Is it true that "ten households share a kitchen knife" in the Yuan Dynasty? Although ridiculous, but not uncommon

Speaking of the Yuan Dynasty, there is often a saying that during the Yuan Dynasty, Han people cannot have kitchen knives in their homes. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty will even stipulate that every ten Han people can have a kitchen knife. There is such a rule in the Yuan Dynasty. ?

In fact, the relevant written records of the Yuan Dynasty are very limited. Whether there is such a regulation, or whether a similar regulation has appeared in a certain area at a certain time cannot be verified. However, from the perspective of the general environment of the Yuan Dynasty, although such a regulation appeared absurd, it is not uncommon.

In the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolians were the ruling nation in the Central Plains, but the Mongolians were too few, only more than 500,000, compared to "五千八" at that time With a national population of 1.83 million ", it seems unable to govern. Especially in the early stage, it was completely crossing the river by feeling the stones, and there was no experience to learn from. Therefore, what kind of policies the Yuan court introduced was mostly determined by the mood of the ruler.

In addition, many people know that the Mongolians are nomadic people, and there are many differences in lifestyle and culture from the farming people in the south. But what we should notice is that the Mongolians were still in the early slave society before going south, and when they encountered a more advanced feudal system, the previous things would be broken and rebuilt.

Although the Yuan Dynasty also had its own political system during the Mongol Khanate period, it was used to rule nomads and slaves. In the Yuan Dynasty, "Yin Mountain in the north, quicksand in the west, Liaodong in the east, and the sea in the South" It is not applicable to the vast territory of the country, so the policy of "ten households and one kitchen knife" is also possible.

As we mentioned earlier, we could not find the relevant record of "ten households and one kitchen knife", but we can find the prohibition prohibiting Han Chinese from holding weapons: "Zhu Han people holding weapons , Ban it; Han people can’t help being soldiers. " In ancient times, it was generally forbidden to hide armor, and even weapons were forbidden in the Yuan Dynasty. This is really afraid of the Han rebellion. After all, the number of people is too different. Once multiple places rebelled at the same time, the court could not stop the Mongolian army from suppressing it.

Even so, can this "ten households and one kitchen knife" policy really be implemented? Of course not. In the story of "Ten Households and One Kitchen Knife", the kitchen knife is kept by the local Mongolian security chief. Whoever uses the kitchen knife should apply for it and return it in time after cooking. Let alone whether the local Han people can be so obedient, according to the number of Mongols at that time, there is simply not so many security chiefs.

The Mongolian people want to use a few to rule the majority, and the method adopted is "the Mongolians are as long as the Mongolians, while the Han people and the southern people are two Yan". Although this method is good, the Mongolian population is too small and there are many Mongolians. They are illiterate, do not understand management, do not understand taxation, and after they have laid such a large territory, they still want to enjoy the blessings. In this way, although the Mongols hope to replace the number one person in each place with their own, but the quantity is not enough, the quantity is enough, the quality is not enough, and the quality is high, and they want to enjoy the blessing. How can the rule of the Han people be fine How many households have kitchen knives?

In this context, it is entirely possible that a "cooking knife ban" will appear in some areas, and it is very likely that the local chief cannot distinguish between cooking. Kitchen knives and murderous weapons, confusedly made a kitchen knife for ten households. The ancient smelting technology was underdeveloped and iron products were not common. The Mongols themselves might not need special kitchen knives. Such misunderstandings are understandable.

After entering the South, the Mongolians do not know nothing about commanding blindly. Instead, they attach great importance to agriculture and education. For example, Yuanshizu Kublai "At the beginning of his ascension, the first edict was the world, the country is based on the people, the people are based on food and clothing, and the food and clothing are based on agriculture and mulberry. Therefore, the book of the summary of agriculture and mulberry is issued to the people and worshipped by the people. This is the end. " The leader of the nomadic people proposed to attach importance to agriculture, which also shows that the rulers of the Yuan Dynasty had a general understanding of the situation in the Central Plains and were ready to accept the advanced culture and production technology of the Central Plains.

In fact, the Yuan Dynasty's appointment of Han officials was relatively loose. The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty also hoped to use the high-quality management experience of the Central Plains to consolidate their rule. For example, when Wo Kuotai first decided on the Central Plains, he re-used Confucian students and wanted to set up a school: "Jingye Confucian, in the past twenty years, learning has become a success. Therefore, in the past, Zhang set up a school, and the official was a lindling school to nurture talents. The famous Confucianism is withered, the writing style is not correct, and the folks should have Confucian scholars, and they have all cleared up. If the high-level Confucian, turn to the professor, study Confucianism, we must educate talents. "

To sum up," "Shihuyicaidao" has its unique historical background. Whether it is true or not, we can clearly see the status of the Han people in the Yuan Dynasty behind it. Putting the Han and Southerners with a long history and culture, developed economy and technology, much higher than the Mongols and huge influence in the ruling position, such a rule will inevitably encounter strong resistance, and the status of the ruling class is difficult to stabilize. The discriminatory and oppressive rule of the ruling class has intensified the contradiction between the ruling class and the people, and finally caused the Han people to rise up and overthrow the Yuan Dynasty, which has only ruled the Central Plains for less than a hundred years.