Chapter 12 Section 2 One Country, Two Systems

Since ancient times, the Chinese people in the Central Plains have said that "Hulu has no luck for a hundred years". Is there any truth to this statement?In Chinese history, Khitan was the first nation to break this statement.The key reason why it was able to rule over half of China for two hundred years is that it created an advanced political system, which is still used by us today.So what kind of system is this? Regarding the rule of the Central Plains by the ethnic minorities, we people in the Central Plains always say "the barbarians have no luck for a hundred years", and we are very proud of it, which means that it will not exceed a hundred years for the minorities to rule the Central Plains.Why not more than a hundred years?Because you are backward than me, when a backward nation conquers an advanced nation, it is often conquered by the advanced culture of the advanced nation.You hit me because you envied me. In ancient times, wars were not fought when you were backward, but when you were advanced. War in the era of cold weapons has no necessary connection with comprehensive national strength.Nomads often conquer advanced nations with their fast horses and scimitars.After conquering, you will face two choices: the first is that you learn from me, and the second is that you do not learn from me.If you learn from me, you will become me, and you?I can't beat you with a fast horse and a scimitar. Confucius said that I am the ancestor. Once you get off the horse, put the knife in the sheath, and read the book, you will worship me infinitely.Look at me, I wear silk and eat oil, look at you, live in tents and eat raw meat.If you become me, there will be no you, so you will not have a hundred years of luck.Like during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty reformed and took the Central Plains in an all-round way. Does the Xianbei nation still exist today?Apparently no longer exists.Once the people of Xiaowu Pingling get off their horses, they will be beaten to the ground by the newly emerging nomadic peoples, such as Rouran and Turks.You know, they were also a nation on horseback back then, but it's over when you get off the horse.If you don’t learn from me, if you rule such a vast advanced area and such a large population in such a backward way, the result will be that where you came from, you will go back to herd sheep. You are definitely not willing to go back to herd sheep.We look at the history of the world, no regime established by force of conquest can last long.Nomads will inevitably face this kind of embarrassment when they enter the Central Plains—whether to learn from the Central Plains or not to learn from him, I don’t care if I learn from him or not.But the Khitans showed great intelligence on this issue.

The wisdom of the Khitan people lies in the implementation of one country, two systems.It can be said that the Khitan is the most successful dynasty in Chinese history that has successfully realized one country, two systems. "Govern the Khitan with the national system, and treat the Han people with the Han system." ("History of the Liao Dynasty") We Khitan people will not learn from you, but I will not let the Han people learn from me, but implement two systems. Officials in the south, officials in the south, officials in the north ruled the Khitan people and grassland peoples, and officials in the south ruled the Han people (including the Bohai people who were later conquered by Taizu); the officials in the south were ruled by Han law, and the officials in the north were ruled by the old Khitan law.The officials in the south are all dressed in Tang Dynasty costumes, with soft-footed headbands and narrow clothes with small sleeves. They are exactly the same as those in the Central Plains, and the official names are also the same, such as Ling, Pushe, Privy Envoy, and Jiedushi; Yilijin, the official who decided the case was named Yilibi, and it was still these Khitan names.

Liao's Shangjing Linhuang Mansion has not survived until today. Later, when the Jurchens rose up and attacked the Liao Kingdom, the city was destroyed, but the ruins of the city are well preserved.What is particularly interesting is that from the ruins, the city is divided into two halves, with Miyagi in the north and Seoul in the south.Seoul in the south can be seen to have streets and houses.The ruins of a lonely imperial palace in the middle of Miyagi in the north, nothing else.Why is there only a palace in the north?Because the Khitan live in tents.The Han people in the south live in tile-roofed houses. They are not used to living in tile-roofed houses, and they feel that once people live in tile-roofed houses, they will be lazy and want to be comfortable. The habit of living after water and grass is gone, so the people surrounding the palace in the north are all Khitan people. tent.It is said that traces of piles can still be found when setting up tents, because there are few human-made damages on the Mongolian grasslands.Therefore, Khitan is not only one country, two systems, but also one city, two systems, and it is manifested in all aspects.

Khitan ensured the mausoleum of its own nation, and made the Han people not feel alienated here. Therefore, the Liao was the first northern nation to break the saying that "the barbarians have no luck for a hundred years". Nine emperors enjoy the country two hundred and one ten years.What is the concept of 210 years?In all the dynasties of the Central Plains after Qin Shihuang unified China, it was considered long to put Khitan in it.Moreover, only nine emperors were changed in 210 years. It should be said that the political situation is relatively stable. In the 53rd year of the Five Dynasties, more than a dozen emperors were changed.Therefore, the system of one country, two systems can be said to be very successful. This system also provides a reference for the future development of Chinese history, a kind of political wisdom.

We can see that the Khitan Dynasty, as a grassland nation, was a pioneer in following the example of the Central Plains, and the systems they created would have a profound impact on the future development of Chinese history.At the same time, their contribution to the development of today's frontier areas of the motherland is also considerable.I have emphasized such a point of view in the past, the three dynasties in the northern part of the country, Liao, Xixia, and Jin, stood side by side with the Song Dynasty.Regardless of whether it is Liao, Xixia, Northern Song Dynasty, or Jin, Xixia, and Southern Song Dynasty, this is a period of history within the motherland. It can be regarded as the last three kingdoms, or it can be regarded as the later Southern and Northern Dynasties, because Khitan and Song Dynasty later called each other The Northern Dynasties and the Southern Dynasties, that is, the Later Three Kingdoms or the Later Southern and Northern Dynasties, they are all part of the Chinese nation.The country established by the Khitan nation is by no means like what we see in storytelling and romance, or film and television works, and we should have a correct understanding of them.

In addition, Khitan has another very remarkable thing-creating its own characters.Northern horsemen, such as the Xiongnu, were so heroic back then. After being defeated by the Han Dynasty, except for those who merged with the Han people, the rest disappeared, because they themselves had no writing or records.According to Chinese history books, the northern Xiongnu was as early as the 2nd century AD. Hundreds of years later, a powerful nation suddenly appeared in Europe and swept across Europe. Some people say that this is the Xiongnu of that year.Historians can't argue clearly. You say they were the Huns back then, so where have they been hiding for the past two hundred years?They did not have written words, and it is very likely that the surrounding ethnic groups where they stayed did not have written words, so there is no record of them.The earliest grassland peoples who created their own scripts may be the Uyghurs, who created a kind of phonetic script.What kind of writing was created by the Khitan people?