What was born on February 2022 10? How about getting married on February 20222 10?

What was born on February 2022 10? Our reporter Zhong Yuan.

According to the editor's note, it seems to be our common sense that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "ousted a hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone". However, Cai Liang, an associate professor in the history department of American universities, questioned this in his new book The Disaster of Witchcraft and the Rise of Confucian Empire. Through the statistical analysis of the data of high-level birth in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty and the subsequent Zhao, Zhao and Zhao Dynasties, she thinks that the witchcraft disaster in the later period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty led to the killing of a large number of descendants of military nobles, which made the Confucian class rise rapidly in the bureaucratic group and became one of the main forces in the later period, thus contributing to the rise of a Confucian empire, which can be described as a unique way in the field of Qin and Han history research. Private History magazine made an exclusive interview with Cai Liang, focusing on his research ideas. The following is the interview text.

Cai Liang

Thesis: When did you become interested in studying Confucian scholars in Han Dynasty?

Cai Liang: This book was developed on the basis of my doctoral thesis. When I decided on the topic of my doctoral thesis, there was a fundamental problem that always bothered me: we often talked about Confucianism, and talked about "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" in the Han Dynasty. Do we really know the Confucian scholars in Han Dynasty? In the framework of traditional knowledge, we are not familiar with many Confucian scholars in the Western Han Dynasty. In the history of more than 200 years, the Confucian scholars who are often talked about are basically Gong, Dong Zhongshu and Liu Xiang. What about other Confucian scholars? Where are they? What kind of living state does it exist in? Scholars or? What does everyone mean by "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone"? Does Confucianism appear in the discourse of elites, or can Confucian scholars exercise power themselves? These questions began to lead me to re-examine Historical Records and Hanshu.

Everyone can define "Confucianism" and who is a "Confucian student", but at the same time everyone will bring their own prejudices, expectations and mentality. Contemporary scholars can define Confucian scholars, but I chose another research method. As a historian, I want to put aside the existing prejudice and reproduce history. So my goal is how to define "Confucianism" by contemporaries in Han Dynasty. Specifically, when doing research, what I am looking for is how to define "Confucianism" or "Confucian scholars" in the existing historical materials. Because the history of the Western Han Dynasty is based on Sima Qian's Historical Records and Ban Gu's Hanshu, I am looking for who is called "Confucian scholar" in Historical Records and Hanshu.

Obviously, Sima Qian and Ban Gu will not call all or all scholars Confucian scholars, so what criteria do they use when classifying them? What are their observations and views on the era or bureaucracy hidden behind this standard? Some people will question that Sima Qian and Ban Gu are also biased. Yes, both Sima Qian and Ban Gu have their own prejudices. All our historical materials, whether ancient or modern, are not completely objective, are cut and biased. We must face up to the prejudice of historical materials in order to be further away from historical facts. From another perspective, it is almost impossible to reproduce history without prejudice. The limitations of historical materials and personal perspectives determine the impossibility of completely restoring history. However, in order to restore the history in the historical materials as accurately and comprehensively as possible, only by grasping the historical materials completely and completely can we get closer to the history itself.

After the research problems and the concepts used are clear, I have systematically reconstructed the historical materials. Exhausting historical materials is the standard of my own scholarship, and the limited materials in Qin and Han Dynasties made it possible to exhaust historical materials. In this way, I sorted out the Confucian scholars mentioned in Historical Records and Hanshu.

In the process of combing, I found that there were few Confucian scholars in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty recorded in historical materials. This is in sharp contrast with the traditional cognition of "respecting Confucianism alone" I began to ask: what kind of historical situation do Confucian scholars live in? Confucius said, "Stand at 30", so how did the Confucian scholars stand in the Western Han Dynasty, what kind of ambition did they have, and how did they realize it? How do they "settle down"? Most of the Confucian scholars recorded in history appeared in their capacity. Then, apart from Confucian scholars, which group is exercising power to manage the great empire of the Western Han Dynasty? Driven by these problems, I began to systematically sort out all the records (three officials, nine ministers, generals and the capital) since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and systematically sorted out their family background, official career, academic tendency and relationship. Thanks to the achievements of the data humanities (thanks to the "Chinese Full-text Project" and the "China Philosophical Works Electronic Project", the digital historical materials compiled by them have been made public), so that I can sort them out as comprehensively as possible within a certain period of time. The collation, statistics and analysis of these traditional historical materials have become the basis of witchcraft sorrow and the rise of Confucian empire.

Paper: In your research, Confucian scholars, as a group, formed in the Huo Guang era after Emperor Wu, so why do we have the "common sense" that Emperor Wu "ousted a hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone"?

Cai Liang: I was surprised after counting the three officials and nine ministers from Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to the end of the Western Han Dynasty. Because the number of Confucian scholars called by Sima Qian or Ban Gu was once very small. After a carpet search, it is found that only 7 people were called Confucian scholars in 54 years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, while 76 people were recorded in detail in Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Statistics show that there were only a few Confucian scholars in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. Moreover, the power and influence that these seven Confucian scholars can exercise are also very limited. Confucian scholars often struggle with each other. The familiar cognition holds that "exclusive respect for Confucianism" depends on the system guarantee, that is, the establishment of imperial academy, the establishment of doctors of the Five Classics and the system of check-up. However, when analyzing and combing the career paths of all Confucian scholars in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it was found that few people entered the bureaucratic system through channels such as imperial academy and Chaju. In fact, only Gong Sunhong's career path began in the teahouse. Only Ni Kuan entered the officialdom through imperial academy. Both the information and the recorded career trajectory of Confucian scholars are in sharp contrast with our common sense cognition of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty's "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone".

The newly discovered materials have been recognized by my own tradition, so the next step I thought at that time was to read them again. Rereading has two purposes: first, I want to re-examine how contemporary scholars explain that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty "ousted a hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone"; Second, I want to know how the existing dominant academic discourse is formed.

When rereading, it is found that Chinese and foreign scholars have begun to question the proposition that Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty "respects Confucianism alone" from different angles. For example, Mr. Fukui Chongya believes that Emperor Wu did not set up a doctor of the Five Classics as we generally think. (See Fukui's Six Classics, Six Arts and Five Classics: Establishment of Five Classics in Han Dynasty, China History 4 (1994):139-164. (Zheng Shi's "Dong Zhongshu's Policy of Virtue", Shi Chao 1 1 No.2 (194 1): 79. Michael Loewe's Self-confident Values and Practice of Han People in China, Dongbao 98, p. 1-3 (20 12): p. 1-30) Lu thinks that the ceremony sealed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty is far from the Confucian scholars' theory. (Mark Edward Lewis, "The Sacred Ceremony of Feng Heshan in Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty", in China's State and Court Etiquette (new york: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 50-80) Scholars Zheng Shi and Li Kaiyuan both noticed that the number of Confucian scholars in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was relatively small. (Official History: Infiltration of Confucian Bureaucrats in the Han Dynasty, History, People's Culture: Mr. Tadashi Sakai's Ancient Times) Li Kaiyuan: Establishment of the Han Empire and Liu Bang Group: Research on Military Interest Classes, Joint Publishing Company, 2000) Everyone is familiar with Mr. Xin Deyong's The Formulation of the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He re-examined the historical materials of the Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Mr. Wang Baodi pointed out decades ago that "hundreds of families were deposed. However, this famous saying came into being when Sima Guang wrote Zi Tong Zhi Jian in the 2nd century A.D./KLOC-0.

Where does the narrative of "exclusive respect for Confucianism" come from? This question makes me re-examine our old views. Interestingly, the narration of Emperor Wudi's "exclusive respect for Confucianism" is roughly similar to the two chapters of Historical Records, Filial Piety and Scholars. These two chapters have their own problems. See the detailed text analysis in my book for details.

When will these studies converge into a new trend and completely rewrite the great narrative of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty's "exclusive respect for Confucianism"? This also requires the collective efforts of the academic community.

Paper: Why did Sima Qian and Ban Gu "invent" a group of Confucian scholars? Did they do it intentionally or unintentionally?

Cai Liang: I think I will avoid using the word "fiction". At the same time, I observed that there was no sense of identity between Confucian scholars in this period. On the contrary, they often hold different political views and attack, crowd out or even frame each other. The palace directly suggested that Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty execute Zhu. Father Yan once stole Dong Zhongshu's works on disasters and dedicated them to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. At that time, it coincided with the high incidence of fires in Liaodong, and Emperor Wu thought this article implied irony. Dong Zhongshu was thrown into prison for this reason, and finally saved his life.

In these contexts, after reading The Scholars, I am full of confusion: Why did Sima Qian distinguish Confucian scholars from others, treat them as a homogeneous group, and make a collective biography for them without mutual recognition?

Comparing the Scholars with other chapters in Historical Records, we can see that the Scholars actually presents a utopian group of Confucian scholars and ecology. In The Scholars, Confucian scholars formed a continuous and homogeneous group through the relationship between mentor and apprentice, and Confucian scholars can directly locate themselves by studying the Five Classics. There is a direct relationship between Confucian knowledge and power, and the accumulation of knowledge can directly serve the official position. Since Confucius, the dream of Confucian scholars has been realized in Sima Qian's The Scholars.

The utopian world in The Scholars is in sharp contrast with other historical biographies. In other chapters of Historical Records, the knowledge of Confucian scholars does not directly empower them, and their career path is full of uncertainty and contingency. In the imperial court, the descendants of Quan Huan were dominant. In this reading, we can see the narrative of "multi-voice". I think readers can judge for themselves whether Sima Qian intentionally created a utopian Confucian group and ecology in The Scholars.

Cai Liang's Evil Witchcraft and the Rise of Confucian Empire, translated by Fu Qiang, Normal University Press.

Thesis: In your research, you used your knowledge to make a quantitative analysis of the background. What do you think of this application? What kind of theoretical breakthrough has your research made?

Cai Liang: Contemporary scholars have their own academic history in using data to reconstruct traditional historical materials. As early as 1980s, Zheng Shi had already started this kind of research and exploration. Li Kaiyuan's research in 2000 followed the same pattern. Both scholars noticed that the number of Confucian scholars in the period of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty was relatively small.

In fact, the research on the reorganization of linear historical narrative data and the classification of the same or similar phenomena and characters has a long history, which can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty. Our advantage is that after the text is digitized, it becomes more operable to retrieve the same or similar historical figures. Characters can not only be described linearly according to individual life, but also be classified and reorganized according to certain characteristics. Digital humanities allows us to study not only historical individuals, but also groups with certain characteristics. The study of people with the same characteristics can make us turn from individual micro-vision to bird's eye macro-vision, and have a better grasp of the structure and historical development trend.

Structured biographical materials have been applied to many historical research fields. Scholars also use Prosopography to describe this new biographical data, which can be defined as "a collective study of the lives of a group of actors in history to examine their common background characteristics"-a systematic study of people with the same and similar characteristics. Existing mature structural drawings include: the map of Byzantium-Arabs in Macedonian Dynasty (867- 1025), the map of Byzantine Empire Project, and the map of Anglo-Saxon England.

As a historian, I also hope to construct the structural figures data of Qin and Han history, which requires collective efforts.

Paper: Why does the curse of witchcraft create a good opportunity for Confucian scholars to enter this field?

Cai Liang: In February 9 1 BC, Gong Jingsheng, who had been a slave for ten years, was put into prison for misappropriating huge funds originally belonging to the North Army. His father, Prime Minister Gong Sunhe, managed to catch the national wanted ranger Zhu Anshi, hoping to restore his respect. However, Zhu Anshi in prison wrote a letter accusing Sun Jingsheng of having an affair. The Sun family instructed him to put a curse on Emperor Wu, and buried a sorcery puppet under the equator leading to Ganquan in the summer palace of Emperor Wu. A department tried the case and the charges were settled. Emperor Wu immediately wiped out the GongSunHe family. Shi Yang and Princess Zhu Yi were both executed by witchcraft. This small-scale killing is only the prelude, and the storm sweeping the audience is even more bloody and violent.

In the summer of 9 1 BC, Emperor Wu went to Ganquan for the summer as usual, but the picturesque scenery here could not alleviate the illness of the old emperor. Jiang Chong, a rising star of Ran Ran, convinced Emperor Wu that his illness was caused by others. The old emperor was very worried and ordered Jiang Chong to handle his affairs. Hire a witch who may be in Central Asia to search for dolls for blessing and undead wandering here. The accused wizard and night temple keeper were arrested and broke into the dungeon. Ban Gu wrote that it was full of cries and whines of suspects and the smell of iron burning on the body. The capital is in a state of panic. Accusations of witchcraft are flying everywhere. According to Hanshu, as many as ten thousand people died in a series of cases.

Jiang Chong accused witchcraft of being introduced into the palace, and this bloody incident was thus achieved. Once he crossed the palace gate, and one of the victims was the maids who were no longer favored by the emperor. Step by step, Jiang Chong pointed the finger at it and brazenly accused it of witchcraft-a wooden statue engraved with the image of a cursed victim was found in Taichung. Liang Wudi was in Ganquan Palace, but the tragic death of his two sisters and the Gongsun family was still in sight, so according to Liu's suggestion, he ordered Jiang Chong and others to be arrested. Hou Han, who cooperated with Jiang Chong in handling the case, said that he questioned the authenticity of the imperial edict and immediately received orders from the prince. Zhang Qian, another loyal to Jiang Chong, fled desperately and went to Ganquan Palace to change.

The situation is getting worse and worse. The prince told his mother, Wei Ruyun, and took weapons from the royal armory and distributed them to the guards of Changle Palace. Then tell the ministers that Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has been dying in Ganquan Palace, and Jiang Chong and others want to take advantage of the chaos. According to Liu, Jiang Chong was executed and Hu Wu was burned alive in Shanglinyuan. Then he led his men to the residence of Prime Minister Liu Quli, but the latter had escaped. The capital Chang 'an is in chaos. The generals who guarded the capital did not believe that the emperor supported the prince to do so, and they were all watching. On hearing the news of the prince's rebellion, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty immediately drove back to Chang 'an, ordered the Prime Minister to lead troops to counter the rebellion, and closed the city gate to prevent Liu from escaping. In the ensuing scuffle, thousands of people died, including Wei Ruyun, Herry Liu and her subordinates, as well as their whole families.

Witchcraft panic reappeared in May 90 BC. This time, the person accused of cursing was replaced by Liu Quli, who succeeded GongSunHe and just rebelled against Herry Liu. His wife was accused of cursing Emperor Wu. It is said that she and Li Guangli, the general of the Second Division, prayed to heaven to make Liu Bo, the king of Changyi, the new heir to the throne.

Liu Quli and his wife were born to die. Li Guangli fought in the Far West, surrendered to the Huns shortly after hearing the news, and Li Guangli's family was destroyed. The target of the next political persecution is the new ancient scholars Shang, Tai Zhonggen, Dairen Dahong, Yin Jian and former generals Gong. All these people were accused of witchcraft and were executed in succession from 1989 to 1987. During the same period, 1 1 Marquis who did not serve in Korea were accused of witchcraft, convicted and executed. In the last five years of Emperor Wu's reign, the most prestigious and powerful family that controlled the dynasty for a long time was almost slaughtered.

Scholars in China have made an in-depth study on the curse of witchcraft. For example, Mr., Mr. and Mr. Lu have combed this great history of the Western Han Dynasty very well. The curse of witchcraft can be discussed from two angles. One angle is to ask the reason for the witchcraft disaster: is this a carefully planned conspiracy? What caused the five-year elite? Another angle is to examine the great shock caused by witchcraft disaster to the political situation at that time. My research focuses on the second question. On the basis of existing scholars' research and statistical data, I see that the disaster of witchcraft provides an opportunity for the rise of Confucian scholars.

After the witchcraft disaster, we can see a power vacuum on the stage. For decades, almost all the officials who controlled the politics of the Western Han Dynasty were beheaded by witches. For example, Liu Bang's military group, from the first day of the establishment of the Western Han Dynasty to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was a candidate of the imperial court. However, after the disaster of witchcraft, these families never appeared in the history of the Western Han Dynasty. At the same time, we can see that Confucian scholars who were born in relative poverty or unclear family background began to enter the stage. Their mentoring relationship and academic background (the study of the Five Classics) make them different, and their proportion makes Confucian scholars a force to be reckoned with.

Paper: If the disaster of witchcraft led to the rise of Confucian empire, it will have a far-reaching impact on the next two thousand years. So can it be regarded as an accidental change of China's historical track? How to treat this contingency?

Cai Liang: Why can Confucian scholars successfully use the power vacuum caused by witchcraft to realize their ideals? Is it the promotion result of Huo Guang's administration? Life and history have certain contingency. After the witchcraft disaster, inexperienced Wei Xian and Cai Yi were directly promoted to the central government to become prime ministers. In fact, to a great extent, it was because Huo Guang needed someone to provide ideological legitimacy for the emperor Zhao Yi he controlled. However, there are two conditions for Confucian scholars to become candidates for Huo Guang: First, Confucianism has been constantly interpreted and publicized, and it has already had a certain influence in the elite. It is hard to imagine that the idea of complete death can provide a strong legal basis for a crisis. Second, although the influence of Confucian scholars before Huo Guang in this field is very limited, they should still have their own traditions. In addition, some Confucian scholars entered the bureaucratic system before the witch disaster and served as middle and lower administrative personnel at that time. Their identities at that time overlapped with those of literary officials. This part of Confucian scholars climbed to the top of the bureaucratic system through their own administrative ability and their own relationship after the witch disaster, among which Wei Xiang was a very representative figure.

Chance can make some accumulated energy erupt at a certain moment in history, but long-term accumulated power is the driving force of historical development. Confucianism, especially during the Qin and Han empires, is very valuable. But how ideas change history and reality sometimes really needs to wait for opportunities.

(Xue Rui also contributed to this article)

Editor in charge: Han

Proofreading: Liu Wei

The above is about the birth of 10 in February 2022, and it is about the sharing of the Han Dynasty. How to get married after reading 20222 10, I hope this will help everyone!