Temple name
Temple names are commonly used when naming most
Chinese,
Korean (
Goryeo and
Joseon periods), and
Vietnamese (such dynasties as Tran, Anterior Lê and
Nguyen Dynasty) royalty. Should not be confused with
Era name. Compared to
posthumous names, the use of temple names is more exclusive. Both titles were given after death to an emperor or king, but unlike the elaborate posthumous name, a temple name always consists of only two
characters:
# an adjective: chosen to reflect the circumstances of the emperor's reign (such as "Martial" or "Lamentable"). The vocabulary overlap with that of posthumous titles' adjectives, but for one emperor, the temple name's adjective character usually does not repeat as one of the many adjective characters in his posthumous name. The usual exception is "Filial". The founders are almost always either "High" (高) or "Grand" (太).# "emperor": either
z" (祖) or
zōng (宗). #*
Zu ("forefather") implies a progenitor, either a founder of a dynasty or a new line within an existing one. The equivalent in
Korean is
jo (조), and
tổ in Vietnamese#*
Zong ("ancestor") is used in all other rulers. It is
jong (종) in Korean, and
tông in Vietnamese.
The name "temple" refers to the "grand temple" (太廟), also called "great temple" (大廟) or "ancestral temple" (祖廟), where
crown princes and other royalties gathered to worship their ancestors. On the ancestral tablets in the grand temple, it is the ruler's temple names that are written there.
Temple names were assigned sporadically since the Han Dynasty and regularly only since the
Tang Dynasty. Some Han emperors even had their temple names permanently removed by their descendants in 190. It is the usual way to refer to the emperors from the
Tang Dynasty up to (but not including) the
Ming Dynasty. For the
Ming Dynasty and
Qing Dynasty (from 1368),
era names were used instead.
In Korea, temple names are used to refer to kings of the early
Goryeo (until 1274), and kings and emperors of the
Joseon Dynasty. For the
Korean Empire (1897-1910), era names should be used, but the temple names are often used instead.
*
Table of Chinese monarchs*
List of Korean monarchs*
List of Vietnamese monarchs*
Courtesy name*
Regnal name
