The famous British historian Toynbee once said a very famous saying. He said that if I had chosen, I would be willing to live in the Song Dynasty in China, because it was a paradise for literati.
Toynbee is right. People generally believe that the highest status and strongest sense of happiness in history was during the Song Dynasty. In the Song Dynasty, civil officials had higher status than military generals, and scholars were treated preferentially, so many people said that the Song Dynasty was a civilized and rational society.
Zhao Kuangyin was born into a general and relied on force to pacify the world. But he knew one truth, that is, he could win the world on horseback, but not on horseback. So he wanted to reuse literati and govern the country with culture.
In fact, there has been a precedent for governing the country with civilization. The most famous one is Eastern Han Founding Emperor Liu Xiu . Liu Xiu relied on many military generals to gain the world, but after the founding of the country, he did not allow the military generals to participate in the government affairs, but instead supported them and implemented the country with culture, with remarkable results. Zhao Kuangyin wanted to learn from Liu Xiu.
What’s different from Liu Xiu is that in his inner world, he was particularly suspicious of military generals and not afraid of literati, which was related to the background of the times at that time. During the Five Dynasties period, those who rebel and rebel, usurp the throne and seize power were all military generals who held military power, and civil officials did not have this ability. Zhao Kuangyin once said that if a civil servant has problems, it will be at most corruption and bribery. A hundred civil servants cannot match the energy of a military general. Civil officials may not be able to disrupt government affairs, but it is not easy to destroy the country.
Therefore, after Zhao Kuangyin established the Song Dynasty, especially after basically unifying the world, he was full of suspicion and guard against the generals, trying every means to reduce their status and limit their power, and trust and indulge in civil officials, so the treatment and status of civil officials were higher than that of military generals. Civil officials were born among scholars, and the status of scholars naturally improved accordingly.
In addition to promoting study in the court, Zhao Kuangyin also wanted to eliminate the hostility of the Five Dynasties period in society and promote education. To this end, he vigorously promoted Confucianism, especially using Confucianism to cultivate people's sense of loyalty to the emperor. Zhao Kuangyin issued an edict asking localities to build Confucius Temple and shaping Confucius statues. He also personally wrote a hymn to Confucius. Therefore, during the Song Dynasty, it was another peak in the development of Confucianism.
The biggest motivation for people to study is to become officials. Zhao Kuangyin attached importance to and actively promoted the imperial examination. Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, due to the corruption of the court, the examination room was full of darkness. Zhao Kuangyin strictly rectified and eliminated the shortcomings. Sometimes he personally presided over the palace examination, and added the re-examination system, blocked loopholes, ensured the quality of the examination, and enabled a group of talents to emerge, laying the foundation for civilized governance in the world. Zhao Kuangyin said happily to his left and right: "In the past, rich and powerful people monopolized the imperial examination, but now I have eliminated this problem." Due to the limited conditions at that time, not many people admitted to the imperial examination.
Scholars in the Song Dynasty were treated preferentially, and many people believe that this has a lot to do with the Taizu Monument. Taizu was Zhao Kuangyin. He made several oaths for his descendants, carved them on monuments and kept them in Taimiao, and required them to be abided by them for generations.
The most detailed historical book that records the Taizu stele oath is "Summer Retrieval Comic" written by Lu You . It is recorded that in 962 AD, Zhao Kuangyin secretly engraved a monument and stood it in the room of the Taimiao bedroom, called the oath monument. The stele is seven or eight feet high and more than four feet wide, with three oaths engraved on it. First, the descendants of the Chai family are guilty and shall not be punished with additional punishment. Even if they commit serious crimes of treason, they can only be sentenced to death in prison, and cannot be beheaded publicly, nor can they be held in family members; second, they cannot kill scholars and officials or write letters to talk about their affairs; third, if the descendants violate this oath, heaven will kill them. The three oaths of
are essentially two contents. One is that after the descendants of the Chai family commit a crime, they will be given certain preferential treatment; the other is that they will be given preferential treatment to scholars and officials and those who wrote letters to speak, and these people are scholars. The third article is just a poisonous oath.
Oath monument is covered with a golden curtain of pins and the clamping room is locked. No one is allowed to watch it. Only when sacrifices are made or when the new emperor ascends the throne, the emperor is led by an illiterate eunuch, enters the clamping room, burns incense and kneels down, and recites the oath monument silently in the face. No one else is allowed to enter.
oath monument is so mysterious. Perhaps Zhao Kuangyin believes that this is the emperor's trump card and cannot be widely known to prevent scholars and descendants of the Chai family from indulging, and he is also worried that military generals and others will feel unfair. It was not until Jin Dynasty destroyed Northern Song Dynasty and opened the gate of the Taimiao that the oath monument was revealed to the world.
"Summer Retreatment Talk" is a non-historical note and may not be credible. However, " Song History " also records the oath monument in "Biography of Cao Xun", which is more credible.
Cao Xun was an official of the Northern Song Dynasty and was captured by the Jin people with Song Huizong . Song Huizong told Cao Xun that he would definitely not be able to go back. If Cao Xun had the chance to return to the Song Dynasty, he would tell the new emperor, "Taizu had a vow to hide in the Taimiao, and not kill ministers or officials who spoke out." Cao Xun later returned to South and told Song Gaozong about the oath monument.
Some scholars also questioned the Taizu Monument Vow, believing that it may not be true. However, judging from the more than 300-year history of the Song Dynasty, it is indeed preferential to the descendants of the Chai family, especially those who are very favorable to scholars.
It doesn’t matter whether the Taizu Monument is true or false. What’s important is that the Song Dynasty revived Confucianism and implemented the policy of preferential treatment of scholars, which pushed cultural education to a new peak. Some scholars believe that the cultural achievements of the ancient Chinese nation were the highest during the Song Dynasty. Some foreign scholars also believe that the prosperity of the Song Dynasty culture was comparable to that of the European Renaissance . This is one of Zhao Kuangyin's outstanding contributions to Chinese history and Chinese culture.
Zhao Kuangyin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished emperors in Chinese history, but he died in an unknown way. For a long time, people have had many different opinions on the cause of Zhao Kuangyin's death and have no consensus. Please watch the next episode, how Zhao Kuangyin died.
