Door system in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

Door system in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

Patriarchal clan system in Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

Patriarchal clan system in Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

Although Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were in a state of long-term division and confrontation, they made many achievements in the political and economic system and played a connecting role in the history of China. Nine-grade system, gentry system and land equalization system were the initial political and economic systems in this period.

The gentry system is a unique historical phenomenon in the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties. Its characteristic is to distinguish the different positions of the gentry and civilians in politics, economy and culture according to their family status. Historically, the gentry system has a long process of germination, formation, full development (also known as prosperity), decline and extinction; Based on the scientific viewpoint of historical materialism, we should analyze and evaluate the gentry system under the specific historical conditions at that time.

Understand the process of the emergence, development, decline and extinction of the gentry system and the inevitability of the imperial examination system from the perspective of development.

Concept of gate valve

In ancient China, two pillars stood outside the door of the official aristocrat's house, "Left reading, right reading" ("Jade Piece Door Division"). The owner uses it from the household order, and the valve reading becomes a symbol of the powerful family. Therefore, in ancient China, those families who were officials from generation to generation were often referred to as gate-valve, gate-valve scholar, gate-valve gentry and gate-valve scholar families.

The "door valve" and "valve reading" mentioned here generally refer to the family background of wealthy families. Qin Guan, a scholar in the Song Dynasty, commented on Wang Jian: "Since the Jin Dynasty, Wang Xiejia has been the most prominent." In the Southern Jin Dynasty, aristocratic families monopolized the political power.

The formation of gentleman system

The Western Jin regime was ruled by the gentry, the privileged class in the landlord class, and the gentry system and gentry politics were consolidated and developed.

Politically, the Nine Grades system guaranteed the political privileges of the gentry. Chiang Kai-shek only values family status. At that time, someone wrote a genealogy that specifically recorded the gentry's surname. Chiang Kai-shek used this as a basis to evaluate the level of characters, regardless of talent and virtue. In this way, the western Jin regime was completely monopolized by the gentry, and there was a situation of "public and public, clear and clear", and the nobles held the political power;

Economically, the system of "official occupying land" guaranteed the economic privilege of the gentry. The accelerated formation of the gentry system and the prevalence of gentry politics are also important aspects of the political decay and darkness in the Western Jin Dynasty.

cause

(1) Historical roots: the development of powerful landlords since the Eastern Han Dynasty. (2) Political reasons: the ruling foundation of Wei and Jin Dynasties was the gentry, and the emperor was supported by the gentry;

(3) Political guarantee: The Nine Grades System is the political guarantee of the cremation system. (Become a tool for aristocratic families to cultivate private forces and safeguard political privileges,)

The development of gentleman system

(1) Germination (Eastern Han Dynasty)

Politics: Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty advocated Confucianism, bureaucrats started with Confucian classics and gradually formed a state of being an official for life in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Cao Wei carried out the system of "nine grades of justice", which enabled clan landlords to participate in political power by virtue of their family background.

Economy: In the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, land annexation was very serious, and gradually formed a powerful landlord force of bureaucrats, businessmen and landlords. The regime of the Eastern Han Dynasty was established with the support of the powerful landlords, so the powerful landlords enjoyed political and economic privileges in the Eastern Han Dynasty. They controlled the central and local governments politically, annexed land economically, managed manors, gradually became independent and became aristocratic families. In the Eastern Han Dynasty, gentry landlords began to form, which provided a class and economic foundation for the establishment of the gentry system in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

② Strata (Cao Wei, Western Jin Dynasty)

The formation of gentry system means that the ruling class promulgated various laws and regulations to safeguard the privileges of gentry landlords in political, economic, cultural and social life. The "Nine Grades" system implemented by Cao Wei regime is an important symbol of the formation of aristocratic system.

(2) Consolidate (Western Jin Dynasty)

After the establishment of the Western Jin Dynasty, in order to gain the support of the big landlords, the Sima family continued to connive and woo the big landlords, forming a typical door-to-door politics.

(3) The heyday (Eastern Jin Dynasty)

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the gentry system fully developed and entered its heyday. The reason is that the Eastern Jin relied on the support of the gentry in the north and south. The Eastern Jin regime is a joint dictatorship of Sima's imperial power, the northern gentry represented by Wang, Yu, Huan and Xie, and the gentry of Wu in the south of the Yangtze River, which is in a non-mainstream position. This political pattern lasted for a century until the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. At that time, the influence of the gentry was enough to keep pace with the imperial power and even surpass it. The emperor relied on the support of the gentry, and the politics of the gentry reached its peak. During this period, the gentry occupied a high position in politics, with high salaries and generous salaries, monopolized political power, blocked mountains and rivers economically, occupied a large area of land and labor, and advocated speaking freely in culture. In order to maintain this system, during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties, the gentry attached great importance to the compilation of genealogy and the origin of the gentry's lineage as a proof of their privileges, so genealogy prevailed, and genealogy monographs became a tool for official departments to select officials and maintain the privileged position of the gentry.

During this period, the Tu people had political privileges, and the important positions of honest officials were monopolized by gentry. Economically, it owns granges, occupies a large number of land population, and often competes with the government for the labor force population; Culturally, genealogy inherits and occupies a monopoly position, but also advocates genealogy, advocates metaphysics, and is good at dragon calligraphy, painting and other arts; Society does not marry civilians, and so on. The gentry hold the power, but they are unwilling to set foot in practice and decay in indulgence and luxury.

(4) Decline (Southern Dynasties)

From the late Eastern Jin Dynasty to the Southern Dynasty, the gentry system gradually declined. The root cause lies in the decay of the gentry themselves. Under the gentry system, the gentry, especially the senior gentry, can be an official by virtue of their family background and hold senior positions for generations. The special social environment made many gentry not enterprising, indulged in leisure and debauchery, and disdained government and military affairs. Coupled with the close relationship between gentry, poor physical quality. Therefore, after the war between the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the former Qin Dynasty, some generals from civilian backgrounds stood out, showing high political and military talents, and their prestige and power rose rapidly. In the Southern Dynasties, Song, Qi, Liang and Chen were all generals of civilian origin. Although the emperors of the Southern Dynasties could not change the situation that senior gentry monopolized senior officials, they quoted civilian officials and entrusted them with positions with low taste but real power, and shared the privileges of gentry in actual governance. The second reason for the decline of the gentry system in this period was that it was hit by the peasant uprising; The third reason is that the gentry have been hit and weakened by contradictions within the ruling class. The interaction of the above three reasons greatly weakened the class and economic foundation of the cremation system.

In the southern dynasties, due to the decline of the clan itself. Lost political and military dominance; With the conflict and intensification of social class contradictions, peasant uprisings broke out one after another, and Han landlords took the opportunity to rise by military force. While suppressing the peasant uprising, we further took the initiative to control the localities, commanded the army, and proclaimed ourselves emperor by force, such as Emperor Wu of Song and Xiao Daocheng. , broke the situation that the landlord at the main entrance dominated the country. At this time, although the clan landlords were in high positions, they had no real power and were bound to perish. Later, due to the chaos of the waiting time and the demise of the Sui Dynasty, the hierarchy of the gate valve was dying, and the landlord of cloth clothes jumped to the main position in politics. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the system of "Nine Grades of Zheng Zhi" was abolished and the imperial examination system was implemented. "The draft doesn't ask about family background, and marriage doesn't ask about reading." Aristocratic system, which originated in Wei Dynasty and prevailed in Jin Dynasty, finally died out in the political and legal system.

(5) Extinction (Late Tang Dynasty)

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the gentry system gradually died out. One of the reasons is that the imperial examination system was implemented in Sui and Tang Dynasties, which made the landlords with low family status participate in the political power through the examination and destroyed the political foundation of the aristocratic system. The implementation of the land equalization system and the rent adjustment system has enabled some farmers who have no land and little land to get some land, and also ensured farmers' production time. Its prohibition of unlimited land occupation and land sale at will inhibited land merger to some extent, protected yeoman farmers, and weakened the economic foundation of the cremation system to some extent. The second is the struggle for power and interests within the ruling class in the Tang Dynasty. Third, the peasant war further destroyed the decadent cremation system. Since then, the gentry system, which lasted for six or seven hundred years, has finally disappeared on the historical stage.

In the early Eastern Jin Dynasty and Southern Dynasties, the system of the gentry was fully developed, and the power of the gentry reached its peak. At that time, family status became the only criterion to measure the nobility, and the gentry enjoyed privileges everywhere by virtue of their family background, and they were superior everywhere. Since the Yongjia Rebellion, a large number of gentry moved south, and "a hundred people from the Central Plains crossed the river with Jin". Together with the original gentry in the south of the Yangtze River, it became the ruling pillar of the Eastern Jin regime. The influence of the gentry expanded, especially Wang, Xie, Yu, Huan and other gentry, with extremely noble social status and great power. "Although the Jin Lord has the respect of the south, he has no real power, and Zaifu is in power and has many political affairs." In the early Eastern Jin Dynasty and Southern Dynasties, the gentry attached great importance to marriage in order to maintain their superior family expectations and aristocratic lineage. They only allow gentry of the same family to marry. "Marrying an official and losing his job" will be despised by gentry and attacked by groups. During the Southern Qi Dynasty, Roy, a native of the East China Sea, married a woman named Fu. Roy is a scholar-bureaucrat. He is an official from generation to generation. His great-grandfather was also a right servant of Shangshu, and his surname was full of literati. This marriage made the gentry in the Southern Dynasties make a fuss. In the suggestion, the impeachment yue was specially played for this matter. He said that "Wang Manlian's marriage was a real horror", accused Roy of "humiliating the younger generation, that's all" and asked the emperor to "avoid seeing things at the source and imprison for life" ("King of Play"). Later, Hou Jing rebelled against Wei and went to Nanliang. He once proposed to a noble family in Xie Wang. Liang Wudi said: "Wang Xie's door is not flat. You can visit him in Zhang Zhu." That is to say, Hou Jing is inconsistent with the surname of the highest cremation, and she can only marry the second cremation. Hou Jing was furious and said, "Make all Wu's children slaves!" (Biography of Heather Hou Jing)

The decline of the gentleman system

In the early Eastern Jin Dynasty and Southern Dynasties, the southern gentry was the most powerful. In order to maintain their privileged position and vested interests, they advocate separating ordinary people from ordinary people.

However, the privilege also caused their incompetence, and many people in the cremation became the waste parasitic in society. The gentry did not want to lead troops to fight, and some cloth clothes gradually gained real power by virtue of the meritorious military service.

For example, Emperor Wu of Song was very powerful, took control of the political power, and finally established the Liu and Song Dynasties.

The gentry disdained being an official, with complicated affairs and poor ability. The cold people in the Southern Dynasties took the opportunity to master the machine gradually.

The gentry and dignitaries in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties were once prominent and hot, but they were only a flash in the pan and fleeting.

At the end of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the gentry gradually declined. By the end of the Southern Dynasty, especially after the impact of the post-Jin Rebellion, the hundred gentry who moved in during the southern crossing of the Jin Dynasty were "slightly tired".

Li Bai lamented that "golden clothes are ancient dust" ("Going to Nanjing to climb the Phoenix Terrace"). Wu Yixiang, the second poem in Liu Yuxi's Five Topics of Jinling, satirizes the decline and demise of the gentry. Wuyi Lane and Zhuque Bridge in the poem are the places where Wang lived and traveled. It was very lively at that time, but now it is a desolate and deserted scene. Liu Yuxi lamented:

There are some weeds blooming by the Suzaku Bridge, and there is only sunset at the corner of Wuyi Lane. Swallows under the eaves of Wang Dao and Xie An have now flown into the homes of ordinary people.

Reasons for refusal

(1) Self-decay: decadent and luxurious life and innate privileges lead to the lack of ruling ability and even survival ability of the gentry class;

(2) The internal struggle of the ruling group in the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern Dynasties was fierce, and the common people gradually seized the opportunity to take the initiative;

(3) The influence of the Hou Jing Rebellion. The gentry of Du Nan in Jin Dynasty "slept for a while";

(4) The implementation of the imperial examination system in Sui and Tang Dynasties shook the political foundation of the gentry;

(5) The strike of peasant uprising in the late Tang Dynasty. (completely eliminate the cremation system)

affect

The gentry system runs through the most prominent political characteristics of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and it is also the manifestation of political corruption and darkness in the Western Jin Dynasty, which determines the bureaucratic characteristics of politics, economy and culture in this period and has a far-reaching impact on later generations.

Negative effects:

The political and economic characteristics of the gentry system determined that the class contradictions, ethnic contradictions and internal contradictions of the ruling class in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties were often particularly acute, which led to the long-term political situation of separatist regime in the North and South. The gentry grange economy strengthened the closed natural economy and hindered the development of commodity economy. The gentry is a decadent group in the landlord class, which is becoming more and more decadent in the later period, and is a group of social parasites.

Objective positive effect: 1. Economically, the gentry's grange economy was feudal land ownership, and the gentry occupied a large number of labor, which strengthened the feudal dependence. Under the turbulent political situation in Wei and Jin Dynasties, farmers were attached to aristocratic families and had relatively guaranteed production conditions, which was obviously beneficial to the development of feudal economy. During the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, the south was relatively stable. As the core of northern immigrants, gentry landlords came to the south to start businesses. The objective situation makes them the organizers of developing the southern economy. The granges and villas they built in the south, after all, promoted the development of the barren hills in the south of the Yangtze River. 2. In ethnic relations, intellectuals played an important role in promoting the feudalization of northern minorities. The gentry are rich in thought, technology and culture, and are qualified to engage in cultural undertakings. Some gentry despise etiquette and advocate personal freedom, and their thoughts are full of imagination and romance. Therefore, during the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties, they made many achievements in philosophy, literature, calligraphy, painting and science, and they were full of characteristics.