The Qin dynasty abolished the enfeoffment system and the Han dynasty returned to the stage.
After Qin Shihuang unified the whole country, in order to stabilize centralization, he directly abolished the enfeoffment system with many drawbacks and implemented the county system. According to Records of the Historian, there are two different voices of fierce struggle within the ruling class of the imperial court for this decision of Qin Shihuang. Among them, Chun and others think that the enfeoffment system is far superior to the county system. He even suggested that Qin Shihuang continue to enfeoffment his children according to the system of the ancient Western Zhou Dynasty to ensure the long-term stability of the country. Because Qin Shihuang destroyed the six countries and unified the world, and even eliminated the atmosphere of a hundred schools of thought contending, Qin Shihuang still insisted on arbitrariness and promoted the county system throughout the country.
Unfortunately, the Qin dynasty existed for a short time, and it was soon replaced by the Han dynasty. The Han dynasty, which dominated the world, saw the great disadvantages of the Qin county system, in order to prevent the same mistakes. At the suggestion of Jia Yi, a famous person in the Han Dynasty, the enfeoffment system once again entered the historical stage. He suggested to the emperor that in order to protect public order in the world, this big country should be divided into several small countries, so as to ensure it. With less power, it is easy to do justice, and with less power, it is dead. ? However, historians infer that the enfeoffment system in the early Han Dynasty was fundamentally different from that in the Zhou Dynasty.
According to historical records, the internal administrative bureaucrats of the vassal States sealed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were all managed by the imperial court. These vassals only have the advantage of adequate food and clothing, but they have no right to participate in politics. So the enfeoffment system at this time is actually the deformation of the county system. However, it was from this era that emperors began to use the enfeoffment system as a tool to adjust the internal contradictions of the royal family and win over the heroes to strengthen centralization of authority. This phenomenon rose in various dynasties, and even continued until the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
Confucianism vigorously promoted the enfeoffment system, forming a trend of thought.
As for why the feudal system lasted for a long time, the reason was that Confucianism played a leading role in the political thoughts of various dynasties, and their thoughts were reflected in the local administrative system. During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, a large number of literati such as Ji Kang and Ruan Ji admired Confucianism, and they vigorously promoted it? Without a king's rule? Ideologically, he opposed the feudal monarchy, and even strongly advocated the restoration of the original enfeoffment system to consolidate the national foundation. Confucian scholars who advocated restoring the enfeoffment system in Wei and Jin dynasties emerged one after another. At that time, Cao Jiong, who wanted to revive Cao Wei's regime, wrote an article on the Six Kingdoms, suggesting that the rulers should continue to implement the system of enfeoffment in order to consolidate the regime of the Prince of Cao Wei. Unfortunately, his ideas did not attract the attention of the royal family at that time.
Lu Ji, a writer who advocated the restoration of the enfeoffment system, also appeared in the Jin Dynasty. He wrote in the "Five Tastes" that if the Zhou Dynasty system is implemented, is it possible? Make all ethnic groups maintain each other and become rock-solid? Only in this way will it be beneficial to the governance and stability of the rulers. Although the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were a period of serious separatist regime in China's history, Confucianism never stopped, and even advocated the idea of restoring the feudal system. After more than 400 years, the Central Plains dynasty, which had been divided for hundreds of years, was finally unified in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. At this time, centralization needs to be further consolidated and developed.
During the Tang and Song Dynasties, the political function of enfeoffment system was negligible.
Because the remnants of the enfeoffment system still remain in the minds of Confucianism, although this system played little role in the political rule of the dynasty at that time, there were still Confucianism who insisted on the enfeoffment system. However, in the Tang Dynasty, the opinions about the local political system were almost one-sided, such as Wei Zhi and Yan Shigu, who were both supporters of the county system. Only Xiao Yu suggested that the emperor continue to implement the imperial seal system above the imperial court.
Xiao Yu cited examples from Qin, Han, Wei and Jin dynasties in his letter to Emperor Taizong? Qin Shouling died the next year. Han Fen, the younger brother of the Prince, enjoyed the country for 400 years. If it was abolished in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, it would not be reversed. This feudalism has obvious influence. ? Because all the ministers in the Tang Dynasty stood on the side of the county system, the enfeoffment system was not widely implemented in the Tang Dynasty. However, after listening to some suggestions from this man, Emperor Taizong enfeoffed some governors. Of course, he didn't give these governors political rights, but only relied on food and clothing taxes to win people's hearts.
In the song dynasty, although the county system was mature, it appeared in the middle of the Tang dynasty? A disaster in the buffer zone? Whether in the Northern Song Dynasty or the Southern Song Dynasty, even many neo-Confucianists began to support the idea of restoring the enfeoffment system. For example, the philosopher Zhang Zai of the Northern Song Dynasty once wrote? The emperor founded the country, and the princes built the Sect. Is it also natural? ; Zhu, the most famous philosopher in the Southern Song Dynasty, also supported the restoration of the enfeoffment system to stabilize the country. He thinks this system can. The monarch and ministers are blind, and the country is safe for a long time? However, it is not feasible to completely restore the enfeoffment system. To this end, Zhu also proposed a compromise, such as letting the enfeoffment system coexist with the county system. The thoughts of these Neo-Confucianists had a far-reaching influence on later generations.
During the Ming Dynasty, the enfeoffment system led to the Battle of Jingnan.
During the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, the rapid development of social commodity economy led to the extreme strengthening of centralized rule. In order to limit the monarchical power, many Confucian scholars began to strongly advocate restoring the enfeoffment system and limiting the monarchical power by means of local enfeoffment system. The representatives of this period are Gu and Huang Zongxi, both of whom are staunch supporters of the theory of decentralization. Gu pointed out in "Rizhilu":? The loss of feudalism is dedicated to the next; What's wrong with the county? Therefore, he suggested that the rulers can strengthen the power of local self-government and promote the disappearance of local disadvantages through parallel enfeoffment system and county system.
From the suggestions of these Confucian representatives, it can be seen that in order to consolidate the imperial power and win the hearts of the people, the enfeoffment system they implemented was completely different from the original enfeoffment system. They are looking for a democratic local regime that can get rid of the feudal regime. However, due to the limitation of feudal historical conditions, the rulers sitting on the throne naturally would not fully agree with the feudal system promoted by these Confucian scholars. However, this view of Confucianism is still widely used by feudal nationalism. For example, Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming emperor, made his children and grandchildren princes through the enfeoffment system, which eventually led to the change of Jing Nan. The enduring feudal system for thousands of years is really caused by the continuous implementation of private Confucian scholars. Unfortunately, due to the limitation of feudal times, the enfeoffment system could not benefit the country and the people in the end, but could only become a tool for feudal rulers to strengthen imperial power.