Why did Zheng Sixiao, an immigrant from the Southern Song Dynasty, and Xiao Qiqing, an expert in Yuan history, have a very different understanding of the status of Confucian scholars in Yuan Dynasty?

The great difference between Zheng Sixiao and Xiao Qiqing lies in their different standpoints of the times.

Original text:

Zheng Sixiao, a adherent of the Southern Song Dynasty, wrote in Iron Mind: "Tatar law: one official, two officials, three monks, four roads, five doctors, six workers, seven hunters, eight people, nine scholars and ten beggars."

Xiao Qiqing, a modern scholar in Taiwan Province Province and an expert in Yuan history, wrote in the History of High School: "Scholars who become Confucian have the same status as monks, but are higher than the general public because they are not as good as nobles and officials." .

Analysis:

The so-called "nine sons and ten beggars" came from the works of two adherents of the Southern Song Dynasty. One is Xie Fangde's Collection of Xie Dieshan, Volume II, Preface to Sending Fang Bo to the Three Mountains, and the other is Zheng Sixiao's History of Mind, A Brief Account of the Great Righteousness. It's easy to judge whether this statement is true or not.

Xie Fangde (1226- 1289), an official at the end of the Southern Song Dynasty, was called a strategist and Dieshan. He once led an army to crusade against Yuan soldiers. After the death of Song Dynasty, he was exiled to Jianning. Yuan Ting appealed many times, but all insisted on resigning. In the 25th year of Zhiyuan (1288), Fujian native Wei Tianyou participated in politics and was sent to Dadu, where Xie Fangde was martyred.

Zheng Sixiao (1241-1318 or 1238- 13 15), who was born in the Southern Song Dynasty, was originally unknown. After the death of Song Dynasty, it was renamed Xiao Si (Xiao Zhe Zhao Ye) out of concern for the old country. His people "sit in the south and listen to the sound of the north, and swear not to associate with new guests" (Tao's "South Village Dropping out of Farming"), painting orchids instead of soil, saying that "the land was taken away by many people".

Judging from their lives, Zheng Xie and Zheng Xie have obvious anti-meta-sentiment, and their works also tend to dwarf or even distort the Yuan Dynasty. Moreover, both of them died in the early Yuan Dynasty, so it is impossible to know the actual social situation in the middle and late Yuan Dynasty. Of course, the author's position alone cannot prove that his statement is false. But analyzing their writings is by no means one or two suspicious or even contrary historical facts.

First of all, let's look at the statement in Xie Dieshan Collection: Xie Fangde didn't say that "Nine sons and Ten beggars" were customized in Yuan Dynasty. On the contrary, it is a joke that "seven craftsmen and eight prostitutes are nine scholars and ten beggars" is a joke that "funny heroes use Confucianism as a performer"

Zheng Sixiao's spiritual history is more suspicious. This book was obtained from the well of Chengtian Temple in Wuzhong on the eighth day of the middle winter in the eleventh year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty (1638). When it was found, it was hidden in a sealed iron box, covered with chalk, and sank into the water. "Wet ink" after opening. If this book is true, it sank in 1283 (twenty years from Yuan to Yuan), and it was already 365 years when it was discovered. Strangely, an iron box has been immersed in water for nearly 400 years and is intact. And there are many fallacies and absurdities in the things contained in the book. For example, Yuan Mei once pointed out: "Yuan Shizu in Heart Sutra cut Wen Tianxiang, ate his heart and lungs, and ate the baby in the pregnant woman's belly. The language is ridiculous and incredible. " Therefore, Tan Qian, Xu, Yuan Mei and others all think that their books were forged in the late Ming Dynasty.

Of course, just looking at its source is not enough to prove its fallacy, and other materials are needed to prove it. Then, according to the system of Yuan Dynasty, what was the real status of Confucian scholars?

First of all, let's look at the household registration system in the Yuan Dynasty. According to different occupational and social functions, the Yuan government divided the national residents into several households, which was called household plan in yuan dynasty history. Common household plans in Yuan Dynasty literature include: army, station, people, craftsmen, Confucianism, medical divination, Yin and Yang, monks, Taoism, Jezsik (Christian clergy), Tutuo (usurer), Shang, Zao (salt industry), boats, archers, express delivery shops and eagle hunting. Therefore, the so-called theory that the whole country is divided into ten classes is unfounded and untenable.

Secondly, different families have different rights and obligations. For example, the duty of military households is to be soldiers, and the duty of station households is to maintain the national post system (called station red in Yuan Dynasty). The obligation of Confucian scholars is to ensure that at least one person in each household is studying and preparing for the exam when the state selects officials to recruit. In terms of rights, because Confucian scholars belong to the category of "laborers", in the Yuan Dynasty, Confucian scholars did not need to undertake all kinds of labor and work that ordinary people needed to undertake. In addition, Confucian scholars can also be tax-free, and land within four hectares does not need to pay local taxes. Moreover, all Confucian scholars registered in China can get government funding, and students studying at school are provided with two meals a day (this treatment far exceeds that of other households.

Moreover, in terms of political status, the status of Confucian scholars is unmatched by other households. According to the records of the official selection system in the history of the Yuan Dynasty, there are three main ways to choose officials in the Yuan Dynasty: 1, fear of learning (that is, staying in the palace); 2. Advance; 3. Imperial examination. Among them, the source of fear of learning is mainly the children of 95 "big root" families established by the Yuan Dynasty at the time of the founding of the People's Republic of China, accounting for about one tenth of the total number of officials in the Yuan Dynasty, which is ignored here. The imperial examination in Yuan Dynasty began in the second year of Yanyou (13 15) and lasted for 51 years, including six years of being betrayed by traitors (1336-1). Among them, there are more than 600 Han and Nan people (that is, the nationalities to which Confucianism belongs), and the number is very small. Therefore, as the main channel for selecting officials in the Yuan Dynasty, especially for middle and lower officials, it is the promotion of officials, which is also the most distinctive point in the system of selecting officials in the Yuan Dynasty.

Throughout the dynasties of China, especially since the Sui and Tang Dynasties, officials were separated, and it was difficult for officials, that is, clerks of government agencies at all levels, to be promoted. Apart from the influence of Mongolian pragmatism in the Yuan Dynasty, the traditional ideas in the Central Plains were not so introverted, and the boundaries between officials and officials were not as obvious as those in other dynasties. Therefore, a large number of officials in the Yuan Dynasty were promoted from officials. Moreover, the status of officials in the Yuan Dynasty is higher than that in other dynasties, and officials in some government agencies can have up to six or seven grades.

Although the imperial examination was not long in the early Yuan Dynasty, the official career was not blocked by Confucian scholars through their official career. On the contrary, Confucianism has always been regarded as one of the established national policies in the Yuan Dynasty and has been implemented for a long time. For example, in the past, our ancestors issued a decree: "Decide that those Confucian scholars who are willing to try to gather counties are excellent." In Renzong's time, "if there is a call, use Confucian scholars sparingly", "Renzong punishes officials, and petty officials all listen to Confucian scholars". Tao An, a native of Yuan Dynasty, also said, "The imperial court ruled the world with official skills. There is a prime minister in the book of talent accumulation in China. At that time, people were still officials. Although a noble family, Confucian heroes are happy. "

In addition, it should be noted that although the imperial examination was not held in the early Yuan Dynasty, the selection of officials was also a system of examination and selection. If the smooth flow of officials is added, the bureaucratic system of the Yuan Dynasty is actually more similar to the modern civil service system than other dynasties, which is also a considerable bright spot in the political system of the Yuan Dynasty.

As can be seen from the above materials, the social status of Confucian scholars in Yuan Dynasty is not low, but in fact they are far superior to other households in politics, economy and other aspects. Moreover, of course, it is due to the national hierarchy and the emphasis on the size of the "root". At the end of Yuan Dynasty, senior officials were monopolized by "95,000 households" at the beginning of the People's Republic of China. However, the so-called "nine scholars and ten beggars" is also ridiculous.

Note: 95,000 households: 95 households made great contributions in the early Yuan Dynasty, named as hereditary thousand households. Besides Mongolian aristocrats, there are Semu and Han families, such as Saidianchi, Shi, Yan and so on.