Chapter 16 from division to unity

Some people who study history still think that the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties left an embarrassing situation in Chinese history.In these 369 years, there was a lack of a great empire that succeeded the Qin and Han Dynasties and started the Sui and Tang Dynasties.To treat it as a transitional period would take too long.It is rare to have a clue to follow the narrative of the characters and deeds.Therefore, some history books intersperse these 369 youths frivolously, so as to quickly refer to Sui Yangdi and Tang Taizong, etc., which have a relatively complete relationship and are easier to review.

However, the long-term division of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties only happened once in Chinese history.It gives us an opportunity to understand the history of the evolution of the Chinese nation, not necessarily the sum of the history of all dynasties.Although a unified political center does not exist, many humanistic factors in China are still developing continuously.To give an example: Tuoba Hong, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty, changed his surname to Yuan in 496 AD.Others such as Bu Liugu's surname was changed to Lu, Dugu's surname was changed to Liu, and more than 100 Xianbei people changed their surnames. Of course, this caused dissatisfaction among many Xianbei people who respected ethnic traditions. Nothing to do with it.

The founder of the Northern Zhou Dynasty was Yu Wentai, who was also of the Xianbei race.In 554 A.D., he believed that "the Wei family ruled thirty-six countries at the beginning, with ninety-nine surnames, and many of them became extinct later, so that the generals who made the most meritorious service were named after the thirty-six countries, and those who made the second most meritorious deeds were assigned the ninety-nine surnames." rear".On the surface, this is a reaction against Yuanhong's sinicization policy, and it also emphasizes the historical traditions of the various tribes of the Xianbei ethnic group.In fact, there are not many Xianbei descendants in Guanzhong where he is entrenched.His Hu surname can only be given to generals of Han people and Hu-Han mixed blood.He was Yang Jian, the founder of the Sui Dynasty, and was given the surname "Pu Liuru" because of his meritorious service.This will only improve the status of the Han people in the court, and make the boundary between Hu and Han even more obliterated.The background is that under the situation of long-term division, the north has become a melting pot for the integration of various ethnic groups.The gradual absorption and assimilation of ethnic minorities by the majority is unstoppable.

Yuan Hong's policy also has a trend of aristocratization. He respects the social status of the Fanyang Lu family, Qinghe Cui family, Xingyang Zheng family and Taiyuan Wang family, and also makes the famous Xianbei families Mu, Lu, He, Liu, Lou, The eight surnames of Yu, Ji, and Wei are listed with them.However, the trend of the fashion at that time was to make people all civilians in the process of national integration, so Yuan Hong's cronies Li Chong and Han Xianzong opposed his approach. We have already mentioned that people at that time believed that the collapse of the great empire since the Qin and Han Dynasties was due to "mergers."Once the land is concentrated, local officials cannot handle domestic administration, and due to local disputes, it will affect the government.This kind of thing can happen because of the bad "election system", so that the Xiaolian recommended by the end of Han Dynasty are all the children of wealthy families.Cao Wei wanted to reform this problem, and implemented the so-called "nine grades of Zhongzheng" system, that is, the central government sent inspectors to local offices to evaluate people, as a basis for appointment by the Ministry of officials.The result is also like the "Book of Jin" Liu Yi's biography said that "there is no poor family in the upper class, and no noble family in the lower class".This expansion of gentry power also affected military operations.When the political order collapsed, the only way to establish an altar and form an alliance was to rely on the leadership of aristocratic families.According to the biography of Wang Rong in the "Book of Jin", during the Eight Kings Rebellion, the King of Hejian and the King of Chengdu "brought a million armors".The feudalism of the Jin Dynasty had no historical basis. The two kings were able to muster such a large force in a short period of time because the local force had already been organized. As long as there were leaders at the top, there would be hundreds of millions of soldiers The flag obeyed.

All kinds of situations that hinder reunification must be gradually eliminated and clarified under the situation of long-term division and frequent military revolutions. Some historians always emphasize the greatness of traditional Chinese thought whenever they mention China's reunification.But traditional thinking can work because social organizations are already close to it.Yu Wentai's most famous measure in terms of Wenzhi is the appointment of Su Chuo as Du Zhishangshu, and let him plan various designs for the new government. "Zhou Li" is in accordance with the rules, that is, to create a numerical formula in advance, which actually covers the past to real people.The three-head system and the equal-field system since the Northern Wei Dynasty all have this tendency of "intermediate design".The reason for this is that the wealthy families in the middle class of society who may interfere with the imperial court and the people are either eliminated or restrained, so the central government can control a large number of farmers again.

This trend can also be seen in the evolution of the examination system.The countermeasures of the Han Dynasty were not formalized. Only after the Sui and Tang Dynasties, "all scholars have ultimatums and list themselves in the department" can there be a fixed procedure and all publicity. This is certainly an institutional progress, but if there is no social With an evolutionary background, there would not be so many commoner scholars taking the exam, and even they would still be suppressed by sectarian parties and tyrants. Just a system in which a strong central government ruled over countless small farmers did not become a reality immediately because of national unity.There are still many twists and turns in the middle.Here is another example:

Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty destroyed Chen in 589 AD.However, in the following year today's Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Anhui, and Jiangxi giants all rebelled. Since the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the criminal law has been eased, and the mausoleums of the aristocratic clans were driven by poor families. After the Chen Dynasty, the herdsmen changed them. Su Wei restored the Five Religions so that the people, regardless of age, could recite them. Scholars and people complained, and the people repeated rumors that they wanted to move in the Sui Dynasty. Enter the customs." This written record is simple and only reveals the official opinion.However, it also indicates that under the situation of the division between the North and the South, the North has been reduced to a simple society with small farmers as the main body, while the South is still controlled by the big family.The weakness of these giants is that they cannot form a system that affects the whole body.Because although they had ships, they were able to fight to the death with Yang Su sent by the Sui Dynasty, but they were defeated one by one in the end.The above-mentioned Su Wei is the son of Su Chuo, the governor of Duzhi, the designer of the regime of the Northern Zhou Dynasty. This relationship also symbolizes the unity of the whole country, and it will go through a long period of dismal management.

Buddhism flourished during the Northern and Southern Dynasties.When Chinese scholars mention this topic, they often have mixed opinions. On the one hand, they praise Buddhism’s concept of self-reliance and the motivation of abstaining from killing.Hu Shi is no match for modern figures who reject Buddhism, and his position sometimes seems to be that of today's Han Yu.Foreign authors emphasize more that Buddhism produced a kind of power that merged Hu and Han during the period of China's division, and penetrated the upper and lower powers.We can also quote Arth-ur Wright as a representative.

In fact, Buddhism is a very broad term, and it can also be said to be a general term for the culture brought by India and permeated into China's thoughts, literature, art, architecture, technology and folk customs.On the one hand, it needs not to have a fundamental conflict with China's inherent beliefs, so that the two can be compromised and integrated.On the other hand, under these conditions, it is pervasive.Take the Buddha statues in Yungang and Longmen Grottoes as proof: At first glance, we seem to build grottoes from broken rocks without a comprehensive design. Today, after thousands of years of wind and rain erosion, the sight is desolate, and we can’t see the beauty. Where, until I read the detailed records about these caves, I don't know the origin of some caves.Moreover, the largest Buddha statue is nine feet long, and the smallest one is no more than an inch high. There are tens of thousands of Buddha statues everywhere. Not only the statues show the carving style of India and Greece, but there are also murals in some grottoes, and their clothing decoration design Authentic relics of social and economic history are also preserved.All the medical prescriptions used that day were preserved in a grotto in Longmen.Therefore, this grotto is not only for art exhibitions, but also a popular museum.If it weren't for this grotto to preserve this cultural relic in the middle ages of China in the wilderness, and put the resplendent Buddha statue in the city of Tongdu, I am afraid that it would have been destroyed by war just like the ancient Chinese buildings.

As for the period of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Buddhism was not a compulsive religion, so it had a wide and universal effect.It did not turn Yungang Longmen into a "sacred place", or was controlled by the abbot and the national teacher, so it was transformed into a political force. Therefore, even with twists and turns such as ethical disputes between Huayi and Barbarians, it can still maintain a long-term relationship with the people. Chinese inherent culture coexists.Because of this, we can also think of it as a factor that constitutes a uniting force.Therefore, Xiaomin accepts the mantra and the rituals of the Pure Land School, the music of chanting Buddha and the superficial explanation of rebirth, and Mr. Jinshen appreciates the enlightenment and meditation of the Tiantai Huayan, which are both Buddhism.Under such conditions, Buddhism can also be regarded as having already had the function of integrating Hu and Han to connect the upper and lower.

Looking back, the reunification of China is still connected with the cultural system passed down in one continuous line since the Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties.We do not regard it as the second-to-none factor, not to ignore its existence.From the Han, Wei, Jin to Song, Qi, Liang and Chen Zhi's "abdication" has not been interrupted, and the Eastern Wei and Western Wei in the Northern Dynasties also "abdicated" to the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou.It can be seen that an orthodox concept has never disappeared.The Chinese people's concept of joining the WTO and optimistic and positive thoughts are also a very strong force, and they have not all perished due to long-term division. When we usually mention the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, an impression of "talking about the wrong country" may immediately come to mind.However, from the perspective of Xie An, who led the Battle of Feishui, talking about it is not necessarily harmful to the country. It also means that although we know from astronomy today that after 5 billion years, the fuel on the sun will run out, and the life of the solar system will eventually die together. Because of this understanding, we have a different outlook on life, but it does not mean that we have to give up the interest in daily life and all aspirations and hopes.The "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove" in the Western Jin Dynasty certainly included Ruan Ji, who "didn't get along with the world, and drank a lot", but also included Ji Kang, who was forging iron under a big tree, and Wang Rong, who was "interested in profit".It can be seen that their common optimism is not negativity. And where there is yin, there is yang.At that time, there was still "nothing", but in the Jin Dynasty, Pei Gu wrote "On Advocating You" to contend with it.He said: "Being born can be found, which is the so-called principle. The body of the principle is the so-called existence. What is needed is the so-called capital." These few words have shown that there is no life without matter, and there is no life without life. Create logic.Can be regarded as one of the earliest materialist philosophers in the world.Even in Jiankang, the "golden powder of the Six Dynasties", there was also Fan Zhen of the Southern Qi Dynasty who wrote "On the Extinction of God".He said, "The shape is the quality of the god, and the god is the function of the shape. The god is in the shape, and the benefit is in the knife. I have never heard that the knife is gone, but the profit is there. How can the shape die and the spirit is there!" This is better than Pei Gu's materialism. The theory goes one step further.This kind of discussion was put forward in the fifth century AD, and it is also extraordinary.Based on their own theories and standpoints, we can also imagine that the Chinese must preserve a kind of perseverance in order to cope with the difficulties given by weather and geography. This kind of common confidence must also happen in the process of reunification. The role of measurement.Only from this firm standpoint can we appreciate the origin of Han Yu and Hu Shi's aversion to Buddhism. The Southern and Northern Dynasties are sometimes written by ordinary writers as a period of low morale and no ancient times.Liu Ziye, the deposed emperor of the former Song Dynasty, placed the first 30 people for his sister, Princess Shanyin.Xiao Baojuan, the Hunhou of Qidong, chiseled gold to stick the lotus to the ground, and ordered Concubine Pan to walk on it, saying, "Lotus grows every step of the way."What has not been mentioned is that they are all young people under the age of 20. They grew up in a deep palace, and in fact they were unable to perform the functions of traditional emperors. After being murdered one after another, they were charged with eternal crimes in history.Where there is a rule, there must be a reverse. From this point of view, since they have been called deposed emperors and lords forever, it can be seen that traditional moral concepts have not been completely submerged because of long-term political divisions. If it is really demoralized, this paragraph History will not be written in this way. The background of this fact is that although the Han Dynasty fell, China has produced a unique cultural and educational system over the past few years, which is enough to support a large empire based on small farmers. Once the objective environment permits, When such a great empire can be re-arranged and re-emerged, the cultural and educational system does not need to be re-created, it can also be established along with the crown.