reason also lies in the special background when Yong Zhengdi ascended the throne.

At that time, there were not only powerful opposition parties such as Eight Kings Yunyi, but also some generals and ministers who didn't trust the new monarch. During the whole funeral, the opposition either laughed at jokes or looked for opportunities to make trouble, so as to give Yong Zhengdi a bad reputation of unfilial.

Therefore, holding a funeral for Emperor Kangxi without reducing labor is an important measure for Yong Zhengdi and Eight Princes to maintain political stability. On the night of Emperor Kangxi's death, Yong Zhengdi "cried for a long time" and personally changed clothes for Emperor Kangxi.

Then, as the emperor, the seventh prince Yunyou was ordered to guard Changchun Garden, and the twelfth prince Yunyou returned to Beijing to set up a mourning hall first, and the sixteenth prince Yunlu and Prince Hongsheng were ordered to guard the Forbidden City, and the thirteenth prince Yunxiang and Long Keduo were responsible for guarding Changchun Garden from the Forbidden City. He himself returned to the palace with the Jade Emperor holding the body of Emperor Kangxi.

The next day, Yong Zhengdi held a grand funeral for Emperor Kangxi in Gan Qing Palace. In order to show filial piety to the late emperor, he specially ordered the kings Baylor and the ministers of civil and military affairs to enter Gan Qing Gate, and the princess entered Gan Qing Palace to pay tribute to the remains of Emperor Kangxi. He beat his chest, wailed and made an extremely sad gesture.

Emperor Kangxi's Zigong was parked in Gan Qing Palace for 20 days, and then moved to Jingshan Shouhuang Hall. During this period, Yong Zhengdi issued a series of imperial edicts, claiming that he didn't live in the temple, didn't walk through the main entrance, and didn't feel comfortable sitting and drinking tea after the meeting. He also wants to break the old system of 27 days of mourning and change it to 100 days.

In fact, on the third day, the princes and ministers invited the court to restore the old system of releasing clothes on the 27th, because military affairs and various sacrificial gifts could not last long and had to be released. Ministers played it back and forth three times, and Yong Zhengdi followed suit. Like other emperors, he was released after the 27th.

The later link is more important, which is to discuss how to decide the posthumous title and temple number for Emperor Kangxi. It's time for Yong Zhengdi to seize the opportunity of performing again and further demonstrate his reputation of "pure filial piety". So Yong Zhengdi took the temple number of Emperor Kangxi as the holy father.