Many people think that the stability and continuity of China comes from the political unity of the country, but I doubt it. Counting the history of China from Xia Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, we can easily find that the period of division or turmoil is far more than that of reunification. What is the reason for the continued stability of Chinese civilization? I think it is inseparable from the following factors.
patriarchal clan system
The patriarchal clan system formally implemented in the Western Zhou Dynasty is to solve the contradiction between aristocratic power and land inheritance. Through the enfeoffment system, Zhou distributed the land and people to the vassals, and established vassal States at the local level to maintain Zhou's ruling order. Such a system did have great advantages, which made the territory of the Western Zhou Dynasty expand continuously and formed the social hierarchy of emperors. But the princes who were enfeoffed for the first time always died, so who will inherit their fiefs? The clever Zhou people thought of a way to let the eldest son of each noble inherit, and attached great importance to blood relationship.
The eldest son is not only the head of the family, but also the pillar of the court, which closely combines the country and the family. In this way, Zhou is not only the head of the family, but also the supreme ruler of a country. Princes, ministers, scholars and civilians all over the country also believe Zhou's words. The Zhou dynasty used feudal system and patriarchal clan system to maintain its rule for 800 years, which is very rare in the history of Chinese dynasty. The enfeoffment system almost collapsed with the demise of the Zhou Dynasty, but the patriarchal clan system continued with its strong vitality.
Why is the patriarchal clan system an important reason for the stable continuation of Chinese civilization? Not only for the above reasons, but also for the patriarchal clan system, we can still find its shadow today. For example, if you sit on the ground and are bald, you can't mess around; Children follow their fathers; Respect the elders; Decades ago and even now, the eldest son and grandson of a family were highly valued. There is also the traditional patriarchal concept, which is also influenced by the patriarchal system. The patriarchal clan system has a deep-rooted influence on our country and is an important factor for the long history of our traditional civilization. Of course, the concept of patriarchal clan system has advantages and disadvantages today, so we should treat it critically.
imperial examination system
Since the official establishment of the imperial examination system in Sui Dynasty, the imperial examination has been shining in the history of our country for more than 1300 years, and it didn't end until the late Qing Dynasty. As we know, the imperial examination system is a system of selecting officials through fair examinations. It can be said that the imperial examination system is a pioneering work of China people and represents the wisdom of our ancient people. Through the imperial examination system, a large number of talents were selected to manage the country, which expanded the ruling foundation and made China gradually transition from blood politics to bureaucratic politics. Emperor Taizong once lamented:? Have the talents of the world entered my net? , the world's talents, really gathered in the imperial court, to make suggestions for the development of the country, which is also an important reason why China can stand out among so many empires in the world. Through this system, the government recruits all talented people into the government that carefully maintains the purity of the examination system. This kind of examination system has won the support of the broad masses of the people, even the people at the bottom of society can only say that if he fails, it is life.
This examination system maintains the normal operation of the country and ensures the normal operation of other national undertakings. In fact, just like the current college entrance examination, no matter how many people spit, it has to be said that the college entrance examination provides ordinary people with opportunities to learn and get ahead. Although not many people can be officials through the imperial examination, it gives people a hope and a spiritual sustenance. At least by studying hard, it is possible to change from the ruled class to the ruling class. Parents all over the country don't want their sons to get ahead through the imperial examination and change their fate, so they also ask teachers to teach their children to learn. In ancient times, there were more and more private schools and private school teachers, especially in the Song Dynasty, when the country valued literature over martial arts. People who passed the imperial examinations often became big officials, so ordinary people let their children go to school as long as they could afford it.
In this way, more people received the ideological education of loyalty to the monarch and patriotism, and the rule of the empire was continued. In this way, the masses of civilians maintained the political power at that time, because only when this country existed could it play an important role in the imperial examinations. If someone else becomes emperor, officials in many countries will be replaced, so it is meaningless to pass the imperial examination. Therefore, the imperial examination will attract ordinary people to study. What books are they? They are carefully selected by the rulers, which is conducive to consolidating the rule. The most important thing must be Confucian culture, because Confucian culture advocates the difference between monarch and minister, and there are other hierarchical orders between father and son. Confucian culture has been transformed by the rulers into a tool to maintain autocratic rule. It must be said that the imperial examination system can ensure the normal operation of a country and buy people's hearts, which is an important factor for people to support the country. Through the imperial examination system to select talents, Chinese civilization has continued to this day.
Confucian culture
As mentioned above, the core content of the imperial examination is Confucianism. Of course, the core was decided by Zhu of the Southern Song Dynasty. Four Books and Five Classics? (The Analects of Confucius, University, Mencius, The Doctrine of the Mean, Poems, Books, Rites, Changes, Spring and Autumn). However, Confucian culture was not taken seriously from the beginning. Confucius founded Confucianism in the Spring and Autumn Period. However, during the turbulent and frequent wars in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Confucius' thought of harmony was not taken seriously. In the words of Confucius, he is like a lost dog. He traveled around the world, but he ran into a wall everywhere. In his later years, he set up education in Shandong, which was the pioneer of private school in China, and gradually changed from official school to private school.
That Confucius' theory was not taken seriously in the era of frequent wars, but it came in handy when the country was unified. Confucius is called? The most sacred? And then what? A role model for generations? It shows that China people attach importance to Confucius and the Confucian culture he represents. It was not until Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty respected Confucianism alone that Confucius' theory was taken seriously. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, there was political unity, and after the policy of recuperation in the early Han Dynasty, the economy also recovered and developed a lot. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is a great emperor, very talented and eager to show his ambition. At this time, he urgently needs to unify people's thoughts in culture and adapt to the needs of political unity.
Therefore, Dong Zhongshu, who put forward the "Three Strategies of Heaven and Man" and reformed Confucianism to meet the needs of centralization, was valued by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. In order to strengthen the position of Confucianism, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty set up imperial academy, the highest institution of learning in the central government, and set up positions such as Doctor of Five Classics to vigorously promote Confucianism throughout the country. We should know that Confucianism, which meets the needs of centralization, is not the original Confucianism proposed by Confucius, but retains many traditional Confucian thoughts. Like the core of Confucianism? Ren? On the personal level, what is the concept of benevolence? Lover? , that is? Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you? People should love each other and be tolerant. Benevolence's thought is manifested in the rulers, that is, to be sympathetic to public opinion and cherish the people's strength. Some people think that Confucianism in the Han Dynasty is needed to strengthen centralization, and it also attaches importance to legalism, so there is no benevolence.
But in fact, judging from Dong Zhongshu's reformed Confucianism, although he needs to maintain centralization, he is still a Confucian scholar and a scholar. Although he put forward the divine right of monarchy, he deified the imperial power; But he also brought it up? Heaven-man induction? According to theory, the emperor is the son of heaven. Father Tian believes that when you become an emperor (son), blessings will fall from the sky. If Tian Fu thinks that you, the emperor (son), are not doing well, natural disasters will happen to warn you. If the emperor doesn't listen and still practices tyranny, doesn't cherish the people's strength and doesn't practice benevolent government, God will re-elect a son on the same day, which is what we call regime change. Dong Zhongshu used the method of combining the divine right of monarchical power with the induction between heaven and man, which not only maintained the need to strengthen the unified monarchical power, but also maintained the proposition of Confucian benevolence. Moreover, Confucianism's benevolence, propriety and virtue are indeed the needs of maintaining the ruling order and good interpersonal relations, so they are regarded as orthodoxy by successive dynasties, and the Chinese civilization represented by Confucianism has also been continued.
Patriarchal clan system, imperial examination system and Confucian culture are important factors that make Chinese civilization have a long history. Of course, the continuity and stability of the Chinese nation are also related to the relatively closed geographical environment and the open and inclusive attitude towards other cultures. This paper only demonstrates from three typical aspects.