Why was Di Renjie’s ancestral hall smashed after his death? The history encyclopedia editor brings relevant content to everyone. Interested friends, come and take a look!
Di Renjie was born during the Zhenguan period, which was the beginning of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. He himself came from a family of officials, and his family conditions were very good. In the Old Book of Tang, it is said that Di Renjie was eager to learn from a young age, but in the end, he took the Mingjing exam instead of the Jinshi exam. Therefore, in reality, Di Renjie’s starting point was not very high, and on the other hand, he was naturally not good at poetry, songs, and prose.
After the death of Di Renjie, Wu Zetian mourned his abdication of the court for three days and posthumously honored him as the Right Prime Minister of Wenchang, giving him the posthumous title of “Wenhui”. Later emperors also posthumously honored Di Renjie and had him attend the Zhongzong Temple, enjoying the glory of the imperial temple. People from all over the country also highly admire Di Renjie, and in order to commemorate him, various places have built ancestral halls for him. Di Renjie’s ancestral hall was supposed to bring him grief and glory, but it ended up causing trouble for him. His ancestral hall was smashed by the common people, and the root of all of this sounds a bit unbelievable.
Originally, the reason why Di Renjie’s ancestral hall was smashed was due to his son, who is now known as “cheating his father”. Di Renjie’s son who caused trouble was named Di Jinghui. Since ancient times, there has been a rule of favoring the descendants of meritorious officials, and the Tang Dynasty is no exception. In fact, “favoring” is a disguised hereditary system. Di Renjie is favored by the royal family, and after his death, his son will receive some royal honors and official positions.
Di Renjie had three sons in total, the eldest son Di Guangsi, the second son Di Guangyuan, and the third son named Di Jinghui. After the death of Di Renjie, his eldest son Di Guang succeeded him as the chief official and was highly valued by the court. He also obtained a higher official position than his brothers and became a third rank governor. The second son, Di Guangyuan, was kind and humble, always serving his parents and taking care of the family at home.
This made Di Jinghui, the youngest son who only received an eighth rank military position, very dissatisfied. Because he was born a few years later, he received so much less than his brother, which made him very angry.
If we talk about this Di Jinghui, he is really a good hand at deceiving his father. Relying on his official position and his father’s influence, he wielded power and oppressed the people. Di Renjie’s reputation and honor were all destroyed in his hands. Although Di Renjie did not do anything to betray the common people, he can be considered innocent and burdened in this matter. However, he had no way of educating his children, so it is no wonder that the people even hated him.
