What is the origin of the eight-character imperial mantra that begins with "Fengtian Chengyun" and what are its allusions?

We often see eunuchs in movies and TV dramas carrying the imperial edict: "By God, the emperor decreed." There are two errors in this plot. One is that this opening sentence was only used in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The one used is a sentence segmentation error, it should be "Fengtian Chengyun Emperor," the imperial edict said. The origin of this sentence can be traced back to the Yin Yang theory of the Warring States Period, which was used by Qin Shihuang. It was included in the emperor's enthronement book in the Tang Dynasty, and was finally designated as the beginning of an imperial edict in the Ming Dynasty.

01. Zou Yan of the Warring States Period: The Theory of Five Virtues

During the period of Mencius’ activities, there was a “national idol” who fascinated thousands of people and all the princes of the world. His fanboys are vying to give birth to monkeys for him. This super popular idol is Zou Yan, the representative of the Yin Yang family. Zou Yan believed that he had discovered the law of dynasty change, that is, according to the order of earth, wood, metal, fire, water and the five virtues, it cycled endlessly. Therefore, the Shun, Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties respectively corresponded to the earth, virtue, wood, gold, virtue and fire virtue, and the next dynasty corresponded to It is water virtue. This theory of his frightened the princes of the seven countries into a state of confusion. They all believed in it and competed for him to give lectures in their palaces.

After Qin Shihuang established the Qin Dynasty, he also established the representative color of the Qin Dynasty, black, based on Zou Yan’s Five Virtues Theory, to correspond to the water virtues represented by the Qin Dynasty, and to emphasize the Qin Dynasty’s destiny to inherit the water virtues. ?, in this way to establish the sanctity of one's own regime. Even after the death of Qin II, every feudal dynasty after that was still influenced by this theory. This was the origin of "Fengtian Chengyun".

02. The Tang Dynasty's book: Destiny

The Tang Dynasty would issue a certificate when the new emperor ascended the throne or issued an edict for the crown prince to supervise the country (actually considered half of the throne). The book emphasizes that this emperor is destined by destiny, is the emperor recognized by heaven, and is the right person to "pursue destiny" and inherit the destiny of the country. When Li Shi, Emperor Dezong of the Tang Dynasty, came to the throne, he wrote in the book: "Haotian has a destiny, and the emperor accepts it." Li Song, Emperor Shunzong of the Tang Dynasty, wrote: "I compile the preface to Chengtian." It is obvious that in the Tang Dynasty, the true prototype of "Fengtian Chengyun" had already appeared.

But what I want to point out is that the two sentences mentioned above have not been found in specific sources other than encyclopedias. However, in Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's "Feng Qi Wang Ce" there is: "I inherit the order of heaven", It has the same meaning as Shunzong's "Compilation of Tianxu", so the information should be correct.

03. Ming and Qing Dynasties: Emperor Fengtian Chengyun

After Zhu Yuanzhang ascended the throne, he worked hard to establish the orthodox status of the Ming Dynasty. His civil servants searched for documents and found the Qin Dynasty , found Qin Shihuang's "water virtue", and found Zou Yan's five virtues. Therefore, after mixing with various subsequent theories of divine right of kings, Zhu Yuanzhang finally got a title he was satisfied with, "Fengtian Chengyun Emperor". No matter what imperial edict is issued, this title must be added to emphasize the sanctity of his rule. , increasing the mystique of the regime. From then on, "Fengtian carries the emperor's edict" (or "Zhiyue") has become the fixed beginning of the imperial edict.

The Qing Dynasty directly copied the Ming Dynasty's theory of divine right of kings, and the emperor followed suit and was called "Fengtian Chengyun Emperor". Since the Qing Dynasty fell only a hundred years ago, we remember this fixed sentence. However, some screenwriters of costume dramas are lazy, do not conduct research carefully, apply mechanically, use them casually, and mislead the audience. This is really not the case.