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Since the title of "emperor" comes from three emperors and five emperors, if we want to fully understand its meaning, we must start with three emperors and five emperors.
The name "Huang San" began at the end of the Warring States Period and appeared in Zhuangzi Tian Yun and Lu Chunqiu Guigong. The names of Qin Shihuang, Huangdi and Tai Huang did not appear until Emperor Ying Zheng in Historical Records. "Before Qin Shihuang unified the world, Huang San was only Huang San among the gods, and Huang San was only the emperor and emperor." What exactly does "Huang San" mean here? Gu Jiegang believes that it directly inherits the beliefs of Zhou people. "The name of" Emperor "is reversed from" Imperial Heaven ",and the name of" Rehmannia glutinosa "is translated from" Been Earth ". I am afraid it is still the god of heaven and earth. However, it is believed that the relationship between the two emperors of heaven and earth and heaven and earth is indirect, and his "original mother's home" should be the god and landlord in the worship of the Eight Ancestors of Qi. God and the landlord are the highest gods in Ba Shen's sacrifice-the gods of heaven and earth. Yan Qi's alchemist "turned God into the Yellow Emperor" 3. It can be seen that Huang San's attribute to the gods should be affirmative. At that time, people's understanding of the universe should refer to the gods of heaven, earth and man. Heaven, earth and people sum up the whole space. Later, "White Tiger Tongnuo". Zhang said: "Emperor" and "Heaven and Man share the same name" should be a summary of predecessors' thoughts. The western emperor, the eastern emperor and the empress emperor in Chu Ci are all called "emperors". Obviously, in the pre-Qin period, "Huang" was also the title of "God". The emperor and the yellow emperor only mentioned or compared with myths and legends in general. The reason why Tai Huang is the most expensive is because Tai Huang is more expensive than Taiyi, and "God is too expensive". Therefore, Mr. Yang once came to the conclusion that "the King of Qin was replaced by the title of emperor, with the intention that he would be the" general leader "of the power of heaven, earth and man, that is, the commander of the universe. "That makes sense." The title of "emperor" shows that the dignitaries of the king of Qin are unparalleled supreme in the universe.
The second word is "five emperors". From the Western Zhou Dynasty to the end of the Warring States Period, there were more than five kinds of "Five Emperors" besides the "Five Emperors" in the sky. The Five Emperors in Heaven mainly refer to the "Five Emperors" in Qin Dynasty, which were derived from the early four Emperors under the influence of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements. In the pre-Qin period, people thought there were four emperors in the sky: blue, yellow, white and red. It is recorded in Historical Records: "As a successor, I lived in Xihuang, claiming to be a god, serving the West Palace and worshiping the White Emperor." "Gong Xuan, king of Qin, secretly held a ceremony in Weinan to offer sacrifices to Di Qing." "Qin Linggong served as the upper corner of Wuyang's eye and offered sacrifices to the emperor." Sacrifice to Emperor Yan. "Dedicated to the public" worship Bai Di as an oak bed ". This theory originated from the worship of the Quartet in the Yin Dynasty. There is a record of offering sacrifices to the Quartet God in Oracle Bone Inscriptions, which is second only to God. In the Spring and Autumn Period, in order to create a public opinion that ruled the Quartet, Qin promoted the Quartet to emperor. By the middle and late Warring States period, Qin people combined the "Four Emperors" with the five elements and directions according to the popular theory of Yin-Yang and Five Elements at that time, and created a new "Five Emperors Theory": Five Emperors were called the gods of the five elements, that is, the five gods living in the east, west, south, north and middle. Di Qing, Tai Hao, the emperor of the East, the main spring; Chi Di, Nandi Yan Di, is in charge of summer; Bai Di, Shao Hao, the emperor of heaven in the west, is in charge of autumn; Hei Di, the northern emperor Zhuan Xu, the main winter; The Yellow Emperor is an ancient holy king with the highest status and the emperor of the central government. This is a special worship of the Five Emperors formed in the Qin Dynasty, which is obviously different from the worship of the Five Emperors in the early Central Plains. In the Central Plains, the Five Emperors were the ancient emperors, the ancestors or leaders of the nation and, of course, the gods of their ancestors. When they arrived in the Qin Dynasty, they were endowed with the temporary duties of the ruling parties and the functions of the gods. At this time, the five emperors, as holy kings, ancestors, heroes and gods, became the objects of worship of Qin people. Ying Zheng's unification of the world is a victory of force. However, in the face of the situation of "six countries complete, one country under the world" formed in a short time, he can't rely solely on force. He also needs to find another powerful support, that is, the support of people's psychological identity. So he took a fancy to the five emperors worshipped by the people and prepared to use them to win the support of the people.
It is worth noting that people worship Huang Sanhe and Five Emperors, but Ying Zheng doesn't. On the contrary, he looked down on Huang Sanhe and Five Emperors. He thought he was "respected in Huang San and made contributions to the Five Emperors". He only uses Huang Sanhe and Wu Di. The reason why she was named "Emperor" by Huang Sanhe and Five Emperors was to use Huang Sanhe and Five Emperors to create momentum for herself, which showed that she had the virtue and contribution of Huang Sanhe and Five Emperors alone, which was better than Huang Sanhe and Five Emperors. He not only manages personnel, but also rules the world. He is the supreme "emperor" as never before.
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The combination of Huang San and the beauty of the Five Emperors can not fully express the meaning of the title of "Emperor", but it is also related to many worship beliefs in the pre-Qin period.