We often hear that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "deposed hundreds of schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone." During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, these eight words, which were almost slogans, showed the strong counterattack of Confucianism in the reign of Emperor Wu. However, is the real history really as simple as we imagine? After Emperor Wu, Confucian scholars dominated the political arena?
1. The world of civil servants
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the " Hundred Schools of Thought Contention" gave birth to the two governance lines of ancient Chinese politics - the rule of law and the rule of Confucianism. The groups of civil servants and Confucian scholars derived from the rule of law and the rule of Confucianism were at first opposed to each other, but in the end they became entangled. These changes had a huge impact on the politics of ancient China.
In an era of great turmoil and change like the Warring States period , various countries successively implemented reforms, essentially looking for a way to unify the world. While the Six Kingdoms were still in confusion, the small western border country Qin Kingdom quietly emerged, frightening the six kingdoms. Its rise must start with a Patriot.
Shang Yang in the film and television drama
The Qin State was far away from the Central Plains, and the tradition of rituals and music was relatively weak. The arrival of Shang Yang, a native of Wei, directly prompted Qin to embark on the path of Legalism. The legalist policy of governing the country can basically be summarized as the following logic: rule the country by law and enforce the law by officials. All closeness, nobility and inferiority should be eliminated and should not affect the implementation of the law. Therefore, law and civil servants are the two major characteristics of Qin government . With the help of these two major characteristics, Qin State became a developed bureaucracy empire.
In order to ensure the implementation of laws , a large number of civil servants who understand the law and specific administrative affairs are needed. These civil servants must not only handle government affairs according to the law, but also publicize the law to the people so that they understand the law. Therefore, the status of civil servants in the Qin State was very important. At this time, the Qin court was simply dominated by civil servants, and there was no trace of Confucian scholars at all.
This tradition of rule of law and officialdom continued until Qin Shihuang unified the six countries. "Historical Records: The Chronicles of Qin Shihuang" records that Qin Shihuang Leshi recorded his merits. There are many references to law, such as "When the emperor comes to the throne, he will make a plan." "Happy to follow the teachings, fully aware of the Dharma" , and even Qin II also "book and legal orders and legal affairs". Confucian also wanted to open up the channel to enter politics, but the result was the tragedy of " burning books and entrapping Confucians".
Qin Shihuang
2. Confucian Counterattack
Later generations discussed the failure of Qin Dynasty and said that the reason for the failure of Qin Dynasty was political flaws rather than institutional deficiencies. But this sentence is actually problematic. The demise of the Qin Dynasty was both due to politics and to the system.
Militarism, heavy taxes and servitude, and harsh punishments were all political shortcomings of the Qin Dynasty, which need no introduction. In terms of system, the Qin Dynasty completed military unification, but it did not complete cultural unification. Although Qin Shihuang's carriages and books were on the same track, each of the six countries had its own customs. Before that, they had not been ruled by such high-pressure laws and officials, so they showed their rejection of Qin culture from the beginning. In the early days of Shang Yang's reform , the Qin State was also filled with mourning. This situation spread to the six countries as Qin unified the six countries.
Qin Law on Qin Slips in Yunmengsuihudi
After the death of Qin Shihuang, the remnants of the Six Kingdoms killed many civil officials in counties and counties in response to the uprising, which shows that these people had been suffering from civil servants for a long time. After Liu Bang entered Guanzhong , he abolished the Qin law and only made three chapters of the law. This also gained the support of the old Qin people who had been punishing the officials for a long time. The people of the old Qin were still like this, let alone the survivors of the Six Kingdoms?
The rule of inaction implemented in the early Han Dynasty was naturally intended to recuperate, but it was actually a strategy to deal with the different customs of the Six Kingdoms. Local officials no longer implemented harsh official laws when governing the hometown of the Six Kingdoms, but followed the local laws. customs.
What we say Han inherited the Qin system actually means that the Han Dynasty was also a bureaucratic empire, and the operation of the bureaucratic empire was inseparable from the civil servants who handled specific government affairs. In the early Han Dynasty Xiao He , Cao Shen , Li Shiqi and other ministers were all civil servants. After Xiao He entered the customs, he first collected the original treasury documents of the Qin Dynasty. He looked like a civil servant.However, the Han Dynasty could not follow the old path of the Qin Dynasty and exclusively practice official law. This required a different approach. Although the inaction rule in the early Han Dynasty suppressed the rise of the power of official law, it was not a long-term solution. This provided the basis for the rise of Confucianism. a chance.
The counterattack of the Confucian scholars occurred during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Dong Zhongshu once made a famous letter: "I foolishly think that all those who are not in the six arts Confucius have their own way and should not be allowed to advance together." This sentence can be summed up as the famous "Depose Bai Bai The family only respects Confucianism."
The subsequent history also proves that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty indeed adopted these opinions, and Confucian scholars began to become active on the political stage. The reforms implemented by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty with Wang Zang and Zhao Wan in his early years were based on Confucianism. After he only respected Confucianism, Emperor Wu established the Imperial College in the central government, established Ph.D.s, promoted filial piety and incorruptibility, and promoted etiquette. "Since then, the ministers, officials, and officials have become more literary people." Many officials have become Confucianized under the influence of Confucianism. For example, when Dongjun Grand Administrator Han Yanshou encountered a quarrel between his brothers, he thought that he was not good at educating him, so he closed himself up and thought about his faults in order to understand the two brothers. Han Yanshou's behavior was obviously Confucian behavior, which was basically impossible in Qin, which advocated the rule of law.
Confucian scholars
Confucianism became the guiding principle in politics, which enabled the Han Dynasty to form a Han government that was different from Qin government. But Han politics was not completely Confucian politics. Ji An said that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was "he had many desires inside but applied benevolence and righteousness to the outside." Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty had such strong desires, how could he truly implement Confucianism? Confucianism emphasizes governing the country with propriety, transforming the people with virtue, and practicing benevolent governance so that the people "have support for the elderly, education for the young, support for the poor, help for the poor, and support for the widowed, widowed, lonely, and sick." ", thereby achieving a harmonious society. However, the ideal society in Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was not like this. During his reign, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty continued to launch foreign wars, expand territory and open borders, weaken the power of various countries internally, establish China and North Korea, and strengthen the centralized monarchy, so that taxes and servitude became heavy and the world was exhausted. In contrast, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Qin Shihuang did have many things in common, and their common ambitions also made them need an equally highly developed state machine to support their careers. Therefore, official governance did not completely fade during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. The most obvious evidence is that both "Historical Records" and "Hanshu"4 have "Biographies of Cool Officials". In the Wen and Jing Dynasties, there were "Ku Li Ning Cheng", Zhidu , etc., and in the reign of Emperor Wu, there were Zhang Tang, Zhao Yu, etc. , these cruel officials were not only active on the political stage, but some also held high positions. Zhang Tang was the censor, Zhao Yu was the court captain, and later he became the prime minister of Yan. It can be seen that the civil servant politics during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was still very prosperous.
Zhang Tang in the film and television drama
Many Confucian scholars were also influenced by civil servants. While practicing Confucianism, they also learned the skills of civil servants. For example, the two brothers Zheng Hong in the Western Han Dynasty "all know the classics, law and political affairs" . Kong Guang, the fourteenth grandson of Confucius, also "learned the Han system and laws clearly" . Zhai Fangjin was a Confucian scholar in his early years. After becoming the prime minister, he "also understood the literature, law and official affairs, and decorated the law with elegance" . The politics of the Han Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Wu and thereafter were generally like this.
After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "deposed hundreds of schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone," Confucian scholars did not dominate the court, and civil servants were still very active in the court. Such a policy that combines Confucianism and Legalism, with Confucianism on the outside and Legalism on the inside , is the true Han system of Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty - the Way of Overlord. Hegemony refers to the tactics and magic of controlling the world, while kingly way mostly refers to benevolent government. Hegemony relies on civil servants to implement it, while kingly way requires Confucian scholars to implement it. Therefore, in the Wu, Zhao, and Xuan dynasties, Confucian scholars and civil servants stood side by side, and sometimes civil servants were more important than Confucian scholars.
Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty in the film and television drama
3. Why can’t Confucianism dominate the imperial court?
Why couldn’t Confucianism dominate the imperial court after Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty only respected Confucianism?
This must first be attributed to the fact that the Western Han Dynasty was a mature bureaucratic empire. Governments at all levels faced complex government affairs such as large amounts of money, military supplies, examinations, and selections every day. Civil servants were the main force in handling these government affairs.Therefore, the country cannot be without civil servants. However, Confucian scholars mostly praised "Poems" and "Books", and advocated mostly benevolence, justice, etiquette and music, which made them lack the ability to deal with real government affairs such as money, food, military punishment, examinations and selections. Therefore, although Emperor Wu respected Confucianism, most of them were not entrusted with government affairs. Ministers such as Sang Hongyang and Huo Guang thought that Confucian scholars were "not up to date" and "uninformed about county official affairs".
has an example that illustrates this problem. Dishan, a doctor of Confucianism, believed that he should make peace with the Xiongnu. Zhang Tang denounced him as pedantic. Result "At the end of the month, the Huns chopped off the mountains and left." . The ability of Confucian scholars to handle government affairs is evident.
It’s not just about real government affairs. Confucian scholars sometimes don’t even understand things in their own professional fields. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to perform the ceremony of granting Zen, but the Confucian scholars could not understand the historical ceremony of granting Zen, which made Emperor Wu furious and terminated his life.
At the time of Emperor Yuan, the opportunity for Confucian scholars finally came. After Emperor Yuan, the political influence of Confucian scholars increased dramatically, and Wang Mang's transformation of into was the result of the continued fermentation of the influence of Confucian scholars. Wang Mang's restructuring, also known as the New Deal, can be said to be two extremes from the Qin Deal. The government of Qin was governed by officials, officials, and the rule of law, while Wang Mang's new government abandoned officials and the law and devoted exclusively to Confucianism. Looking at the many contents of Wang Mang's restructuring, restoring the well fields , freeing slaves, promoting rites and having fun, and changing official names according to "Zhou Rites", which one does not have Confucianism in it?
Wang Mang
The so-called Confucianism is actually more ideal than pragmatic. The rituals and music advocated by Confucianism may really be able to solve all political problems before the Zhou Dynasty, but at the turn of the Han Dynasty, "land annexation" had to be solved With real problems such as "foreign invasion", rituals and music pale in comparison. Once the imperial court fully implements Confucianism and Legalism and denigrates civil servants, the empire will lose its support and will inevitably be unsustainable.
The establishment of in the Eastern Han Dynasty absorbed the lessons of the Qin Dynasty and the New Government, continued Emperor Xuan's "Hegemony", and also exerted it. Confucian scholars and civil servants stood side by side in the Western Han Dynasty, and their momentum was like ice, but they merged in the Eastern Han Dynasty. , Literary officials also began to practice Confucianism in order to ascend to high positions, and Confucian scholars also learned more about the career of literary officials, such as Chen Qiu "Less involved in Confucianism, good at laws and regulations", Wang Huan "Didn Confucianism, studied "Shang Shu" , read the laws and regulations" , Huang Chang "then studied the Confucian classics, and learned to learn grammar" and so on.
Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty in the film and television drama
Wen Shijun said
Confucian scholars and literary officials merged in the Eastern Han Dynasty, so many famous ministers we see in later generations mostly have the dual identity of Confucian scholars and literary officials. On the surface, they practice Confucianism , and also advised the emperor to implement benevolent government, but in fact the government affairs handled should have been the work of civil servants. Those civil servants who have no knowledge of writing and calligraphy are reduced to the lowest level in the bureaucracy. From this perspective, Confucianism has never been able to dominate the imperial court since it only respected Confucianism in the Western Han Dynasty. Under the cover of Confucianism on the surface, there has always been the shadow of civil servants.
Reference
"Book of Han", Zhonghua Book Company, 1962.
"Book of the Later Han Dynasty", Zhonghua Book Company, 2000.
Yan Buke: "Manuscript of the Political Evolution of Scholar-officials", Peking University Press, 2015.
Chen Suzhen: "Spring and Autumn Period and Han Dao - Research on the Politics and Political Culture of the Han Dynasty", Zhonghua Book Company, 2020.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Jingsu)
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