The Separate Establishment of the Zhongzong Temple and the Ritual Construction of "Revival" in the Middle and Late Tang Dynasty——Also Discussing the Political Implications of the Permanent Temples in the Middle and Late Tang Dynasty

After the An Shi Rebellion, reshaping the revival became a central issue in Tang politics. The reshaping of the revival in the middle and late Tang Dynasty had both political and ritual aspects. The political revival was reflected in shaping the reigning emperor as the political revival ruler, while the ritual revival centered on constructing the Tang's Peixiang emperors("配享帝") and permanent temples ("不祧庙"). Both the concept of the revival ruler and the permanent temples traced back to the fourth year of the Kaiyuan era, when Emperor Xuanzong of Tang separately established the Zhongzong Temple on the west of the main ancestral temple. During the reigns of Emperor Daizong of Tang to Emperor Muzong of Tang, under the influence of officials including Niu Sengru, the "Three Saints" of the Tang Dynasty-Taizu, Gaozu, and Taizong-were shaped into the solid Peixiang emperors, and the temples of which were set as permanent temples, symbolizing the sanctity and legitimacy of the Tang Dynasty. In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, the "Three Saints" carried profound political implications, and consequently, the Zhongzong Temple, once honored as a permanent temple of a revival ruler, was relocated and dismantled. Emperor Xianzong of Tang achieved great success in curbing the power of Fanzhen("藩镇") and was rightfully recognized as a revival ruler. However, in the first year of Huichang era, the proposal submitted by Li Deyu and others to elevate Emperor Xianzong's temple to a permanent temple ultimately came to nothing. The root cause laid in the political risk of destabilizing the sanctity and legitimacy of the Tang Dynasty by altering the sacred status of the "Three Saints".