Chinese people like to say long live. Please tell me what it means and why?

When did "Long Live" specifically praise the emperor?

October 12, 2001 09:37:12

In China's feudal society, "Long Live" was a The word is synonymous with the supreme ruler. The "Long Live Lord" in the mouth of the ministers is the emperor. Except for the emperor, no one dares to associate himself with "Long Live". Even Wei Zhongxian, the powerful eunuch of the Ming Dynasty, although he never took the emperor in his eyes, he only dared to Claiming to be "nine thousand years old".

In fact, in the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period, people often used eulogies and blessings such as "Boundless for ten thousand years" and "Borderless for eyebrows and longevity". "The Book of Songs·Binfeng·July" contains the sentence "Entering the court hall, calling him a toast, and longevity will be endless", which describes the scene of people holding a joyous celebration ceremony after a year of hard work. "Longevity without Borders" here is the cheering phrase given by people when they raise their glasses and drink. The word "long live" is a simplification of these eulogies and blessings.

When did the word "Long Live" come exclusively to emperors? Historians disagree. One opinion is that when Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, came to the court, "all the ministers in the palace shouted long live". The "Long Live" at this time was different from the "Long Live" that was used as a general cheer during the Warring States Period. It was connected with a set of court etiquette.

One opinion is that the "Long Live" belonging to the emperor began during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. "Book of Han: Chronicles of Emperor Wu" records: "In the first month of the spring of the first year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Wu personally ascended to Songgao, and the imperial censor took his subordinates. The officials and soldiers at the temple heard three people shouting long live, but they ascended the ceremony and ignored it." Who shouted "Long Live the Three"? Xun Yue noted: "Long live, the mountain god calls it." Fifteen years later, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty also said that he was "lucky Langxie, and the mountain has become a mountain. Climb it and float on the sea. The mountain is called long live." Even the mountain gods and rocks have to shout long live him, how can the subjects not shout? From then on, "Long live" was heard in front of the emperor's throne. If others called him "Long live", it would be considered treason and disrespect.

There is also an opinion that "Long Live" was also used in the Han Dynasty other than the emperor. As the etiquette of the Han Dynasty stipulates, the crown prince can also be called long live. At that time, there were still people in the royal family named "Long Live", and the younger brother of Emperor He of the Han Dynasty was called "Liu Long Live". From the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty, there are countless examples of people saying "long live" to people and ministers. For example, the "Book of the Later Han: Biography of Li Gu" records that the famous scholar Li Gu was falsely accused by the powerful minister Liang Ji and imprisoned. His disciples wrote to him to complain, "The Queen Mother made it clear that she would be pardoned. When he was released from prison, everyone in the capital city said long live him." In the Song Dynasty, officials and ministers who were called "Long Live" were not allowed to get involved. Cao Na, the subordinate of General Cao Lili of the Northern Song Dynasty, got drunk once and "made people cry for long live". He was reported and beaten to death with a stick ("History of the Song Dynasty: Biography of Cao Lili"). It can be seen that in the Song Dynasty, no one was allowed to call Long live except the emperor.

Reference:/gb/content/2001-10/12/content_400040.htm