Chapter 10 Section 4 "Depose a Hundred Schools of Thought and Revere Confucianism Only"

In the early years of the founding of the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang took Huang Lao's "government by doing nothing" as the guiding ideology of governing the country in response to the current situation that was waiting for prosperity.Since then, Empress Lu, Emperor Wen, and Emperor Jing have been in power, and the idea of ​​Du Huang Lao prevailed.But this kind of thinking has changed from the Taoist thought in the pre-Qin period.In front of the first volume of Laozi unearthed from Han Tomb No. 3 in Mawangdui, Changsha, there are ancient lost [yiyi] books "Fa Jing" and "Ten Great Classics".Combining the "Fa Jing" with Lao Tzu shows that in the early Western Han Dynasty, although the ruling group advertised "quietness and inaction", it was actually using Tao and law together.This played a certain positive role in the stability of the ruling order and the recovery of the social economy in the early Han Dynasty.

After more than 60 years of development in the early Han Dynasty, the social economy was prosperous, and the power of the landlord class had been consolidated.Huang Lao's thought has not adapted to the development of authoritarian centralization, and there is an urgent need for an ideological weapon that can maintain the unified situation.The focus of the struggle between Empress Dowager Dou and Dou Ying and Tian Fu was whether to govern the country with Taoism or Confucianism.Therefore, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty adopted Dong Zhongshu's suggestion of "abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism only" when Dong Zhongshu responded to the countermeasures of Xianliang and Founder, and determined "Confucianism" to be one.It is to use Confucianism to serve feudal politics as an ideological tool to rule the broad masses of the people.From this point of view, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty pioneered the feudal society for the next 2000 years to take Confucius, Mencius and Confucianism as the orthodox thought.

Dong Zhongshu (179 BC - 104 BC) was a famous scholar in the Han Dynasty and the home of "Spring and Autumn Gongyang Studies" (Figure 1).He had a great influence on Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.He is the author of the book "Chunqiu Fanlu", advocating Gongyang Studies, and expounding the idea of ​​"unification of Spring and Autumn".He said: "The unification of the Spring and Autumn Period is the rule of heaven and earth, the common principle of ancient and modern times." He advocated that in order to achieve unification, the art of Confucius must be used to cut off the opinions of a hundred schools of thought, and the theories of all schools cannot be allowed to go hand in hand.This theory conforms to the trend of political development in the Western Han Dynasty requiring unity, and provides a theoretical basis for strengthening the monarchy's centralized rule.Dong Zhongshu's theory takes Confucian patriarchal law as the core, mixed with Taoism, law, yin and yang and five elements, which are beneficial to feudal rule. The feudal theological system.In other words, he transformed Confucianism into a mysterious cloak.He said: "The great origin of Tao comes from the sky, and if the sky does not change, so will the Tao." ("Han Shu Biography of Dong Zhongshu") uses the Taoist view of the Tao of Heaven to serve the consolidation of the feudal regime.He also advocated "divine right of kings" and "disaster theory".The emperor was ordered by the sky and must act for the sky.The emperor's actions must be in line with the will of heaven, otherwise the sky will become angry, and natural disasters will continue, such as heaven and earth cracking, floods, etc.At this time, the emperor should issue an imperial edict to sin against himself and reflect on himself.This reflects that the landlord class started from safeguarding the vital interests of the class and used the sky to restrain the imperial power, which was beneficial to defending the feudal rule.When Dong Zhongshu spread Confucianism, he also emphasized the rule of law, insisting on the integration of Confucianism and Legalism, Yang Confucianism and Yin Law.On the one hand, he preached that "education is a major task", and on the other hand, he advocated that "it is appropriate to correct the law".These suggestions and practices of Dong Zhongshu were basically accepted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and played an important role in the political life of the Han Dynasty.

Since Confucianism is defined as one, Confucianism is highlighted in the selection of officials and the establishment of education.Most of the candidates admitted by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were Confucian scholars in the examination for selecting talents.In order to promote Confucianism and cultivate talents, Dong Zhongshu also proposed to set up Taixue in Chang'an, and selected "handsome" children of the landlord class to study and study Confucian classics.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty agreed with this very much.In the fifth year of Jianyuan (136 BC), he set up a doctor of five classics, "Shangshu", "Book of Rites" and "Spring and Autumn", specializing in teaching Confucian classics.In the fifth year of Yuanshuo (124 BC), he set up another 50 disciples for the doctor's office.The exam is held once a year, and those who are outstanding in their studies will be appointed as doctors, literature, anecdotes and other officials.Since then, Confucianism has become more popular, and studying the Five Classics has become the only way to enter an official career.As a result, among the court officials at that time, he was "a man of many literatures".

After Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne, he insisted on carrying out reforms for many years, consolidated the centralized rule, the country's economic strength was strong, Confucianism gradually became popular among the people, and the social order was relatively stable.At this time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty shifted his attention from the interior to the frontier.He ordered Wei Qing, Huo Qubing and other generals to lead troops to attack the Xiongnu in the north many times, with frequent successes; he also sent Zhang Qian and others to the Western Regions, opening up the "Silk Road" connecting the Central Plains and the Western Regions.At the same time, it opened up and pacified the southeast and southwestern border areas, which strengthened the exchanges between ethnic minorities and the interior, and promoted the formation of a multi-ethnic country.At this time, the Western Han Dynasty had become a huge feudal empire.This is also the fruitful result of the reform of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.