In ancient times, ministers not only had their own official titles, but also had a title. Titles are gifts given by the emperor to ministers, and they are given according to their merits.

Different dynasties have different titles and grades. In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty, Zhou Wuwang claimed to be the son of heaven and implemented the system of enfeoffment. The prescribed titles are Duke, Marquis, Earl, Viscount and Baron, which are handed down from generation to generation.

At that time, Zhou Wuwang enfeoffed 53 vassals, 35 of whom were his brothers, and the remaining 65,438+08 were active ministers, such as Jiang Taigong Lu Shang, who was a vassal of Qi.

His country is the vassal of the duke of the principality; A marquis's vassal, whose country is Hou. After the vassal is sealed, the title will be hereditary, and the country will be ruled by the vassal for generations, including its land and people. Governors only need to pay tribute to the emperor regularly, undertake military duties and perform military service.

A vassal will give his land to his cronies' children, who are called Qing and doctors, and the land given to them is called "fief", "food city" or "land acquisition". Qing and doctor naturally enjoy sovereignty in their own land acquisition.

According to Hanshu, a principality with thousands of miles of land, hundreds of thousands of ordinary slaves and thousands of chariots and horses is called "a country with thousands of riders"; A doctor who owns hundreds of miles of land, tens of thousands of slaves and hundreds of chariots and horses is called "the house of hundred riders".

During the Warring States Period, the State of Qin carried out Shang Yang's political reform, and conferred titles according to military achievements. At that time, the title was divided into 20 grades, namely, male scholar, Shang Zao, Yao Ma Dao, Bu Geng, doctor, official doctor, public doctor, Wu Fu, Zuo Shu Chang, right Shu Chang, Zuo Geng, Zhong Geng, right Shu Chang, Shao Shang Zao, Da Sheng Zao, Che Shu Chang, Da Shu Chang, Guan Nei Hou, and Che Hou Chang.

Among them, the first to fourth grades are scholars, the fifth to ninth grades are doctors, the tenth to eighteenth grades are Qing, and the nineteenth and twentieth grades are princes. The title of Qin State has not been obtained.

When Liu Bang was not an emperor in the Han Dynasty, he only made a king for the heroes, such as making Han Xin King of Qi. After Liu Bang unified the world, he began to implement the system of coexistence of county system and feudal system. There are only two levels of titles, namely king and marquis, and only Liu Bang's children with the same surname can be crowned king, and other meritorious ministers can only be crowned marquis.

The coexistence of the two systems has disadvantages. Marquis had no right to rule fiefs, but wanted to have absolute sovereignty, so he sought power through various means. When they are full-fledged, the governors will rebel against the central government.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the county system was thoroughly implemented, centralization was consolidated, and the feudal empire was unified.

After the Han Dynasty, chivalry was practiced in all dynasties. With a title, you can avoid corvee and taxes and enjoy the right to collect land taxes. However, if the incumbent commits a crime, his title will be reduced or even cancelled, and the fief will be reduced or completely confiscated; On the other hand, if the incumbent continues to make meritorious service, his official position and title can rise, that is, "adding officials to the ranks."

During the Tang Dynasty, all officials with more than five titles could be knighted, and the titles were divided into nine grades, which were connected with the official rank. The prince is authentic, and there are thousands of families in the city; The heir king and the county king are from one product, and there are 5,000 food cities; Lord protector, also from a product, food city three thousand households; The founding county is the second product, and there are 2000 food cities; Kaiguo County is a public servant, and there are 1500 households in the food market; The founding county has three products, and there are thousands of food cities; The founding county, rich in fourth class, has 700 restaurants. The founding county is the top five products, and the food city is 500; The founding county, male from five products, food city 300.

How many households in the food city do not mean fiefs, but how many households can collect taxes every year besides the salary of the court.

From the Song Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it basically inherited the title system of the Tang Dynasty. Yue Fei was named "Hou of the Founding of Wuchang County" before his death, with Wuchang as the title and Hou of the Founding of County as the title, and was called "Yue Hou" in Song history. The world respects Yue Fei as "Hou" because his posthumous title is "Wu Mu".

Since the Jin Dynasty, not only officials themselves have been awarded titles, but also their wives, parents or ancestors, collectively known as "knighthood". If a person is granted an official position or title after death, it is called "giving" or "posthumous title".

There is an example of posthumous title in the Tang Dynasty. Shangguan Yi, the grandfather of Shangguan Waner, was killed. When she became Zhao Rong, Tang Zhongzong posthumously awarded Shangguan Yi as the secretary of the Secretariat, the viceroy Qin Zhou and the Duke. Minister Zhong is the central chief executive, equivalent to the prime minister, and is the local chief executive, while the king of Chu is a title.

However, such a title and official position is just an empty name, just to show grace. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, all officials who had meritorious service and fame were not only knighted before their death, but also given official titles and titles after their death, and the official positions and titles given after their death were usually higher than before.

Throughout the ages, there were officials in charge of titles. The Qin Dynasty was a knight's lieutenant, the Han Dynasty was a knight's captain and the Tang Dynasty was a knight's assistant minister.

The imperial court attached great importance to titles. Every knighthood has a ceremony. The title booklet is read out in front of the sealed person and given to the sealed person together with the seal. This treasure seal is equivalent to a certificate. This ceremony is called "conferring".

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, officials with more than five grades were sealed by the imperial edict of the emperor, which was called "imperial seal", and officials with less than five grades were sealed by the imperial edict, which was called "imperial seal". The Qing dynasty was very particular about books. When the prince gave the seal, he used the golden book, and the county king gave the seal with the Ginza book.