After the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, rituals collapsed and music collapsed, our country entered the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. At that time, major vassal states were numerous and mergers and wars occurred continuously. Over the past few hundred years, the Chinese nation began to have the idea of "Chinese people", such as Qin people, Zhao people and Qi people.
In 221 BC, Qin Shihuang eliminated the six kingdoms and unified the world. However, due to various reasons, the Qin Dynasty only existed for more than ten years and died in the Second World War. However, even so, the concept of "Qin people" still exists in the land of Da Qin or in the lands outside Da Qin.
The Qin State disintegrated and established the Western Han Dynasty. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty created a prosperous age of literature and art. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty led Huo Qubing and Wei Qing to create the Great Han Empire . The word "Han" was not only recognized by the Chinese people, but also recognized by many countries in the Western Region, Central Asia and so on.
Since then, the Chinese nation and Chinese descendants have undergone ideological and cultural changes. The Han people and the Han nation have since replaced the word "Huaxia" as the mainstream of the times, and this is still the case today.
1. China is aware of the changes in people's concepts.
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King Wu of Zhou Ji Fa destroyed the Shang Dynasty and established Zhou Dynasty Enfeoffed eight hundred vassal states with enfeoffment system . Coupled with the emergence of "Zhou Rites", Chinese civilization developed. The eight hundred vassals were independent and interdependent. The civilization of ritual and music promoted the distinction between Chinese and barbarian states between the Zhou Dynasty and surrounding ethnic groups.
Beidi , Nanman , Dongyi and Xirong . The radicals and radicals of each character can be seen that Chinese civilization has subjectively distanced itself from them. The status of Chinese civilization is no longer defined by blood relations, but by the level of development of civilization and etiquette.
The advanced civilization of the Chinese nation has prompted us to develop rapidly and orderly. As time goes by, new members continue to increase, and the area radiated by the Chinese civilization is getting larger and larger. " Is it the king's land in the world , and is it the king's ministers who are on the shore of the land" is the best embodiment, because they all inherited the civilization system of Zhou Li.
2. The Zhou rites collapsed, and the concept of the state began to appear.
The Eastern Zhou Dynasty was established after the fall of the Western Zhou . However, the change of times resulted from internal political turmoil. The civilization system of the Zhou rites was completely destroyed, and our country's history entered the chaotic Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. At this time, people defined civilizations based on the state, and the ideology of "state" began to appear.
Writing is the carrier of every civilization system in any era. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the vassal states formulated their own laws, texts, and weights and measures at home. Ethnic groups with the country as the unit began to appear, and the concept of the country was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of each country.
"Farms are in different acres, cars are painted on different tracks, laws are different, laws are different, clothes are different, words are spoken in different sounds, and characters are in different shapes." This is a phenomenon among countries during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Different writing, systems, and customs were formed between countries, and Chinese people highly recognized their own country's political culture.
China is a new system based on China. Why do you say this? "Xunzi" once said: "The kingdoms of Xia all obeyed the same rituals, and the barbarian and Rongdi kingdoms all obeyed different systems." The similarities here refer to the ritual and music system, and the bureaucracy still continues the Zhou rites, while the differences refer to cultural customs and administrative systems.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, various countries emerged and derived their own civilization system based on the Chinese civilization. This period was also called "Zhuxia". Under the Zhuxia civilization, the cohesion between different countries began to strengthen, and the politics between countries had long exceeded blood ties.
2. The Qin Dynasty quickly disappeared after its unification, and the establishment of the "Qin people" system failed.
In 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang destroyed the six eastern kingdoms, and sent Meng Tian to lead 300,000 troops to the north to attack the Xiongnu , and asked Zhao Tuo to lead 500,000 troops to the south to conquer the land of Baiyue. The Qin Dynasty ushered in unprecedented prosperity and glory, and the concept of Qin people emerged at the right time.
1. The unification of the First Emperor
Yingzheng implemented the county system nationwide after unifying the world. Compared with the concept of the county system of vassal states under the feudal system, it was very forward-looking. It could invisibly weaken the old-era ideas of the people of the Six Kingdoms and deeply implant the identity of the Qin people in the minds of the people.
"The country is composed of counties and counties, and the laws and regulations are unified." This is a new idea imposed by the Qin State on the people of the world. "Xunzi" records that "annexation is easy, but consolidating is difficult." To put it simply, it is easy for the Qin State to destroy the political power of the six countries, but it is difficult to defeat the original ideas of the people of the six countries.
For example, although the Qin Dynasty unified the world, the old people of the Six Kingdoms never gave up destroying the Qin Dynasty and assassinating the First Emperor. The distant Qi Kingdom continued to incite rumors to shake the Qin Dynasty's dominance.
For this reason, Qin Shihuang did not hesitate to burn books and embarrass Confucians across the country. Burning the classics of the Six Kingdoms only left the history of Qin. After many years, the old people of the Six Kingdoms would have a blurred concept of the Six Kingdoms, leaving only Qin culture and Qin people's thoughts.
The concepts of cultural thought are difficult to unify in a short period of time, and artificial intervention in the process of cultural integration will ultimately lead to failure. If Prince Fusu came to power after the death of the First Emperor, the concept of the Qin people might be able to mature, but Hu Hai, Zhao Gao and others cholera disrupted the state affairs and led to the death of the second generation of the Qin Dynasty.
2. The collapse of the Qin Empire
The Spring and Autumn and Warring States The warring states A hundred schools of thought There is a certain lag in the development of history. When people get used to an open-minded system, the emergence of centralized power is difficult for people to accept, so that the turning point of history will be very difficult.
Every vassal state has its own historical and cultural system, and the unified feudal dynasty not only destroyed a variety of customs and cultures, but also forced the people to adapt to the new cultural system. It was difficult for the people of the six countries to recognize the concept of "Qin people".
Regime recognition between countries is easy, but conceptual recognition requires a long process. However, after Hu Hai ascended the throne, there was a large-scale construction project, taxes and corvee were very heavy, and the high-pressure Qin Dynasty system continued to oppress the people of the six countries, so that the remaining sense of resistance in the mind arose, and the war against the rule of the Qin Dynasty began.
After the Dazexiang Uprising began, not only did the standard Qin regime fail in political recognition, but it also marked the failure of the concept of "Qin people" in the historical recognition of vassal states. In the end, "Zhu Xia" and "Guo people" failed before they completed their transformation into "Qin people".
The Qin Dynasty had a unified situation for more than ten years. Because of Qin's strong military strength, neighboring countries regarded the people of Qin as "Qin people", but this recognition was only based on political power rather than culture.
3. The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system, and the formation of the concept of "Han people"
Later generations like to refer to the Qin Dynasty and Han Dynasty collectively as "Qin and Han". The Han Dynasty inherited the Qin system It is more like the Han Dynasty and the continuation of the Qin Dynasty.
1. The county and county system and the enfeoffment system were carried out at the same time
The county and county system was a unique sign of the Qin Dynasty. According to historical trends, the Han Dynasty should have implemented the county and county system. However, in the early days of the Western Han , there was a situation of "different systems between the East and the West".
That is to say, places closer to Chang'an have a county system and are directly governed by officials dispatched by the central government, while places farther away from Chang'an implement a vassal system, and the princes within the princes have strong independence.
Liu Bang chose such a system for certain historical needs. It was a reward and compromise for the heroes, but from a certain perspective, the emergence of the feudal system allowed the old people of the Six Kingdoms to establish unlimited resistance to the Han Dynasty, which perfectly eased the cultural conflicts that occurred during the Qin Dynasty.
particularly emphasizes the Qin Dynasty's contribution to the unification of writing, which not only enabled the smooth issuance of national political documents in various places and strengthened centralization of power, but also promoted cultural exchanges and people's connections within a vast territory.
As mentioned above, cultural recognition does not happen overnight. The parallelism of the county system and the vassal system is also conducive to cultivating people's recognition of the political system and cultural ideas of the Han Dynasty. The peaceful coexistence between the central government and the princes of the Han Dynasty created favorable conditions for this recognition.
Liu Bang once left behind the ancestral motto "No one with the surname Liu can be king." From a certain perspective, this ancestral motto is also the basis of the feudal system. It subtly allowed the people to recognize the concept of "family and world" of Jiangshan with the surname Liu.
During the reign of Emperors Wen and Jing of the Han Dynasty, although there were frequent political crises within the dynasty, the economy and culture of the Han Dynasty achieved unprecedented development. At this time, the people's recognition of the Han Dynasty had long gone beyond their insistence on the original culture. The Han Dynasty and the Han people gradually became a subconscious thought.
2. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's favor order and respected Confucianism
"Historical Records" records: "In ancient times, the princes were only a hundred miles away, and the strength and weakness were easy to control. Nowadays, the princes may have dozens of cities and thousands of miles. If it is slow, pride and extravagance can easily lead to fornication..." This situation was the threat to the central government of the Han Dynasty from the princes during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
The vassal states under the rule of the Han Dynasty not only had a large land area and a large population, but also had strong political and military independence, and were fully capable of competing with the imperial court. The emergence of the Tweeting Order perfectly solved this problem.
As the vassal states changed from generation to generation, they changed from large countries to small countries, and from small countries to counties. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty easily incorporated the power of the princes and kings into his own management system, and the centralization and imperial rule were perfectly strengthened.
Under the order of Tie En, the system of prefectures and counties in vassal states in name only was implemented nationwide. What the Qin Dynasty failed to achieve, "the country is divided into prefectures and counties, and the laws are unified" was truly realized in the Han Dynasty, and the recognition of the Han Dynasty by the people of the world reached its peak.
While adopting the Tweeting Order politically, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty implemented the measure of "deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting only Confucianism" culturally. From a certain perspective, the purpose of "deposing hundreds of schools of thought and respecting only Confucianism" was very similar to Qin Shihuang's "burning books and entrapping Confucianism", both of which were to unify the thoughts of the world.
However, in comparison, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's method of "exclusively respecting Confucianism" was more edifying, so the gentle method was easier for people to accept. As time went by, the concept of three cardinal principles and five permanent principles became the new standard in society, and loyalty to the emperor and patriotism began to be regarded as the norm of behavior in the national consciousness.
A new kind of values was formed under the construction of Confucian culture , and this value was the Han Dynasty, Han people and Han culture. The cultural barriers that hindered the change of "Qin people" during the Qin Dynasty were eliminated, and the concepts of "Zhuxia" and "Guoren" were eventually replaced by "Han people".
Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty sent Wei Qing and Huo Qubing to an expedition against the Huns, and also sent Zhang Qian and others as envoys to the Western Regions. During the exchanges of war and culture, the Han people and Han culture were spread abroad, winning the recognition of the Western Regions, the Huns, and Baiyue lands.
In general, every change of political power is a process of cultural collapse and re-establishment. The establishment of new cultural concepts requires a certain foundation and has a lag. However, once the new culture forms a nation and a country, the cohesion will be stronger. The Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty are the best examples.
References: "Historical Records", "Hanshu", "Four Books and Five Classics", "The title of "Han people" and the identification of "Han people" in the Han Dynasty"
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