In order to understand the nature and reasons of social changes between Han and Wei dynasties, we might as well make some investigations from a broader space and time. In our country, there are two worlds before and after the Warring States Period. The society in the Spring and Autumn Period of the Western Zhou Dynasty was a pyramid-shaped, subordinate and solidified hierarchical ladder. Under each level of nobility was a closed economic isomorphism formed by the combination of the Lord economy and the serf economy. After the Warring States period, the situation changed greatly, the original hierarchical ladder was smashed, the closed door was opened, and the solidified flow began. Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the popularization of TieNiu Geng has led to the strengthening of farmers' economic independence and the gradual privatization of farmers' land. They gradually got rid of the subordinate relationship to the aristocratic lords and became the direct controllers of the country. The differentiation of farmers produced primitive common landlords, who became the foundation of the new landlord class. The characteristics of land ownership of emerging landlords are that land ownership is separated from political sovereignty, land can be bought and sold, and land ownership is relatively mobile. In addition to the subaltern landlords, there are identity landlords composed of aristocratic bureaucrats, but they no longer occupy land as members of the patriarchal clan system, but reshape themselves according to the subaltern landlord model and appear as private landlords. A centralized country was established in the struggle with the old aristocracy. In this way, a social and economic system composed of three interdependent basic economic components and social forces has been formed. In this system, various components can permeate, flow and transform each other. A small number of peasants can be promoted to ordinary landlords through farming or business, or to identity landlords through military exploits and imperial examinations. Most poverty and bankruptcy provide land and labor for the development of landlord economy. Through various channels, the subaltern landlord can be promoted to the status landlord, and the status landlord can also be reduced to the subaltern landlord; The landlord's ruin and the family analysis production under the multi-child inheritance system will often be added to the ranks of farmers. In addition to the land privately owned by landlords and farmers, the state also directly controls a considerable amount of land, including cultivated land and mountains and rivers, and directly manages some agriculture, animal husbandry and industrial and mining production. State-owned land and private land are concerned with each other, and the general trend is that more and more state-owned land is converted into private land. In addition to some government-run economies, the state also has the function of managing and intervening in the economy. The state mainly relies on taxes provided by farmers. It is not only based on the landlord class, but also as the representative of the whole society, regulating the relationship between various classes and strata. The whole society operates and develops in the interdependence and struggle of these three forces. Now, let's examine how the interaction of these three factors triggered a series of social changes in the Han and Wei Dynasties.
First, from the relationship between the state, landlords and farmers, we can see the change of dependency relationship.
As mentioned above, for the emerging landlord class based on ordinary landlords, tenancy system is a more suitable mode of operation than slavery and employment system. Because the tenancy system can make farmers have the initiative and enthusiasm for intensive cultivation, and landlords can avoid the cost of employment and supervision. However, tenant farmers still have their own independent economy. In order to extract the surplus labor force from farmers, besides economic coercion, it also needs super-economic coercion and some dependence as a guarantee. When discussing feudal land rent, Marx said: "In all forms, direct workers are still the' owners' of the necessary means of production and working conditions for their own means of subsistence, and property relations must be dominated and obeyed at the same time, so direct producers are not free; This kind of non-freedom can be reduced from serfdom with corvee labor to simple servitude rent. " [1] The Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties were the same. It can be said that controlling farmers in various ways, including some super-economic coercion and personal attachment, is the inherent requirement of the landlord economy with the tenancy system as the main mode of operation. We can see that the development of dependent tenancy is synchronized with the expansion of landlords, especially powerful landlords. In the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, the powerful forces had grown, and the dependent tenancy relationship began to be common. After the mid-Western Han Dynasty, the new development of productive forces accelerated this trend. From the Warring States to the mid-Western Han Dynasty, although individual small farmers were the main production units at that time, they were not popularized in Niu Geng at that time, and they mainly used small iron farm tools such as hoes and irons. This small-scale peasant economy is still relatively fragile. The popularization of Niu Geng in the Yellow River Basin began in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty. Many small individual farmers do not have enough strength to use the "two cows lifting poles" type coupling plough. The popularization of combined plows leads to the expansion of production units and the development of powerful forces. Another economic background for the development of powerful forces is the development of Beitang water conservancy after the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, because Beitang cannot be built by a single small-scale peasant family, and it often relies on powerful forces other than local governments. We can see that many powerful landlords manage "vicious fields", while powerful landlords who have built or mastered a vicious pond often control the whole irrigation area at the same time. In this case, a considerable number of small farmers with weak economic strength have to rely on powerful landlords. This should be the deep economic reason for the strengthening of attachment after the mid-Western Han Dynasty.
However, this super-economic coercion and personal dependence have different forms, which can be implemented by the landlord himself or guaranteed by the government. For example, after the Song Dynasty, the government often stipulated in the form of law that farmers must pay land rent to landlords, and used violent tools to ensure its realization. The situation in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties was different. The government does not recognize the legitimacy of landlords exploiting farmers through tenancy system. After the formation of a centralized country, the government needs farmers to provide tributes to maintain the operation of a huge state machine. The government of Qin and Han dynasties adopted the method of strengthening direct control over farmers' personal lives, which was manifested in the tax system and the policy of "abandoning local taxes". The land tax of property tax is very light, and the poll tax is very heavy. At the same time, establish a strict household registration system and control farmers to ensure the collection of taxes. This will inevitably lead to sharp contradictions with the landlord class, especially the powerful landlords, on the issue of controlling farmers. The history books of the Han Dynasty are full of condemnation of powerful people, mainly speaking from the standpoint of the state. In the government's view, it is illegal for landlords to turn state-owned households into their dependent tenants, so they are called "followers of annexing the Hao Party". However, although the government has taken a series of measures to crack down on strongmen and help farmers, the tax service policy of the government is fundamentally beneficial to landlords and not to farmers, so it has not only failed to curb the trend of the state turning families into dependent populations of landlords (tenant farmers, etc.) in batches, but has played the role of "driving fish into gardens and birds out of forests". Nominally, the rent is 30 tax/kloc-0 tax, but in fact, all kinds of rent taxes add up to half of farmers' income, and officials at all levels often add more money to extort money, which makes farmers bear a heavy burden. Heavy rents and taxes provide landlords, businessmen and usurers with opportunities to buy cheaply and sell at high prices and exploit them at high profits. In this case, it is difficult for most farmers to get rid of poverty and go bankrupt. Bankrupt farmers are still under the control of government household registration. If you work as a tenant farmer for a local landlord, although you don't have to pay rent, there are still heavy taxes, which bankrupt farmers can't afford. In this case, there is only one way to escape. Some farmers who fled to other places and escaped from the government's household registration control were entrusted to the rich in other places and became their dependent tenants. Locally, under the cloak of clan, the tenancy system tries to get rid of the control of the government and gradually develops into a dependent relationship. This is a helpless and reasonable choice for farmers. The "Hakka" repeatedly mentioned in the historical records of Qin and Han dynasties should be a containment and nurturing of the dependent tenancy relationship. However, in comparison, dependent tenant farmers developed to a greater extent in exile. Therefore, tenant farmers were called "tenant farmers" in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and "tenant farmers" became the most representative name among all kinds of dependent population.
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, especially after the mid-Western Han Dynasty, in the struggle with landlords for farmers, the country retreated. By the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the state had to partially recognize the legitimacy of the private relationship between landlords and farmers, but this legitimacy was never fully recognized. In a sense, the so-called "breaking ground" and "contracting households", as well as the systems of reclaiming land, occupying land and leveling land, are all struggles between the government and landlords for the control of labor force. However, due to the government's "people-oriented" policy, the contradiction has never been resolved. Until the middle Tang Dynasty, the policies of feudal countries were greatly adjusted, taxes were changed to "asset-based", the proportion of land tax increased, the proportion of poll tax decreased, and the country's household registration system also changed greatly, distinguishing between subject and object. The relationship among landlords, the state and small farmers has also been greatly adjusted accordingly, and the feudal landlord system economy has entered a new stage of development.
From the above analysis, it can be seen that the premise of the development of dependent tenancy relationship is the growth of landlord's economic power and political power based on the development of productive forces, but it is also related to the historical way in which the state handles the relationship with landlords and peasants, and is the result of the interaction between landlords, peasants and the state under certain historical conditions. In other words, the development of dependent tenancy relationship in this period has its inevitability, and this inevitability also contains historical rationality. The development of dependent tenancy relationship and the growth of economic and political power of powerful landlords are mutual. The position, function and development of powerful landlords should be analyzed historically. The tyrannical landlords originally belonged to or belonged to the subaltern landlords, and quite a few of them were merchant landlords, so they were called "Hao Min" ("Ren Hao"), "Fu Hao" and "the rich man". After their economic strength was strong, they began to rely mainly on clan forces and collude with local officials to consolidate their territory in the village, so they were also called "strongmen" and "heroes". In the later development, the elements of strongman became more and more complicated. Some retired or frustrated officials have joined the ranks of strongmen, and some on-the-job officials have joined the ranks of crazy land mergers. This is the so-called "very rich officials and people." Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty cracked down on the powerful forces, which seemed to be effective for a while, but actually promoted the combination of the powerful forces, businessmen and bureaucrats. During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the powerful forces were further strengthened, and they were called "powerful people". Powerful people control local political power and official career, and some "substitute officials" have appeared. The strongmen developed into an "aristocratic family", and at the same time changed from the original subaltern landlord to the identity landlord, and finally formed the aristocratic gate system. The development of powerful forces is based on the cruel exploitation of farmers, and the huge wealth they have accumulated has soaked the blood and tears of farmers. The development from a powerful landlord to a noble family itself contains a tendency of division and decay. In Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, where aristocratic families dominated, land ownership and political sovereignty were combined to some extent, which seemed to return to the hierarchical society before the Warring States Period. It is inevitable that some scholars think that the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were the "distortion" or "reversal" of the landlord system economy. But when we evaluate a certain social force or social system in history, we mainly look at whether it promotes or hinders the development of productive forces. As an important or main part of civilian landlords, the tyrannical landlords were a new class in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties. They adapted to the requirements of productivity development at that time and promoted the popularization of Niu Geng in Tiexi, the development of water conservancy in Bei Tang and the prosperity of commodity economy. In the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the powerful landlords developed into aristocratic families, and their separatism, destructiveness and decay gradually appeared. However, under the environment of long-term war and population migration, the aristocratic landlord economy based on the control and exploitation of dependent population still played a positive role in the development of the south and the maintenance and continuation of the agricultural economy in the north. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, social production was indeed seriously damaged, but this kind of damage basically belonged to accumulated material wealth. Tiexi Niu Geng continues to be popularized and improved. The tradition of intensive cultivation has not been interrupted, and there have been new developments and new summaries. Grain yield per mu has increased, economic and cultural exchanges between ethnic groups and regions have accelerated under special conditions, and the lower Yellow River plain has been further developed. From a deeper perspective, the productivity of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties did not regress, but developed, which laid the foundation for the unification and prosperity of Sui and Tang empires. Therefore, we can't simply regard Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties as a "distortion" or "reversal" of history.
Two, from the relationship between the state, landlords and farmers to see the rise and fall of commodity economy and natural economy.
The second part of this paper points out that the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties and Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties should not be regarded as two completely different eras, belonging to commodity economy and natural economy respectively. Although the commodity economy in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties developed greatly, the whole social economy was still dominated by natural economy. In fact, the contraction of commodity economy did not begin at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and this trend can be traced back at least to the period of Emperor Zhang in the early Eastern Han Dynasty. At that time, senior minister Zhang Lin suggested that "all the money should be sealed, and one should rent cloth and silk to make it universal" [2], which was approved for implementation. Since the Western Han Dynasty, the situation that the tax revenue mainly depends on collecting money began to change, which became an important turning point and symbol of the relationship between goods and money in China history [3]. I think the root of this change is the contradiction deeply rooted in the commodity economy itself in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, that is to say, the prosperity of the commodity economy in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties hides the factors that lead to its future shrinkage.
The prosperity of commodity economy in Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties is undoubtedly based on the great development of productive forces, but it is also closely related to the changes of social structure. After the Warring States period, the solidified and closed socio-economic system was transformed into a relatively open and frequent socio-economic system composed of three basic forces: the state, landlords and peasants, which provided an unprecedented relaxed environment for the development of commodity economy. Let's look at the role played by farmers, landlords and the state in the development of commodity economy in this period and the relationship between them, and see how they both promoted and restricted the development of commodity economy.
Compared with the small farmers before the Warring States, the status and economic structure of small farmers in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties changed greatly. During the Spring and Autumn Period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, small farmers did not leave the rural commune (Jing Tian system was its variant), and the aristocratic territory was also based on the rural commune. Nobles not only have the actual ownership of the land in the territory, but also implement direct political rule, and all walks of life coexist in the territory, forming an internal division of labor and economic life. [4] Farmers in territorial cities are not only physically attached to the lords, but also economically interdependent with the lords, forming a highly closed economic entity. At that time, the tradition of changing jobs and cooperation in rural communes such as "joint farming" was popular, which made up for the lack of economic strength of individual farmers' families; Family production can not meet the needs of self-sufficiency, and it can also be solved from the division of labor within the territory. So farmers seldom touched the market at that time. This situation changed greatly during the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties. On the one hand, due to the development of social productive forces caused by the popularization of iron ware Niu Geng, the demand for production and life of small farmers has increased, and the commodities that small farmers can provide to the market have also increased. On the other hand, due to the collapse of the well field system and the destruction of the Lord system, there was no semi-closed economic entity like aristocratic fiefs above the peasant family economy. Although the peasant economy strives for self-sufficiency, there are always some parts that cannot be self-sufficient because of their small scale, such as iron farm tools, cattle, salt and some seed rations. The remaining agricultural and sideline products, or products replaced with other necessities, can only be sold in the market. Therefore, under the landlord system economy, farmers have a close relationship with the market, and circulation has become a necessary link in the process of reproduction of small-scale peasant economy. Rural fairs appeared, and businessmen (including landlords and usurers) also intervened in the reproduction process of small farmers. This is the deepest source of the relatively developed commodity economy after the Warring States Period.
After the Warring States period, landlords also got rid of the closed territorial economy and were closely linked with the market. Before the Warring States period, the lords and nobles practiced the system of labor rent, and farmers not only cultivated on the lords' "commons", but also provided other kinds of labor. Lord's territory is a closed * * * body, with a division of labor inside, and general consumption can satisfy itself. The higher lords also kept some merchants who served them, mainly selling some rare items that could not be produced locally. The so-called "strange things come, rare things come together" ("pipe? Xiao Yan). There is a fixed proportion between "public land" and "private land", and the number of "public land" (land) owned by lords and nobles at all levels is determined by their grades. In this way, the income of lords at all levels and the consumption determined by them are relatively fixed and subject to various restrictions of "ceremony"; Some people call it a "solidified" consumption system. After the Warring States period, there was no self-sufficient territory maintained by the labor system and internal division of labor. Landlords mainly collect land rent in kind, which is mainly food. Therefore, they have to sell some of the rented grain in the market in exchange for other materials to meet their various needs. In addition, the landlord's possession of land and its consumption broke through the strict hierarchical restrictions in the past, and the consumption desire and consumption level expanded unprecedentedly. Driven by this desire for consumption, landlords actively participate in market activities, not only selling rented grain and buying commodities, but also often directly engaging in profit-making activities, exploiting individual small farmers in operations other than land rent exploitation. Landlords and businessmen often know each other. Not only the subaltern landlords are keen on business activities (Zhong Changtong's Chang Yan has a typical description), but the identity landlords are no exception (as evidenced by the quotations in Jiangtong in the Western Jin Dynasty). This situation greatly promoted the development of commodity economy at that time The prosperous urban market in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties was mainly a consumer market serving the landlord class. The market and circulation stimulated by the consumption demand and desire of the landlord class are still based on small-scale peasant production. Landlord's market activities are based on renting grain, which is the material form of farmers' surplus labor (tribute grain is the redistribution of land rent). The exploitation rate of farmers by landlords rose from 20-30% in feudal lords' period to more than 70%. It is precisely because farmers provided more land rent than during the feudal system that landlords were able to put a large number of rented grain and other materials on the market and pursue commercial interests on this basis.
The formation of centralized system and the emergence of a unified empire are also important factors to promote the development of commodity economy in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties. A centralized country needs to support a large number of officials and soldiers, and the royal family and governments at all levels also have various consumption and huge financial expenditure. Now it is no longer possible to plot a piece of land for nobles at all levels as in the past (territory, Lutian and royal family are also big territories), and taxes should be levied on the establishment households and the people. Moreover, the distribution of official salaries and military salaries and the consumption of the royal family and officials at all levels can not be completely solved by relying only on the grain collected from the land rent and the self-sufficient handicraft production organized by the government. If you want money, buy some materials from the market. As a result, monetary tax appeared, and the proportion of tax revenue increased for a period of time. In the Western Han Dynasty, the monetary health tax accounted for 8% and 90% of the total tax revenue respectively. The currency in the Western Han Dynasty was mainly used as a non-credit payment method. The most basic non-credit monetary payment behavior is the monetary tax paid by small farmers as the main body, and the most striking and largest amount is the salary. [5] In order to pay taxes, farmers have to put more agricultural and sideline products on the market. The commodity economy in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties was largely driven by taxation. In addition, it goes without saying that national unity is conducive to the development of commodity economy. Sima Qian said: "Han Xing, the sea as a whole, the ban on the switch beam, Chishanze, is based on the wealthy businessman dajia's circulation around the world, and the transaction is blocked", which is a reflection of this situation.
In this way, due to the disintegration of social organisms that were originally based on the same body, various economic factors and forces were liberated from the shackles of tradition. Under the interlaced action of various social forces, the booming commodity economy at that time interpreted a prosperous scene. However, behind this prosperous scene, there are some unstable and uncoordinated factors, and even an increasingly serious crisis lurks.
It is true that the disintegration of the old system and the establishment of the new system have mobilized all classes to actively or passively participate in market activities, but these intertwined parties have failed to establish a coordinated and mutually beneficial relationship. Regardless of the landlord or the state, the material basis for their participation in market activities is the land rent provided by farmers. However, as a whole, the peasant class often cannot benefit from these commodity exchange activities, but is seriously damaged. In the historical records of Qin and Han dynasties, we can deeply feel the sharp contradiction between agriculture and commerce in the society at that time. Both pre-Qin philosophers and political commentators in Han Dynasty emphasized the exploitation and annexation of farmers by merchants at that time (these merchants who merged land were actually landlords), and this was mainly or often because the government's demand for farmers provided opportunities for the exploitation and annexation of farmers. As early as the Warring States period, Guanzi said: "When you are brave, the valley is noble; If there is a priority, then things are important. But the master can't cure it, so it's a hundred times more important for JOE to enter the city and take advantage of people's danger. " ("National Reserve") In the Western Han Dynasty, Chao Cuo said:
Today, a farmer's family of five has no fewer than two servants, only a hundred acres of cultivators and a hundred acres of harvest. Plough summer sowing in spring, harvest in autumn and harvest in winter, chop wood, govern politics and offer caves; No dust in spring, no heat in summer, no rain in autumn, no cold and freezing in winter, and a rest between four o'clock; They are also sent to greet privately and ask for help to raise orphans and children among them. That's how hard it is, but it's still plagued by floods and droughts, and it's urgent and fierce, and it's harvested from time to time. Half of the families sold, and the dead got double interest, so there were those who sold farmland houses and paid for their children. The merchants accumulated double interest, and the small ones sat in the team to sell, winning brilliantly, so they turned around the city every day. Therefore, their men don't cultivate themselves, their women don't weave, their clothes must be literary, and their meals must be delicious. Thousands of farmers have suffered. Because of its wealth, traffic princes, power over the official position, in order to facilitate competition; Take the road of Wan Li, walk in opposite directions, make full use of fertility, and drag on. Therefore, the merchants annexed the peasants, who were also exiles.
People often quote this passage to explain the plight of farmers in the Han Dynasty. In fact, it profoundly reveals the disharmony and even sharp opposition between farmers and businessmen (landlords) and the state in the Han Dynasty. Apart from natural disasters, social factors are the main reason why businessmen can annex farmers. During the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, the taxes and levies were quite heavy, and they were often overweight layer by layer in execution, which was very arbitrary (the so-called "self-seeking in the countryside, no confession"). In tax payment, money accounts for a large proportion, especially in the Han Dynasty. The so-called "frivolous and thin fu" in the Han Dynasty only replaced the service with money to a great extent. In order to get enough money to pay taxes, farmers have to sell many products, including some necessities. Zhao Hanyuanfeng's six-year imperial edict:
The husband's valley hurts the farmers. Today, the three assistants and the Taichang Valley are cheap, and this year, they are given to Uncle Su. (Hanshu Volume 7 Zhao Diji)
The so-called "cheap grain hurts farmers" will only appear when farmers generally want to sell grain. Why do farmers sell food? This is because at that time, farmers had to sell enough food in exchange for money. Monetary tax has become a heavy burden on farmers, so "paying uncle Su as a tax" has become a preferential policy. [6] On the one hand, farmers have to sell some of their own necessities, on the other hand, they have to buy back some agricultural and sideline products that were originally produced in the green and yellow season or the sowing season. On the surface, it expands the circulation, but in fact, this circulation contains false components that are divorced from its production base. To a great extent, this tax system exceeds the load capacity of small farmers based on subsistence production, and the commodity economy it has pulled up has damaged its own foundation. It is combined with the exploitation of businessmen, natural disasters and other factors, resulting in poverty and bankruptcy of farmers, leaving a large amount of agriculture and endangering the normal operation of society. In the Western Han Dynasty and Yuan Dynasty, it was said that "the people abandon their roots and pursue them to the end, and the tiller cannot be divided". At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wang Fu even said that "the last workers are more than farmers, and the fake idlers are more than the last workers" (On the Hidden Husband). We know that since the Warring States period, the improvement of productivity has enabled an agricultural labor force to provide half of the surplus products besides supporting himself and his small family. This is the so-called "food for the people". On this basis, the tenancy system of "seeing what tax is five" came into being. If half of the labor force in the whole society is engaged in agriculture, although the food produced can barely make ends meet, it is difficult for the state machine to operate and various social and cultural undertakings to develop; If the labor force engaged in agricultural production is less than half of the total labor force in society, society cannot exist. In the Book of Mangosteen and Natural Law written by Zhangzi during the Warring States Period, there was a saying that "eight authors are kings, seven authors are masters, five authors survive, and four authors die". Although the statements that "land to the tiller is not equal to half" and "users are better than farmers" are somewhat exaggerated, they do reflect the seriousness of the problem. On the surface, the bustling commercial prosperity is actually false and deformed, and the society is in deep crisis.
Many thinkers and politicians in the Han Dynasty felt the seriousness of this problem, but lacked correct analysis. In addition to condemning the businessmen, some of them also pointed their finger at the coins themselves. For example, in the Han and Yuan Dynasties, Gong Yu believed that the root of many social ills was money, and advocated the abolition of currency tax.
Casting money and mining copper, 100 thousand people don't plow at the age of one, and many people are trapped. The rich are rich, but they are not satisfied. When people's hearts are shaken, they should abandon their roots and pursue them to the end. The tiller can't be divided, and evil can't be banned. It starts with money. People who are terminally ill should stop collecting pearls, jade, gold and silver coins, and don't treat them as money. Except the law of selling and renting baht, all taxes and rents are given by cloth and silk, so that people can care about agriculture and mulberry. ("Han Shu? Gong Yuchuan ")
Gong Yu's proposal was not accepted. However, contradictions still exist and the crisis is deepening. At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, when mourning for the emperor, someone raised the question of wasting money. One hundred years after Gong Yu's proposal, Zhang Lin's proposal was finally adopted and implemented by Zhang Han. This shows that Gong Yu's analysis and suggestions touched on some deep-seated problems and reflected the inevitable development trend. The profound contradiction between the state, landlords and peasants and the necessity of adjusting this relationship are one of the deep reasons for this inevitable development trend. Of course, the tax reform and reducing the proportion of money in tax revenue only partially adjusted the contradiction between the state, landlords and farmers, but did not fundamentally solve this contradiction.
As mentioned above, since the Warring States period, the economy of landlords and peasants has been a combination of subsistence economy and commodity economy. This basic situation did not change during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. The strengthening of natural economy, as people say, is mainly manifested in the strengthening of self-sufficiency in the economy of landlords and peasants, who have built their own economy on the basis of meeting various needs themselves. This is not only related to frequent wars, but also related to the development of productive forces. It should be pointed out that the rise and fall of commodity economy is closely related to productivity, but it is not a mechanical correspondence. The development of commodity economy depends on many social and natural factors. Of course, the most important material basis for the prosperity of commodity economy in the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties is the leap of social productive forces marked by the popularization of ironware Niu Geng. But in addition to the factors of social productivity, we should also consider the factors of natural productivity. At that time, some newly reclaimed land in the Yellow River Basin had high natural fertility. For example, the wasteland that was originally flooded by the river is very fertile. Irrigation with river water can provide a large amount of commodity grain. The so-called "river silt princes, the country of mu bells" ("pipe? National standard). The improvement of Zhangshui Canal and Zheng Guoqu in saline-alkali land by river siltation irrigation has become the foundation of Qin Wei's prosperity. However, the natural fertility and rich benefits of newly reclaimed land and silt will be attenuated, and secondary salinization will occur in some places. At that time, agricultural production was also unstable, so the prediction of business situation should first consider the possible abundance and sorrow of agriculture and form the cycle theory of abundance and sorrow. The Huo Zhi family often manages food production at the same time as industry and commerce, or relies on a food-rich area, which is a reflection of the low level of productivity and underdeveloped social division of labor. But after the mid-Western Han Dynasty, social productive forces made new progress. The real popularization of Niu Geng in the history of China was after Zhao popularized "couple" in the middle of the Western Han Dynasty, and this popularization process continued until the Eastern Han Dynasty. If farmers contacted the market more often in the early Western Han Dynasty than later, it was because their family economy was relatively weak and their business content was relatively simple, so they had to rely on the market to a great extent. This relationship is low-level and unstable. Therefore, after the popularization of connection and the development of Beitang Water Conservancy, some farmers' families have expanded, a considerable number of farmers have become dependent farmers, the basic economic units (including landlords and farmers) have expanded, and the business content has become richer and more complicated. In this way, with the cooperation of specific historical conditions, the self-sufficient economy of landlords and farmers has been strengthened. This trend was continued and developed in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Therefore, we should not take the "strengthening of natural economy" in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties as absolute, let alone take it as an argument for "inversion" or "distortion" of history.
In short, in my opinion, the changes from the Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties are all within the scope of the same socio-economic form (feudal landlord economy) and the same economic operation mode (economy based on natural economy combined with commodity economy), which cannot be interpreted as the transformation from slave society to feudal society, but the substitution of commodity economy for natural economy. This change is in line with the law and is carried out in the interdependence and struggle of the state, landlords and farmers. It has historical inevitability and rationality and cannot be regarded as a "reversal" or "distortion" of the landlord system economy.
To annotate ...
[1] Complete Works of Marx and Engels, Volume 25, pp. 889-890.
[2]' Were' Volume 43' Biography of Zhu Hui'. See also Book of Jin, Volume 26, Record of Food Goods.
[3] See Zhao Dexin: "The relationship between the development level of commodity monetary relations and the production structure-taking the first century A.D. as an example", in "Proceedings of the International Symposium on Modern History Theory before China", Hubei People's Publishing House, 1997.
[4] salt and iron theory? "Flood and Drought" says: "The ancients lived in a city of thousands of rooms and cultivated the home of industry and commerce a hundred times. The requirements of the four people are enough to match each other, so the people are full of farm tools without leaving the fields, and the workers are full of ploughing without cutting, and full of millet without ploughing. "In fact, this is a vague and poetic memory of the internal division of labor and self-sufficient economic life in ancient aristocratic territories.
[5] Zhang Nan: Studies on functions of money in the Western Han Dynasty, Journal of Anhui Normal University, No.2, 1985.
[6] When Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty wrote "Poetry of Pricking Magistrates", he said, "Why do dogs bark? There are officials at the door. Put on your clothes and go out. The government remembers to take money. Ask for a date when you are poor, and you will see it when you are angry. Take care of your family, and there is nothing to do at home; Thinking of borrowing it from a neighbor, the neighbor didn't say anything. Qian Qian is too rare, I am alone. " ("Huayang National Records? This shows the burden of monetary tax on the people.