The hereditary system is combined with the patriarchal clan system based on blood relationship, and the power distribution system with the eldest son inheritance system as the basic feature.
The hereditary system and patriarchal clan system in Xia dynasty were not perfect, sometimes? Father dies and son follows? Besides, sometimes? Brothers and sisters? . It was not until the end of Shang Dynasty that the system of direct inheritance was completely established.
From the beginning of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the chieftain inheritance system was established, that is, "the chieftain was established with seniority instead of virtue, and the son was established with seniority instead of seniority", thus further improving the patriarchal clan system.
Since then, the hereditary system and patriarchal system after the perfection of the Western Zhou Dynasty have become the mainstream power distribution system of the feudal dynasty.
Father dies and son follows? Although it is the mainstream of state power distribution, it is not the only one. Throughout China's feudal society of more than 2,000 years (from Qin Shihuang's unification of the six countries), the father died and the son succeeded? There must be a mixture of hereditary systems, right? Brothers and sisters? And then what? Franchise system? . For example, Zhao Kuangyin in the Song Dynasty was transferred to his younger brother Zhao Guangyi, Chu Jun Liu Yuxin in the Western Han Dynasty was transferred to the emperor Wang Mang, and Li Dan in Tang Ruizong was transferred to his mother Wu Zetian.
So, is there a unified dynasty in the history of China where the throne was completely passed down from generation to generation? We can take a nap.
Since we are talking about a unified dynasty, the scope is much smaller. From the Qin Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the unified dynasties recognized by historians are Qin, Han, Western Jin, Sui, Tang, Song (I don't think Song is a unified dynasty), Yuan, Ming and Qing.
After Qin Ershi's death, Qin Shihuang and his son Qin Ershi Hu Hai. After Hu Hai, Zhao Gao played the Qin Emperor and made Zi Ying king. Zi Ying's identity is a mystery, but he is definitely not Hu Hai's son.
Because there were only two people in the Qin dynasty, the Qin dynasty barely counted as one.
Liu Ying, the eldest son, succeeded to the throne after Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Western Han Dynasty. However, after the courtiers killed Zhu Lu, the son of Liu Ying supported by Lv Zhi, Likas, was abolished, and the son of Wang Li and Liu Bang, Liu Heng, was enthroned, and the Han clan (Emperor Changzong) was changed.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, Han He, the fourth emperor, had only two sons. The eldest son, Wang Huai Liu Sheng, is disabled, has no succession to the throne and no children. After Liu Zhao's death, his son Liu Long succeeded to the throne. Liu Long is the youngest emperor in the history of China, and his succession lasted less than 100 days. Liu Long died young when he was less than one year old, and he was basically an orphan. The heir to the throne is Liu Hu, the grandson of Liu Wei, the Emperor of the Han Dynasty, and the son of Liu Qing, the filial piety king of Qinghe. The Eastern Han Dynasty doesn't count.
In the fifty years of the Western Jin Dynasty, there were four emperors, Sima Yan, the fifth emperor of the Jin Dynasty? Son Jin Huidi Sima Zhong? Brother Jin Huaidi Sima Chi? My nephew Sima Ye, the emperor of the State of Jin.
It seems that the Western Jin Dynasty was not.
After the Western Jin Dynasty, China ushered in 400 years of troubled times, until Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty restored the Sui Dynasty and unified Kyushu.
There were many emperors in the Sui Dynasty, but the only authentic emperors recognized by historians were Emperor Wendi and Yang Guang. Like the grandson of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty and Yang Guang's sons and nephews, they were all pushed to the stage by powerful ministers and separatist forces to serve as a facade or make a transition. For example, Tang Gaozu Li Yuan's throne came from Yang Guang and the grandson of Emperor Yangdi You Yang.
The sui dynasty barely counted as one.
The following Tang Dynasty is more interesting. Mother (Tang Ruizong Li Dan abdicated to her mother Wu Zetian), mother (Wu Zetian was still in power in Li Xian, Tang Zhongzong), brother (Li Xian and Li Dan were emperors back and forth) and nephew (uncle Tang Xuanzong Li Chen became emperor after Li Yan died in Tang Wuzong) all appeared, so we will not discuss them.
In Song Dynasty, Song Taizu and Zhao Kuangyin were located in Zhao Guangyi, Song Taizong, but it did not go all the way.
The Yuan Dynasty was a unified dynasty established by nomadic Mongols. Although it draws lessons from the hereditary system of the Han nationality, it has its own unique inheritance system. After the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty, it can basically be summarized as that dignitaries lived here.
In the Ming Dynasty, Judy, the Ming emperor, inherited the throne of his nephew Zhu Yunwen, Zhu Houzong, the Jiajing emperor, and Zhu Shitang, his uncle, and Zhu Youjian, the Chongzhen emperor, inherited the throne of his brother Zhu Youxiao, which was no big deal.
Although all the fathers died in the early Qing Dynasty, the children inherited it, but when it reached the Tongzhi emperor, the Tongzhi emperor died early, with no children and many children. Zai Tian, the cousin of Tongzhi who was only four years old, was adopted by Emperor Xianfeng and was chosen as the heir to the throne. Emperor Zai Tian of Guangxu had no children, and Puyi was adopted by Emperor Guangxu.
As can be seen from the above, if we strictly follow the inheritance system handed down from generation to generation, only the Qin Dynasty and the Sui Dynasty can achieve the same goal, but the legal pulse of these two dynasties is a bit short.
It can be predicted that if the Qin and Sui Dynasties are long enough, the possibility of strict paternal inheritance is very small. This is because although China has been emphasizing the system of direct succession for thousands of years, people also use it to restrain the succession of the throne. But in the face of the great temptation of imperial power and the consideration of the situation by courtiers, this ideal thing often loses to reality.