Chapter 9 Western Han Dynasty and Eastern Han Dynasty

Whether the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty should be regarded as two different empires in history, or as a whole dynasty, is an intriguing question. The Han Dynasty lasted about 200 years BC and 200 AD, and was interrupted by Xinmang for 15 years in the middle. If it is regarded as a dynasty, it lasts for more than 4 centuries. The longest dynasty. It is said that China's population suffered a lot of loss after Wang Mang, but after the Eastern Han Dynasty recuperated, it gradually returned to its original state.Official statistics often have omissions. By the time of the fall of the Han Dynasty, Zhong Changtong estimated that there should be more than ten million households.Under normal conditions, the total population of the Han Dynasty should be between 50 million and 60 million, and there is no significant difference between BC and AD.

In terms of territory and military power, there were few changes between the two Han Dynasties.The foothold established by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty on the Korean peninsula can be roughly maintained by the Eastern Han Dynasty.The Jiaozhi rebellion was quelled by Ma Yuan.Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wanted to use all the power of the whole country to defeat the Xiongnu.After Wang Mang, this nomadic people was divided into north and south forever, which gave Dou Xian of the Eastern Han Dynasty an excellent opportunity.In his Northern Expedition in 89 A.D., he traveled 3,000 miles, and 200,000 people descended from each tribe. His subordinates chased for 5,000 miles, so that Beidanyu "did not know where to end".In the Western Han Dynasty, there was Zhang Qianzhi's knowledge of the Western Regions, and in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Ban Chao broke his record.Ban Chao planned "soldiers can be self-sufficient in food without spending on China."He led out of the fortress from Zhongtu with only over a thousand volunteers, and the number of soldiers who helped him later was only 800 soldiers. He was able to "conquer barbarians with barbarians".Send 25,000 troops when attacking Shache.In 94 A.D., 70,000 soldiers from eight countries in the Western Regions joined forces to challenge Yanqi.

It's just that the Eastern Han Dynasty had a frontier problem, which was more difficult than the Western Han Dynasty. This was the Qiang people in the grassland area of ​​Qinghai.These Tibetan nomads do not have a unified organization, and the tribes are in harmony with each other.Sometimes the Han people also bullied them, causing feuds between the two sides. Wars often occurred, and each time the casualties on both sides exceeded several thousand.The grasslands could not be occupied, and the immigration of the Eastern Han Dynasty was extremely costly.That is to say, recruiting the Qiang people's subordinates is not only ineffective but also has future troubles. Before the fall of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhuo's supporters were self-reliant, that is, they relied on the troops formed by the Qiang people to support them.Only he can command this kind of force, and no one else can control it.

But even so, in the eyes of people at that time, even if the capital of the Western Han Dynasty was Chang'an, which inherited the earth, everything was yellow, and the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty was Luoyang, which was transported by fire, so the banners and clothing were mostly red. In fact, there was only one. dynasty.Liu Xiu, Emperor Guangwu, came from the Miao descendant of Emperor Wenjing of the Han Dynasty, and was also the ninth grandson of Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty.After he rebuilt the Taimiao in Luoyang, he only enshrined the monarchs of the Western Han Dynasty until Emperor Yuan.Because according to Guangwu, Emperor Yuan still belonged to his parents, Emperor Cheng was his brother, Emperor Ai belonged to his nephew, and Emperor Ping was regarded as his grandnephew, and they were not included in the worship of Taimiao.Guangwu also caused troubles for all Lu because Empress Lu did not obey Gaozu's will. Although two hundred years later, she still removed her spiritual throne and replaced it with the spiritual master of Empress Dowager Bo, the biological mother of Emperor Wen.Because of this, he himself has been a legitimate heir from the paternal and matrilineal line since the founding of the People's Republic of China in BC.So Liu Xiu was known as the "Lord of ZTE" in history.

What has been learned from archaeology in recent decades has given us an opportunity to experience the daily life of the Han Dynasty.These materials also give partial answers to the above questions.The unearthed cultural relics, including various materials of clothing, food, housing and transportation, if there are no real objects, there are model diagrams.Because it is as small as stationery and seals, as large as toilets and stoves, and as large as buildings and pavilions, they can all be seen at a glance.The thinking of ordinary people in the Han Dynasty believed that there was no great difference between life and death.Although there are evil spirits such as snakes and ghosts in the underworld, the living have to offer sacrifices to the dead, but there is no need to wash away their sins, give thanks, take refuge, and be saved.Because of this, the tombs of the Han Dynasty lacked the signs and decorations that we consider religious today, but there were inscriptions with themes of daily life.These inscriptions and paintings, facing the inner and outer coffins, seem to be for the appreciation of the dead. Some of them quote historical stories, such as Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin, and the tripod of Wufen in Han Dynasty. Small business, even juggling.Its breadth and clarity can open the eyes of those who study history.

Judging from these materials, together with historical evidence, we can say that the cultural life of the Han Dynasty has made great progress in the past 400 years.In many respects, the life of households above the middle level is not significantly different from that of the last century.Chinese and foreign scholars unanimously attribute this achievement to the emphasis on agriculture in the Han Dynasty.The government tried its best to cultivate small self-employed farmers, while the iron smelters were sold by the whole country in the Western Han Dynasty, and the localities in the Eastern Han Dynasty were the masters. Standard farm tools were also made common to ordinary farmers.Moreover, local officials often promote water conservancy and discuss harvest and crops, as described in "Han Shu" and "Hou Han Shu" following official biography.From these perspectives, China's initial unification, imposing a simple and similar legal system on a vast area, is not completely useless.At the same time, under this primitive policy of emphasizing agriculture, the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Western Han Dynasty did indeed have a connection between the past and the future.If this is not the case, its population and territory will be very difficult to make do with each other.

But this question can still be looked at in reverse: If the Han Dynasty is indeed passed down in one continuous line, why is there such a big difference between the historical societies of the two periods?Today, when we read the history of the Western Han Dynasty, we will unexpectedly feel that there are many exciting, frightening, sighing, and surprising things in it.This feature is hard to see in the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty.Even Denis Twitchett, the current editor-in-chief of "Cambridge History of China", once told me that he could not find a history of the later Han Dynasty that was satisfactory to read.What is the reason for this?

From a modern point of view, the Western Han Empire is still in its infancy, that is, the rule of Wenjing, Emperor Wu's use of Dong Zhongshu's ideological control, Huo Guang's dictatorship, and Emperor Xuan's miscellaneous hegemony, all of which are inseparable from an experimental nature. Arouse the reader's curiosity.The monarchs of the Eastern Han Dynasty did not have such opportunities for creation.The main reason is that after the empire's crude embryo is stabilized, legislation cannot be carried out.Since the monarchy must maintain symmetry and balance in various places, it cannot be divided, nor can it be rationalized according to the actual situation.This situation once caused Zhong Changtong to say that the three princes are all fake, and they are still oligarchy in the end.At the same time, the organization of the bureaucracy, from top to bottom, is governed only by the criminal law, without the support of the civil law.Laws cannot be developed sequentially, the private economy has developed to a certain extent, and the government is technically unable to deal with various complex problems arising in society.The power struggle in the court is still based on the name of morality. Among them, the female queen, relatives, eunuchs, and cronies are mixed up, and public affairs are confused with private affairs.Today's history readers, in addition to feeling that the data are repetitive and entangled with Rosso, it is also difficult to analyze the true face of the issues behind it, and it is even more difficult to judge who is right and who is wrong.

Strictly speaking, only the first three monarchs of the Eastern Han or Later Han could make a difference; this is the "Zhongxing" of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiuzhi, and Emperor Liuzhuang of the Ming Dynasty consolidated his empire with severe punishments and draconian laws, and used various buildings and rituals to enforce the monarchy. Mystify and artisticize, and Zhangdi Liu Tanzhi reiterated Confucian tenets to strengthen the support of moral forces in governance. In fact, only "ZTE" is a pioneering work.Recognize "ZTE", then the Western Han Dynasty and the Eastern Han Dynasty are one.

From this point of view, it is not surprising that the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty was not well written.A country's legal system has not been substantially improved for more than 400 years, and its administration cannot be active and vigorous. It can only be said that it is inevitable.The "Hanshu" of the Western Han Dynasty provided materials such as criminal law annals, Shihuo annals, and Gouwei annals, while the "Hou Han Shu" of the Eastern Han Dynasty provided all the missing materials, and replaced them with many narratives about women, snakes, crowns, and red ribbons.This is not unrelated to the eyes and techniques of the historians ("Book of the Later Han Dynasty", like "Book of Han", was not written by one person), but there is still a key point, which is that from a long-term historical perspective, the post-Han inherited If the previous generation went too far, it could only continue to enrich a primitive empire with small self-employed farmers as the backbone, and could not open up a new situation for China.