China is an ancient civilization with a long history. In the long historical development process, many prosperous times have appeared. Among them, the more famous are the Han Dynasty Wenjing Governance, Tang Dynasty Zhenguan Governance, and Qing Dynasty Kangxi and Qianlong Governance.
These three prosperous times are the most influential prosperous times in my country's history. Both in terms of politics and economy, they are one of the most brilliant dynasties in ancient my country.
However, many scholars in later generations believed that such a reputation was just a boast. However, under such a reputation, is the real life of the people living and working in peace, singing and dancing, or is it covered up by this appearance?
Kang and Qianlong Prosperity
During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the country reached the peak of the Qing Dynasty's history - the "Kang and Qianlong Prosperity". From the early days of his reign to the more than 100 years of Qianlong's rule, this period was a period of prosperity. The national strength of the entire country reached the heyday of the last feudal dynasty, and reached considerable heights in all aspects.
"Prespect" and "Quansheng" were first derived from ministers and people . Many ministers would compare the Qing Dynasty with Western Regions to draw the conclusion of Quansheng. At that time, the Qing Dynasty's territory was also very vast, which could better prove the view of Quansheng.
More and more people praise the emperor's achievements, and folk literati gradually accepted it, and wrote these views into books and passed on to future generations.
During this period, the ruling emperor worked hard to develop productivity, strengthen centralization and consolidate national defense, making the country continue to be stronger.
However, in the prosperous times, there are many things that people live in poverty, embarrassment, and miserable. For example, during the reign of Kangxi , there were still many land in China and hunger on the road.
The gap between the rich and the poor is large
Kang and Qianlong During the period, the Qing Dynasty's measures for agriculture were relatively active. The famous policy of calculating acres and improved the technology of reclamation and planting. The people can grow more and more farmland, and the grain they grow is becoming more and more abundant.
For Farming civilization , the fields are the lives of farmers. Whether the harvest is a bumper or a bad harvest every year actually determines the problem of food and clothing for farmers' family . Farmers can only rely on their own land to support themselves and their families.
Although macro policies are beneficial to the people, if you focus on a microscopic individual, you will find that the people are not doing well in fact. Because the gap between the rich and the poor is too large, the people at the bottom are poor. Even if the policies are positive, but with the sharp increase in the population and taxes, the lower-level people cannot save much money and live in a very hard place.
British politician Macartney , when Qianlong was 80 years old, came to the Qing Dynasty with the name of birthday celebrations to open the Qing-English business road. He saw the lives of many people at the bottom and made his own judgment.
He found that during this period, the upper class would eat several meals a day at home, with meat every meal and everything from delicacies to sea. The people at the bottom may not be able to eat meat at all, and can only eat some pickles that can be preserved for a long time. Sometimes they can’t even eat rice, and they don’t even think about delicious food.
and something happened on the way that impressed him. In order to reward these envoys, the emperor gave them high treatment. After obeying the order, the officials along the way sent a lot of poultry, which could give them to improve their food . Originally, these animals were alive, but most of them died in the end because of the bumpy journey. These messengers did not like to eat dead objects, so they threw them away.
However, when they were thrown away, the people of the Qing Dynasty regarded these animals as treasures and picked them up. After all, they can’t eat much meat in a year, so they plan to wash the meat and marinate it in salt so that it can be stored for a long time.
Common people pick up meat that others don’t want. Such behavior is actually not much different from beggar living by charity from others. In the eyes of some modern scholars, such behavior and life are probably only a little better than beggars.
In terms of living, he found that most of the houses where high-ranking people live are spacious and tall, with carved beams and painted buildings and beautiful painted decorations. However, the house where the people on the ground floor live is just a dilapidated house. Some ceilings are even just grass and walls are made of soil. It is hot in summer and cold in winter. Such a house is difficult to withstand the cold wind. His deputy envoy believed that the Qing Dynasty had a large gap between the rich and the poor, and was the most exaggerated country among the countries and regions they knew.
The rich are very luxurious, the poor are very miserable, and few people and families are seen in the middle. In fact, this social situation is very unhealthy, which also laid the groundwork for the experience after the Qing Dynasty.
closed and backward
During Macartney's travels, he found that the scientific production technology of this continent had not improved, but regressed . He even used "barbarians" to evaluate the status of the Qing Dynasty. The lack of science and technology will lead to endless hidden dangers in the later stage.
The facts may not be as exaggerated as he said, but compared with the science and technology of the Qing Dynasty Britain in the same period, we can clearly feel that the Qing Dynasty had lagged behind the world .
He also made a prophecy based on this, believing that the Qing Dynasty would fall into chaos. Unfortunately, the prophecy came true. Some people even studied the relationship between the mission and the Opium War in later generations.
He saw that the state of society at that time was very closed . Not only do we not accept the advanced science and technology from the outside world, we are not allowed to learn the classics about technology left by the previous dynasty.
He also saw the surging hidden in it under the closure. He saw a lot of poverty, famine, abandoning his wife and children in troubled times, and even mutinies and turmoil.
The Qing Dynasty also reached a strict state of restrictions on business. The high taxes imposed on some private handicraftsmen will also limit their movement scope to individuals.
and the requirements for cash crops are also very strict and can only be planted on prescribed land. Such quotient suppression actually cut off the survival path of many poor families. In the long run, harms more than benefits .
The backwardness of science and technology in the Qing Dynasty not only surprised foreigners, but also surprised people in later generations. Because the science and technology of the Qing Dynasty did not make much progress from the Han Dynasty for more than 2,000 years. Not to mention how big is the gap between in the eyes of the British who have experienced the industrial revolution .
Conclusion:
A prosperous era is a compliment to an era, but under its reputation, the real life status of the people is often easily overlooked.
Merit and reputation can be made through extensive publicity, but every meal that the people eat and every piece of clothing they wear are the important standard for measuring whether the current society is a prosperous era.
In the eyes of later generations, the Kangxi and Qianlong prosperous times were outstanding in politics and other aspects, but because the lives of the people did not meet the corresponding standards, and they were even struggling on the poverty line, they were doubtful about their true social status and reputation. Looking back at the modern times, what we need to do is to use the experience and lessons of the ancient times to make our current life better.
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