Why did the royal class admire Taoism in the early Tang Dynasty? Is there a deeper reason?
On the one hand, before the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan used Taoism to create public opinion and then helped him win the hearts of the people. Li Yuan also successfully won the war against the Sui Dynasty and became the founding emperor of the Tang Dynasty.
On the other hand, after the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, in order to improve the status of the royal family and consolidate his rule, Li Yuan used the fact that Taoism respected the founder of Taoism as a "holy ancestor" and based on Lao Zi's surname "Li" to show that the royal family in the Tang Dynasty was a descendant of Lao Zi, so as to improve the status of the royal family in the Tang Dynasty.
There are indeed many reasons behind the prosperity of religion, but looking at the rise and fall of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism in ancient China, the reasons for its rise and fall often come from the personal beliefs of those in power, and more often because of the needs of political struggle. Analyzing the political situation in the early Tang Dynasty, it is not difficult to see that the royal family in the early Tang Dynasty respected Taoism more for the need of political struggle.
(1) Before the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Taoism was used to create public opinion and seize people's hearts. At the end of the Sui Dynasty, social unrest naturally made people's lives unstable, and various public opinions similar to predictions were circulated among the people. Among them, "Yang will die, Li Bixing", "Heaven will change, and the descendants of the old gentleman will rule the world" and so on.
Why do you say these two sentences? Because it is typical. The meaning of these two sentences is obvious. The surname of the monarch in the Sui Dynasty is Yang, which means "Sui Wu" and "",which means that the person surnamed Li will be the one who will destroy the Sui Dynasty. According to rumors, this "Li surname" belongs to the descendants of Taoist founder Lao Zi, after all, Lao Zi is called "Li Er".
These public opinions were difficult to control in troubled times and soon spread to the court, which made the Sui Dynasty very worried and worried. Therefore, due to rumors, many people named "Li" began to be suspected, and Li Hun, the general of Emperor Yangdi, was also killed because of suspicion. All the generals were killed, and the powerful "Tang gaozu" was naturally suspected by Yang Di.
Later, in the thirteenth year of the great cause of the Sui Dynasty, Li Yuan rose up and rebelled. Although it is troubled times, it is still difficult to win people's hearts and convince the world without a good reason. This is a kind of rebellion, which has no public support. It is naturally more difficult to win this battle.
Therefore, Tang gaozu used "Tao" conveniently. Li Yuan Group cooperated with Taoist priests, constantly letting them release such words as "Li Yuan was chosen by heaven to save the people in from the mire", and also called Li Yuan "true king" and "god". For example, Wang, a famous Taoist priest at the end of Sui Dynasty, claimed to have been instructed by Laozi to pass it on to Li Yuan, telling the world that "Li Yuan should accept his fate".
Therefore, Li Yuan gave himself a "justified" rebellion reason with Taoist thought. The "rebellion" here has been beautified by Taoism as "doing justice for heaven". At the end of the Sui Dynasty, the society was already in turmoil, and the people complained bitterly. Moreover, Taoism has been hidden into the people for many times in the history of our country, and it is relatively close to the people, and it is still relatively appealing among the people.
Therefore, in troubled times, Li Yuan used Taoism to establish a good mass foundation for himself. In the end, Li Yuan also successfully destroyed the Sui Dynasty and became the founding monarch of the Tang Dynasty. From this, we can easily see that before the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Li Yuan admired Taoism mainly for political needs. The purpose is to "beautify" the rebellion through Taoism, seize the hearts of the people and gain more support.
(2) In the early days of the establishment of the Tang Dynasty: Improving the status of the royal family Although Li Yuan destroyed the Sui Dynasty and succeeded in dominating the world, it is still an important issue to be "justified". When the situation is unstable, you can say that you are the "savior" appointed by Laozi, but Laozi appointed the "savior", but after the war, you didn't appoint anyone to "govern the world".
The ancient concept of hierarchy is deeply rooted. Being a monarch, that is, the chosen one, is definitely special in blood. How to make a special law? More or less, the Li Yuan Group, which rose because of the rumor of "Li surname", still regards Taoism as the "holy ancestor" to show that the royal family in the Tang Dynasty is the descendant of Lao Tzu named Li.
Since he is a descendant of the "Holy Father", it is "natural" to be the master of the country in the world, which also means "divine right" and helps the royal family in the Tang Dynasty to control the servants of the people.