Chapter 23 Lecture 4 Wang Mang Reform: The Reform of the First Socialist

Since Shang Yang implemented the military nobility system, the hereditary tradition of nobility has been broken. However, Chinese society has gone through a transitional period of about 700 years from the aristocratic form to the gentry form, that is, from the mid-Western Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, which we call the aristocratic form , adapting to it is the aristocratic economy. Aristocratic form → aristocratic form → land gentry form The evolution of Chinese society The so-called aristocratic family, unlike the nobility, has not been legally confirmed by the political power, but is maintained and passed on by blood, and its continuation and growth depends on the strategic efforts of generations of children.At the same time, the aristocratic family puts the interests of the family first in terms of values, has a weak national consciousness, and lacks loyalty to the central government.

From the Warring States period to the Qin Dynasty, and then from the Qin Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, a large number of landowners with military exploits have emerged successively. They were granted land, and then bought land arbitrarily by virtue of their generous rewards and salaries and their social status.At the same time, they recruited a large number of private farmers who leased land, did not pay taxes directly to the government, and did not even serve corvee. They were not registered household population registered by the government.Its economic arrangement is planned and operated according to the principle of self-sufficiency. Within the radius, there are multiple operations in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, sideline, and fishery, and it has everything. , Closed doors into a market".There are self-defense "Wubao" built around the family manor, with a private armed force that can call for battle.Within the aristocratic clan, the bond is formed by the blood clan, and the will of the patriarch is the will of the whole clan, which can influence how the whole clan participates in social activities.This kind of social organization is strongly closed and can survive independently without relying on the outside world.

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the power of the aristocratic clan was suppressed. After his death, various control policies were relaxed one after another.Above the imperial court, they control policy trends and personnel arrangements; at the local level, they combine government and business, form their own system, merge land and recruit people in large numbers, intertwined, and eventually become a powerful climate.By the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, this situation had become quite serious, and the "good stories" of "four generations and three princes" and "one family and five princes" appeared, and the aristocratic families were powerful.

The aristocratic group has "closed doors" economically, which seriously hinders the circulation of commodities and prevents the release of productivity. It poses a political threat to centralization and may give birth to the power to overthrow the regime at any time.In AD 8, Wang Mang usurped Han and proclaimed himself emperor, and his intercalation title was "Xin".After capturing power, Wang Mang tried to change the status quo of the family's out-of-control in one fell swoop, and quickly launched comprehensive economic reforms.