(2265438 BC+0-220 BC): The feudal economy continued to develop, and the political situation was strong several times, which was the initial development period of China feudal society.
Politics: This stage is the establishment and consolidation of centralization in China feudal society. After the Qin dynasty destroyed the six countries, in order to consolidate the unity, the supreme imperial system and the triple metric system were established in the central government, and the county system was established in the local area. In terms of ideology and culture, centralization was initially established by such tough means as "burning books to bury Confucianism".
In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the parallel system of counties and countries was implemented, and the power of the kingdom gradually increased, threatening the central government. Its essence is the threat of the remnants of feudal enfeoffment system in slave society to the feudal superstructure. Since Emperor Jingdi began to "cut down the vassals" and put down the "Seven Kingdoms Rebellion", the power of the kingdom was initially weakened. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty carried out the "decree of pushing favors", which fundamentally relieved the threat of the kingdom to the central government and was the most crucial step to solve the problem of the kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty. Then he took away a lot of prince titles, and the kingdom problem was fundamentally solved. In order to strengthen political unity with ideological unity, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty "ousted hundreds of schools and respected Confucianism alone" and established Confucianism as the ruling theory of society.
During the Eastern Han Dynasty, centralization gradually declined, mainly due to the vicious expansion of powerful landlords, which was a prominent feature of Eastern Han politics. A powerful landlord refers to a big landlord who enjoys political privileges, occupies a large amount of land economically and enjoys a special position from generation to generation. A tyrannical landlord has strong economic strength, political control over the central or local governments, and private armed forces, which is a potential threat to centralization. After the yellow turban insurrectionary uprising was suppressed, there was a scuffle between powerful landlords and separatist forces in society.
Economy: The feudal economy developed further at this stage. The political unification of Qin and the measures of unifying currency, writing and weights and measures are all conducive to the development and exchange of social economy and culture. Under the influence of the peasant war at the end of Qin dynasty, the rulers of Han dynasty learned the lesson of the previous generation's demise and adjusted their ruling policies. For example, in the early Western Han Dynasty, they adopted a policy of recuperation against the tyranny of the Qin Dynasty. In the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, in view of the serious problem of handmaiden from the end of the Western Han Dynasty to the New Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty paid attention to rectifying the official administration and issued the Nine Orders to release handmaiden and prohibit their cruelty, thus forming a situation of "martial revival". After several generations of governance and hard work of the working people, the economy has been restored and developed, and the society is stable and prosperous.
Sui and Tang dynasties:
From the establishment of the Sui Dynasty by Emperor Wendi in 58 1 A.D. to the strangulation of the Emperor in 6 18 A.D., * * * existed for 37 years, which was a typical short-lived dynasty. The greatest contributions of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty are as follows: First, the official system was abolished, and the six official systems in Northern Zhou Dynasty were established. Emperor Wendi of the Sui Dynasty also made new laws, and the punishment was no longer as cruel as in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. In addition, the imperial examination system was established and the way of selecting officials was innovated. Apart from building the Grand Canal (the other half is for recreation), Yang Di left no good impression on future generations. Emperor Yang Di's cruelty is also famous in history. Because of its exorbitant taxes, it aroused people's resentment and finally hanged in Jiangdu, and the Sui Dynasty declared its demise.
The Tang Dynasty lasted for 289 years from its establishment in 6 18 to the demise of Zhu Wen in 907. The Tang Dynasty was divided into early and late periods, with the Anshi Rebellion as the boundary. Prosperity in the early stage and decline in the later stage. Tang Gaozu established the Tang Dynasty, and Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin led the troops to complete the great cause of reunification in ten years. After the change of Xuanwumen and Li Shimin's accession to the throne, the Tang Dynasty was unprecedentedly prosperous in the feudal society of China, and "Zhenguan rule" appeared, which was ahead of the world in politics, economy and culture. Since then, during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, "Kaiyuan Shi Sheng" appeared again, and the powerful country, the people and the world appeared again. However, it was also during the Xuanzong period of the Tang Dynasty that the Anshi Rebellion took place and the Tang Dynasty went into decline.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there were many achievements in laws and regulations, such as the system of three provinces and six departments, the imperial examination system and the two tax laws, which had a far-reaching impact on later generations. Sui and Tang Dynasties adopted a relatively open policy and frequent economic and cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. Tang poetry is the greatest achievement in literature. Chen Ziang in the early Tang Dynasty, Li Bai and Du Fu in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Bai Juyi and Yuan Zhen in the middle Tang Dynasty, and Li Shangyin and Du Mu in the late Tang Dynasty are outstanding representatives. The ancient prose movement advocated by Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan had a great influence on later generations. Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy, Yan, Wu Daozi, Wang Wei's paintings, music and dances such as "Dancing in Dress and Feather", and numerous grotto arts are all passed down to later generations. In terms of science and technology, printing and gunpowder, two of China's four great inventions, appeared in this period.
In the late Tang Dynasty, there was political chaos, from the struggle between Niu and Li to the eunuch's autocracy. During this period, peasant uprisings continued, and finally the Huang Chao Uprising broke out. Zhu Wen was one of the leaders of the uprising. He began to rebel against the Tang Dynasty, and later replaced the Tang Dynasty as emperor, and established the first dynasty of the Five Dynasties-Hou Liang.
Ming and Qing dynasties
(1368- 1840): At this stage, the unified multi-ethnic feudal country was further consolidated and the feudal system gradually declined.
Politics: The Ming and Qing Dynasties witnessed unprecedented strengthening of centralization in feudal society in China, which was characterized by the strengthening of absolute monarchy. The rulers of the Ming dynasty abolished the prime minister in the central government, abolished the provincial system in local governments and established three divisions; The rulers of the Qing Dynasty set up military headquarters in the central government, and the adjustment of central or local administrative agencies strengthened the power of the monarch.
The rulers of Ming and Qing dynasties took some "extraordinary" measures to safeguard their own rule and strengthen the authority of the monarch. For example, the Ming Dynasty set up a special factory health institution to closely monitor the officials and the people, and took stereotyped writing as the form of imperial examination to cultivate the emperor's loyal slaves; The rulers of the Qing dynasty carried out the "literary inquisition", which caused a bad situation of "thousands of troops and horses in harmony" The introduction of these measures is precisely the political manifestation of the decline of the feudal system.
Economy: At this stage, the development level of feudal economy reached an unprecedented height. In the early Ming and Qing dynasties, rulers paid more attention to restoring and developing production, so they adjusted their ruling measures to ease contradictions and stabilize small farmers. For example, Ming Taizu rewards reclamation and reduces taxes; In the Qing Dynasty, Yong Zhengdi implemented "land to the tiller" and abolished the poll tax that had been implemented for a long time in feudal society, which made the feudal state begin to relax the personal control of farmers, thus reducing the burden of landless farmers and stabilizing their production and life. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, agriculture, handicrafts and commerce all reached prosperity. On the basis of the unprecedented development of commodity economy, the capitalist employment and exploitation relationship began to sprout in the silk industry and other departments in the south of the Yangtze River from the end of Ming Dynasty. There was a slow development in the early Qing Dynasty, but it was seriously hindered by the decadent feudal system. However, the emergence of new relations of production can, after all, reflect the economic decline of the feudal system. Source ethnic relations: this stage is an important consolidation period for multi-ethnic feudal countries. Especially in the early Qing dynasty, the separatist activities in Junggar and the rebellion of harmony, greatness, smallness and smallness were put down successively, and the jurisdiction over the northwest frontier region was strengthened. Emperor Qianlong also carefully arranged the returned Turkic Hutt Department, making it contribute to the frontier development. The Qing government also strictly controlled Tibet by conferring the title of religious leader in Tibet and sending ministers to Tibet. These measures effectively strengthened the Qing government's control over the border areas and expanded its territory.
Foreign relations: At this stage, the foreign policy of China feudal dynasty changed obviously. Since Zheng He's voyage to the West in the Ming Dynasty, the rulers began to pursue the policy of closing the country to the outside world, and the rulers in the early Qing Dynasty followed suit. This policy has seriously hindered the exchange between China and foreign countries and the development of capitalist relations of production in China, leaving China ignorant of the world development trend, which is an important reason why China lags behind the world trend. At the same time, at this stage, China began to be harassed by early western colonial activities, such as the Portuguese occupation of Macau and the Dutch occupation of Taiwan Province Province. This also reflects the decline of the feudal system.