Chapter 3 Chinese social evolution

one Is China a feudal society?This question should be answered on the basis of historical facts.The so-called feudalism before the Qin Dynasty in Chinese history was a political system, which was in contrast to the county system after the Qin Dynasty.In the Middle Ages of Western history, there was a period of so-called Feudalism. Feudalism was not a system, but a social form of them.Now when the word "feudalism" in Chinese history is used to translate Feudalism in Western history, we are guilty of noun entanglement. The origin of Western Feudalism did not come from anyone's plans and orders in advance, nor did it have a common law in the system.Because of the invasion of northern barbarians, the collapse of the Roman government, and the lack of new government and law, peasants and small landowners had nothing to rely on in the chaos. , established various contracts.Later, this contractual relationship gradually expanded, and even countries, kings, emperors, cities, and even churches were involved.This is a bottom-up evolution.

When the so-called feudalism in Chinese history began is difficult to examine in detail.According to legend, it has existed since Xia and Shang dynasties.Ancient history is vague, and this should be determined by professional ancient historians through strict textual research.But we might as well say that the formal feudal system began in the Western Zhou Dynasty.In the feudal period of the Western Zhou Dynasty, King Wu and Duke Zhou made two expeditions to the east, which eliminated the ruling power of the Yin royal family, and gradually divided a large number of their clan relatives into various places for control.First, the emperor divided the feudal princes, and then the princes distributed the feudal officials, and gradually expanded.This evolution is from the top down.Western feudalism arose from the collapse of the unified government, while Eastern feudalism was a powerful new system to strengthen the unity of the government.

If the economic situation is added, the feudalism of the Zhou Dynasty was actually a kind of outward cultivation of armed groups.The Western Zhou Dynasty was originally a farming tribe. After they conquered the Yin Dynasty, they sent their close relatives to the east in batches.While cultivating for self-sufficiency, many military bases have been established at the same time.Between them, a huge transportation network enveloping the Yellow River Basin, reaching the Han River and Huai River in the south, and even the north bank of the Yangtze River has been completed.The few old city walls and farming areas left over from the original Yin Dynasty were enclosed in this huge transportation network and many military bases, and they had to accept the new system established by the Zhou Dynasty and become their vassal states. up.As for the one or two hundred city walls and farming areas, there were still many nomadic tribes in the Central Plains of China at that time. They did not specialize in agriculture, they did not have city walls and palaces, and they still moved around. These were the so-called Rongdi at that time. .

Therefore, feudalism in the Western Zhou Dynasty had two functions at the same time.One is to deal with the reaction of the old Yin Dynasty, and the other is to defend against the intrusion of nomads around.If we compare this situation and process to Western history, the feudalism of the Zhou Dynasty was actually a state-building scale that was combined with military and politics at that time, and could continue to move.From a distance, it looks like the Roman Empire, but in modern times, it looks like the overseas colonization of the British Isles.Expanding outward from a center, the social formations in various places are controlled by the upper-level political forces.The so-called feudalism in the Middle Ages in the West was formed by the scattered societies in various places, gradually congealing towards the heart, and gradually established political relations on many feudal contracts at the lower level.The Germanic kings were elected by the Germanic electors, and then the Germanic kings acted as the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.This is another contrast between Chinese and Western feudalism.

As far as the social form is concerned, the feudalism of the Zhou Dynasty is indeed similar to the feudal society in the Western Middle Ages, because there are also obviously two classes of nobles and commoners.However, this form is not the main feature of feudal society.Because in the Greek and Roman times, there were also two classes of nobles and commoners, but it was not a feudal society at that time.Even if we compare the aristocratic class in the Zhou Dynasty of China and the Western Middle Ages, there are many differences between them.The aristocratic landlords in the Middle Ages in the West actually mostly lived in a piece of farmland, that is, his territory, and built a fortress, just like the so-called landlord or local tyrant in China later.At that time, his status was only equivalent to that of the abbot in a temple or the mayor of a town.But the feudal lords, ministers, and officials that China saw in the Spring and Autumn Period were all decent political leaders.For example, many great princes of Qi, Jin, Chu, and Qin were exactly the same as the autocratic royal families of Britain and France after the Crusades.Their territory is like a big kingdom. Many high officials under their rule, such as Jin Liuqing and Lu Sanjia, are all concentrated in the central government to govern together. It is already a decent government and dynasty.At that time, the ministers and officials each had their own fiefs, and they also sent officials to rule over them.There is an ancestral temple in the capital of each vassal state, and it is also a city where industry and commerce are concentrated.Religion, industry, commerce, and the military were all gathered under the command and management of a government and a royal family called princes at that time.

To put it bluntly, the aristocrats in the Spring and Autumn Period were obviously political.In the Middle Ages of the West, in addition to principalities and counties, there could also be bishop states, or city states, which were also called states to distinguish them from the so-called modern states that emerged later.However, in terms of scale and system, the marquis states of China in the Spring and Autumn Period were not far from the modern Western countries since then.Industrial and commercial cities and religious centers have been controlled in the political system of feudal aristocracy.This is another big difference that should be noted.This difference still refers to the difference between Western feudalism is a social form and Chinese feudalism is a political system.Of course, politics and society cannot be strictly separated from each other.But when we want to study the social form of a certain era, we should never ignore the political system at that time.

In the Warring States Period, that kind of political evolution became even more remarkable.At that time, the country had a wider territory and a more rigorous political organization. For example, Qi State had more than 70 cities, all of which were directly under the central government and ruled by officials sent by the central government. They were no longer fiefs of nobles.Linzi, the seat of its central government, is said to have 70,000 households, and each household can have three strong men, and there are 210,000 strong men in a city.If you want to come to the whole city, there should be at least 350,000 residents.The prosperity of other capitals, such as Handan of Zhao, Daliang of Wei, and Ying of Chu, is roughly similar to that of Linzi.These are large cities that are both political centers and commercial centers.It is not uncommon for a country to send 200,000 to 300,000 soldiers in every war.The chief executives and commanders-in-chief of the governments of various countries are almost all fighters of civilian origin.Occasionally, there were one or two nobles who became kings, such as Mengchang, Pingyuan, Xinling, Chunshen, etc. They were not like ordinary nobles in the Spring and Autumn Period, who had special status and special rights allowed by political and legal regulations.Zhao She collected land rent for the government, and the nine stewards of Lord Pingyuan disobeyed the law and were killed by Zhao She. Lord Pingyuan also appreciated Zhao She because of this, and greatly reused him.Based on the political situation of the Warring States period alone, we can imagine the social form at that time, which definitely cannot be compared with the so-called feudal society in the Middle Ages of the West.

Now let's review the life of civilians in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods.According to the feudal concept in ancient China, all land belongs to nobles, and common people have no land ownership.Therefore, it is said that "within the four seals, is it the land of the king, and the hair that eats the soil is the subject of the king." Only after understanding this concept can we talk about the well field system at that time.The princes set aside a part of the arable land outside the city where they lived, distributed it equally to the farmers, and returned the fields according to their age.Every peasant, under the feudal system, was never allowed to have private land, but the tax system was very lenient.According to the standard formalism of the well field system, each family receives one hundred mu of land, which is the so-called private land.The eight families cultivated a total of 100 mu of public land.But the so-called private land is only in terms of income, and does not refer to private ownership of land.Every farmer receives a hundred acres of land at the age of twenty, and returns it to the public at the age of sixty.During this period, on the one hand, he enjoyed the private income of the 100 mu of land, but he had to cooperate with the other seven families to participate in the obligation of cultivating the 100 mu of public land.The 100-acre public land has become a small collective farm, cultivated by eight farmers around it.In terms of the income of the nobles who hold land rights, it is only equivalent to one-ninth of land rent.Later, this system was slightly modified, and the public land was abolished, and each farmer contributed one-tenth of the land rent to the landlord, that is, the nobles, within a hundred acres of his private land.Probably the two systems existed at the same time for a period of time.The fields closer to the city are granted to soldiers or other farmers with better treatment, and there is no public land cultivated by collectives, and the tax is levied on the basis of tithes per mu.In areas farther from the city, the old system of eight families sharing the common land is still practiced, and the public family gets one-ninth of the income.

However, this system gradually changed during the late Spring and Autumn Period and early Warring States period.Mainly due to changes in the tax system.At first, the eight families cultivated a hundred mu of public land together, and then each cultivated a hundred mu of private land. This is called assisting the law.The second is to abolish the public land and collect a tenth of the land rent within a hundred mu of each private land. This is the so-called tribute method and the thorough method.The tribute method is based on the income of a hundred mu converted into the middle number, which is used as the fixed amount of annual rent.The thorough method is to pay tithes according to the actual income of the annual harvest.Secondly, the nobles only collect rent by the mu, recognize the land but not the people, and no longer seriously implement the trouble of returning the land to the land. This is the so-called tax according to the mu.What's more, farmers are allowed to draw off the borders of the old well fields, allowing them to freely expand arable land beyond a hundred acres. rent.Dasein nobles seem to only increase their income and not suffer.However, there is a huge change here, that is, the transfer of land ownership.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, according to the law, farmers had absolutely no private land, and the arable land was distributed equally by the nobles.According to the current concept, the land is state-owned, and farmers live under a system of equal production established by the government.Now that the tax system has been changed, the nobles allow farmers to increase the amount of farmland they can afford, but they do not implement the procedures for returning the land. The nobles only collect rent by the mu.Over time, the ownership of the land was transferred to the peasants invisibly. This change did not go through the request of peasant consciousness, or any violent revolution, nor was there a formal transfer order by the aristocracy in terms of jurisprudence. It has become a form of land to the tiller, which is the destruction of well fields under the feudal system.

The well field system was broken, and now the tiller has the land, and the ownership of the land has been transferred to the peasants. However, what followed was the destruction of a system of equal production for the people in the feudal era.It used to be a restricted economy, but now it has become a free economy.Some farmers increased their arable land and gradually became rich peasants, while some poor peasants could not even keep a hundred acres of arable land, and resold it to rich peasants through various contracts.Since land ownership is in the hands of farmers, they can inherit it from generation to generation and trade it freely.What is caused by private ownership is the inequality between the rich and the poor, which is called annexation in Chinese history.Farmers have free property, and there are rich and poor classes in the middle.The rich peasants appeared and gradually turned into disguised aristocrats.The foundations of the former commoner and noble classes were also shaken.Therefore, the destruction of the well field system will inevitably promote the collapse of the feudal system. Again, we will talk about non-arable land other than cultivated land, including grasslands, pastures, swamps, hunting areas, fish ponds, mountains, forests, mines, salt ponds, salt fields, etc. These were called forbidden lands in ancient times, referring to lands that were open to well fields. Word.According to the law, the forbidden land was also owned by the feudal aristocrats, who appointed special commissioners to manage it, and did not allow farmers to invade freely.By virtue of these forbidden lands, the nobles possessed all small-scale industries and commerce.Workers and merchants are all employed by the nobles, designated hereditary, and only receive the living remuneration given by the nobles, and have no free private property, let alone capitalism. But at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and the beginning of the Warring States Period, this situation also changed.The peasants kept invading the forbidden land to fish, log, burn charcoal, boil salt, and engage in all kinds of illegal profit-making businesses. Charge them additional taxes.However, in terms of the concept of land ownership, it has not followed the change like arable land.Therefore, from the Warring States period down to the Qin and Han Dynasties, the ownership of mountains, seas, pools and lakes was still considered state-owned, and at that time it was considered privately owned by the royal family.Therefore, the taxation system of the Qin and Han dynasties put land tax into the national treasury and was managed by the Dasinong.Put the tax of mountains, seas, pools and lakes into the private treasury of the royal family and the management of the Shaofu.This distinction cannot be explained unless one understands the legal concept of ownership of well fields and forbidden land in the feudal period of the Spring and Autumn Period, and the historical process of its gradual transformation. It came together, because in the Spring and Autumn Period, those who first invaded the forbidden land of mountains and marshes and started new profitable businesses were designated as thieves. Therefore, until the Qin and Han Dynasties, people still regarded free industry and commerce as illegal business, and called it For profit.The theory of Chao Cuo and others emphasizing agriculture and suppressing business in the early Han Dynasty, as well as the state-owned official sales policy of salt and iron in the era of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, should be explained from the specific facts of these historical evolutions. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty's salt and iron policy, in modern times, is very similar to the new national socialism in the West.However, according to the theory of people in the Han Dynasty, the ownership of mountains, seas, ponds and lakes belongs to the royal family, that is, the public family, and when the royal family needs it, they can take it back for their own management.Moreover, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty used this tax to subsidize national defense against the Huns, which is even more justified and beyond criticism.However, the idea of ​​free economics, still in the Han Dynasty, was vigorously advocated by civil representatives and gained power again.At that time, the government's financial authorities and representatives of the people had detailed discussions and back-and-forth debates on this policy, which were recorded in the famous "Salt and Iron Theory", which has been preserved to this day.But in the Wang Mang era, the government's theory of restricting the Economist revived again.Even all the land is completely nationalized and redistributed equally by the central government.The policy of official sale of salt and iron has been strictly implemented again.This is just a continuation of the theory of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and a further restoration of the economic policy of the feudal age in the Spring and Autumn Period, that is, a restrictive equal distribution policy.All of these originated from the concept of forbidden well fields and public ownership of all land ownership in the Spring and Autumn Period, and evolved. According to the above, the hereditary political privileges of the upper aristocratic class in the Spring and Autumn Feudal Period were abolished in the Warring States Period.The equal-production economy, in which agriculture, industry, commerce and various industries of the lower civilian class were restricted, was also liberated during the Warring States Period.Nobles with hereditary privileges above, but many rich peasants and new landlords, as well as large-scale private industrial and commercial enterprises and new rich people have emerged below.If the society of the Spring and Autumn Period was somewhat similar to the feudal society in the Western Middle Ages, it can be said that it was completely changed in the Warring States Period.At the same time, we should also notice that there is a class of sergeants between the nobles, ministers, and officials, and the peasants, workers, and merchants. Scholars can be divided into civil and military branches. In the Western medieval feudal society, there was a kind of knight, but in the Spring and Autumn Period of China, there was no such phenomenon at all.The army is formed entirely by the children of nobles, and civilians are not qualified to join the army.Also in Western feudal society, teachers and priests also played an extremely important role.During the Spring and Autumn Period in China, religion had long been covered and melted by politics, and there was no independent religion that could be divorced from politics.Although a large part of knowledge is also preserved in the ancestral temples, Chinese ancestral temples are different from Western churches.Those who serve in the temple are not monks, but a kind of hereditary officials appointed by the government.At that time, only the children of the nobles had to receive advanced education, and the common people had no share.Occasionally there are civilian children who are particularly heroic or smart, and sometimes they are selected to go to the army or the court. This is the so-called scholar. The class of scholars is a middle class that has fallen from the aristocratic class or promoted from the commoner class.In military service or civil service, they serve as a subordinate and unimportant position, somewhat like Western knights and priests, but in fact they are quite different.It can also be seen here that there is a huge discrepancy in the comparison between Chinese and Western histories one by one.In the Warring States period, the situation changed drastically.The aristocratic army disintegrated, and the civilian army took over.Civilians generally participated in military service, so they made military exploits and were rewarded with high salaries, becoming new landlords and new nobles.The rise of civilian scholars was a major social change at that time.Those civilian scholars, instead of the aristocratic class, have mastered the authoritative position in academic and cultural knowledge.During the Warring States period, almost all military and civilian positions in various countries, including the lofty status of prime minister and commander, were almost all in the hands of this new generation of civilian scholars, so-called scholars. This has already been said above.More importantly, this generation of common people scholars absolutely does not have the mood of the so-called limited loyalty in Western and medieval feudal society.They will not be loyal only to the domain to which they belong, or the town, or the guilt, or the family or the king.At that time, it can be said that they all held the world concept or world concept that transcended regions, families, occupations, and even countries, and they marched everywhere. Their ideology can also be explained by historical evolution.Because of the feudalism of the Zhou Dynasty in China, it was originally a system promulgated by the royal family of the Western Zhou Dynasty.The intention of this system is to strengthen the political effectiveness of central unity.Later, after a long period of continuation, the actual effectiveness of this system was fully demonstrated.Regardless of the Western Zhou clan, as well as the Xia clan, Shang clan and other clans, under this system, a concept of Datong with one culture, one government, and one system was gradually brewed. In the Spring and Autumn Period, although the royal family of the Western Zhou Dynasty had long been destroyed, the princes entrusted by it gradually formed a strong alliance group.In name, they still obey the dignity of Zhou Tianzi and Lord.In fact, they also tried their best to preserve the feudal culture, that is, the culture of farming and farming in the city at that time, to suppress the commotion and threat of eliminating nomadic culture everywhere.This is the hegemony of the Spring and Autumn Period.But the monarchs and officials of the Spring and Autumn States, after all, are all nobles and have privileges in their respective territories, so they can only achieve the kind of international alliance that they could have at that time.But with the rise of civilian scholars, they do not recognize the privileges of the aristocracy, but they cannot forget the feudal system from the beginning of the world, there is only one co-lord, and the historical concept of the highest center.Therefore, they go one step further from the League of Nations and hope that the world will be one.They often traveled around the world, and they were called tourists at that time, which means that they were mobile intellectuals.In fact, all the intellectuals at that time were mobile, that is, they all held the concept of great unity under heaven.They never valued the limited loyalty to regional families, which led to the great unification of China below the Qin and Han Dynasties. In the feudal society of the Middle Ages, there were only Christian churches in the West. They had the ideal of a family that transcended regions and families, and tried their best to re-establish a Holy Roman Empire in the feudal society based on their religious teachings to restore ancient Rome. uniform size.This is exactly contrary to the historical trend from which their feudal society was formed.Therefore, the role of religious forces in politics will gradually decrease, and finally many modern new kingdoms will be formed on the basis of regions and families.Western historians can point out the origins of their political contract theory, concept of civil rights, democratic politics and parliamentary elections, most of which were conceived and conceived in the feudal era in the Middle Ages. However, the feudalism in China below the Western Zhou Dynasty was generally not the same as that of the West.Therefore, under Chinese feudal politics, the unification of the Qin and Han Dynasties was brewed, and a series of economic restrictions and equalization movements were brewed under Han Wu and Wang Mang.Although there is no church in China, Chinese history has been able to create a Datong politics similar to that imagined by the Jesuits in the Western Middle Ages.If the historical facts cannot be obliterated as much as possible, can we say that the ambitions of the group of Warring States travelers below Confucius and Mozi are all the so-called feudal consciousness that people around the world curse and spit out? two The Qin and Han Dynasties were even more different from the Warring States Period.At that time, there was only one central government in the whole of China. According to the Han Dynasty, the local administration was divided into more than 1,300 low-level administrative districts "counties" and more than 100 high-level administrative districts "counties".Central and local officials are all selected and appointed by the government, and politically, there is no hereditary privilege of the nobility.In the early Han Dynasty, although there was a reaction for a while, there were some who made kings and marquises.However, the kingdom will soon be wiped out, and the princes can only pay rent, food and clothing.In name they all have their own land, but in fact the local civil affairs, finance and military power are all out of their hands. Only the local administrators designated by the central government send them an additional tax every year, which is tantamount to giving them a long-term gift from the government. There is no annual salary for the position.They are not also under the control of government laws, and often lose their titles due to accusations of crimes such as adultery with a maid at home, or collusion with businessmen to do business together.If it was said that it was a feudal society because there were many titles of titles at that time, can we say that modern Britain was also a feudal society? In terms of economy, peasants and businesses all over the country pay the same taxes to the same government, perform the same military service, abide by the same laws, and enjoy the same rights. Can such a society be considered a feudal society?In law, the status of all people is equal, they are all citizens of the country, and there is no opposition between the nobles and the common people.The economy is free, so the phenomenon of inequality between the rich and the poor cannot be regarded as the characteristic of feudal society. In Western history, it can be said that a feudal society has transformed into a capitalist society.Some people say that China will always be an agricultural society, but an agricultural society is not a feudal society.Moreover, since the Warring States period, industry and commerce have developed very early, but China has not embarked on the road of capitalist society.Therefore, China has never forgotten the ancient economy of restriction and the spirit of equalization of production.In the Han Dynasty, merchants were heavily taxed, and officials who served the government were not allowed to concurrently engage in business.By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the right to mint coins was strictly controlled in the hands of the government, and several important industries necessary for everyone's daily life, such as boiling salt and smelting iron, were brought into the state or sold by the government.In the textile industry, the precious silk weaving industry is also produced by government officials on an annual basis.The brewing industry is also controlled by the government.Important departments in the transportation industry are also controlled by the government, and are set as an equal-loss system.The fluctuation of the market price is monitored and balanced by special officials appointed by the government, which is defined as the market transaction system.Just ask how commercial capital develops under such political facilities.For those who own a lot of land, the government has repeatedly tried to set a maximum limit, which is the so-called "restriction on private land".Until the time of Wang Mang, it was necessary to reclaim all the land in the country and redistribute it equally.This is a major mainstream in the history of Chinese economic thought, and the implementation of this economic policy has been rare in history since then.Therefore, China is by no means a purely agricultural society. Industry and commerce have already prospered, but there is no new scientific machinery invented in the West like it has been in the past century.This is certainly the reason why Chinese society has not embarked on capitalism, but China's traditional economic theory and economic policies are also sufficient to suppress the evolution of capitalism, and this layer should never be ignored. Recently, some people think that the Han Dynasty was a slave society, and this level is even more unreasonable.There were inherently a large number of slaves in the Han Dynasty, but the national population of the Han Dynasty, according to historical records, was always over 20 million.The number of slaves does not exceed two or three million at most.There is one slave for every ten people, which cannot be called a slave society.Moreover, the so-called slaves in the Han Dynasty were just that their legal status was different from that of ordinary citizens.In terms of their social status and living conditions, they are often above ordinary free civilians. The source of slaves in the Han Dynasty was that there was a population tax and compulsory labor in the Han Dynasty. If those who could not pay the population tax or evaded labor, the government could confiscate him as an official slave, so many people in the society sold themselves as slaves to escape this kind of punishment. of.Second, because the business of the Han Dynasty was different from that of the later generations, the production, manufacturing, transportation and marketing, and various operations were mixed regardless of division, and were carried out by the same private enterprise.Therefore, a large amount of manpower is required.A commoner sells himself as a slave, and sometimes he joins a large enterprise organization, just as a farmer entered a large company as an employee in modern times, his living conditions will naturally improve.The government only doubles his population tax, or restricts his political outlets, but cannot suppress his enjoyment of life.And the owner of a large number of slaves, even if he paid double the population tax, still had an advantage.It should be known that slaves in the Han Dynasty were not exclusively serfs or hard labor. Most of the slaves sold in the slave market were thrown into the luxury circle, not close to the front of labor.The big landlords in the Han Dynasty only exploited land rent and did not use a large number of land slaves.All this said, one only needs to look closely at the historical records at that time. How can it be said that the Han Dynasty was still a slave society? Historical research is more expensive than being able to base on objective records, coupled with a comprehensive elucidation.From the slave society to the feudal society, and then to the capitalist society, this is a certain school in the Western historiography circle, which is summarized as such according to Western history.This statement has not been recognized by Western historians.It can be said that the medieval period was a transition from feudal society to modern capitalist society, which can be said to be closer to the truth.If we include Greece, Rome, Egypt, and Babylon in ancient western society under the concept of a slave society, we cannot briefly explain the various historical facts at that time.Therefore, this point of view has rarely been applied in Western historiography. Whether Chinese history and Western history are on the same path should be analyzed and studied in detail based on the historical facts of both sides, first to find out the similarities and differences between them, and then to add a higher synthesis, which is in line with the objective spirit of the so-called scientific method.If we forcefully apply the views of a certain Western faction to Chinese history, it will be far-fetched, and we will not be able to avoid arbitrary distortions and general interpretations of various problems. Now let’s talk about Chinese history in terms of Chinese history itself, and analyze the social forms in Chinese history. I would like to put forward two concepts first.There are probably a few periods when the social form is relatively solidified, and there are more stereotypes to refer to.In several periods, the social form was more variable, and it was more difficult to point out its certain stereotypes.The two societies are clearly different.The so-called more stereotyped ones refer to the fact that one or several forces in the society at that time obtained a special status for a longer period of time, and relatively solidified and stagnated the historical evolution.Sometimes the old special forces tend to collapse, and new special forces have not yet formed. It is a period of change and indetermination.These periods may be dark, chaotic and unstable, but they may also be lively and dynamic, with a posture of blooming and competing.We can use the situation in the next period to measure the contribution of the previous period to historical value.If the next period is dark and chaotic, it will be because the previous stable period has eroded and destroyed the vitality of history.If the next period is active and advances, it is because the previous period cultivated and nurtured the historical life. We might as well say that the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period were a feudal society, but this so-called feudal society only refers to Chinese history in terms of inherent Chinese terms, and does not mean that the social form at that time was similar to that of the Western Middle Ages.At that time, the upper class formed the aristocratic class formed by the acquisition of political hereditary privileges by certain families, and the lower class formed the civilian class controlled by a restrictive economy with a spirit of equalization.The long-term confrontation between the nobles and the commoners made the society of that period form a relatively solid stereotype.But in the Warring States period, hereditary privileges were overthrown, restricting economic liberation, and the solidified stereotypes disappeared, and many new forces were secretly growing and moving forward.This was true in the Warring States Period, and it was also true in the Western Han Dynasty.We might as well say that the societies in these two periods were in a state of amorphous dynamics, which was relatively safe. During this period, there are two emerging forces that deserve our attention the most.One is a free economy, and the other is civilian academics.The free economy is going to the lower class, but civilian academics are going to the upper class.The Warring States period was a period when these two emerging forces advanced side by side, so the Warring States society was more lively and progressive.In the next period, that is, the Western Han Dynasty, civilian scholars took a relatively stable political position and tried to restrain the continued development of the free economy at the lower level. Therefore, the society of the Western Han Dynasty was compared with the Warring States Period. period. If we talk about the origins of that generation of civilian scholars, a small part descended from the aristocratic class, and most of them were bred and thrived in the simple life of half-farming and half-study in the rural society with the spare time between farming in the northern mainland of China.Therefore, the civilian academics at that time inherently contained an inherent tendency to pay attention upwards to the struggle for political power, and downwards to suppress the continuous increase in the development of inequality between the rich and the poor in the free economy.Therefore, Chinese history is still on the old path of letting politics guide society, not letting society shake politics, letting ideals control the economy, and not letting the economy regulate ideals.This can also explain another opportunity, why China did not embark on the road of capitalist society after the collapse of feudal society. three If we grasp the history of China, after the collapse of the feudal society in the Spring and Autumn Period, a generation of middle-class intellectuals, that is, ordinary scholars from the upper-class bureaucratic families and the outstanding children of the lower-class rural areas, came out to control the political power and serve as the center of society. In terms of power, we might as well call the Warring States period a society of wanderers, and the Western Han Dynasty a society of officials. Emperor Wu ordered that all young people who enter the National Taixue, who have excellent grades, will serve as a huge bodyguard group for the palace.Those with lower grades will be assigned to the local government as officials, and they will be various public servants under the heads of administration.After a period of time as an official in the local area, due to his personal morality and service achievements, he can still be inspected and elected by the head of his subordinate, and enter the central government as a man.All officials inside and outside the government are generally transferred from Lang's stage.Therefore, the participation of scholars in the Warring States period was unsystematic and more active.In the Western Han Dynasty, the participation in politics through the legal qualifications of the students of the imperial court to make up the officials and the officials was relatively solid and well-established.However, although there was a fixed system in politics, there was no fixed class in society, so the society of the Western Han Dynasty was still dynamic and amorphous. Unfortunately, in the Eastern Han Dynasty, a fixed class finally gradually emerged.One is that education was not popular at that time, and the other is that the circulation of books was not easy.Under government law, although a certain family is not authorized to enjoy special political and hereditary rights, as long as the family inherits their studies, the special political rights and interests will be hereditary in disguise.Thus, the so-called ancestry of aristocratic families below the Eastern Han Dynasty appeared. The power of family status had gradually grown in the middle of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Afterwards, after the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Three Kingdoms had a long period of turmoil. The central government did not exist, and the common people lost legal protection. Through private contracts between each other, ordinary civilians are transformed from national citizenship to family private households.Those aristocratic families armed their private households and formed a self-defense group. On the one hand, they built docks, that is, fortresses, and relied on self-defense, while cultivating and supporting themselves.According to their private households, they become tribes or family soldiers.The new regime, which is not so stable, has to admit the private contract between them because of the fact that it is difficult to obtain their attachment.Therefore, there is a gap between the government and society. The government is not based on the support of citizens, but only depends on the aristocratic family.The aristocratic family brought private households to negotiate terms with the government.Until the Western Jin Dynasty, the short-lived central government was unfortunately short-lived, and the Five Hu separatists ruled. The Eastern Jin Dynasty crossed the south, and a large number of civilians followed the gate to cross the Yangtze River.Those who stayed in the north also relied on the collective power presided over by Damendi to avoid the ravages of the Hu regime.In this way, the influence of family status in society, regardless of whether it is north or south, is even stronger. This situation is very similar to the period after the fall of the Roman Empire in Western history when the barbarians invaded.Moreover, at that time, Indian Buddhism came to the east, religious forces rose, and temple monks also controlled a large part of the power in society, and they were attached to by a generation of common people.Therefore, some people who study Chinese history in modern times say that the real feudal society in China is not in the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Spring and Autumn Period, but in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.At this point, they were tempted to raise their interest in treating the Western Han Dynasty as a slave society. But if we look further, we can see that there are still great differences between the family society of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties and the feudal society of the Western Middle Ages.The most important thing is politics.The traditional spirit of the various legal systems of the unified governments of Qin and Han has planted a deep-rooted foundation as early as in Chinese history.Although the central governments of the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty, and the Southern and Northern Dynasties were not as large as the Qin and Han governments, they still followed the traditions of the Qin and Han governments in terms of political concepts.The great family at that time, although karma would come and go, gained a lot of private rights.However, in the national system, it has not been officially recognized publicly.Although they are big landlords, they are not feudal nobles, because they do not have fiefs officially awarded by the government.Although they have hairpin tassels from generation to generation, this is due to temporary personnel opportunities, such as the Jiupin Zhongzheng System, but it is not a hereditary title authorized by the government.Moreover, on the government side, they have repeatedly tried to adjust their private rights according to reason.At that time, the government itself was a government supported by a family status force, and it always wanted to suppress the family status. This proves that the latent forces of historical traditions since the Qin and Han Dynasties were playing their role. We also have to describe the status of the peasants at that time.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the land rent was roughly ten and the tax one.The Han Dynasty was more lenient, and the tax was reduced by half. The legal rent was 15 taxes.But the actual collection was reduced by half, only one thirty taxes.And the private rent of some wealthy families is as high as ten tax five.Therefore, the government's leniency did not reach the common people in some places, but increased the exploitation of the wealthy. This is the abuse of the Qin and Han Dynasties following the Warring States period and adopting a free economy.In response to this disadvantage, Wang Mang wanted to nationalize all the land, redistribute it, and restore the well field system, that is, to restore the restricted economy and the spirit of equal production.But he failed.In the Three Kingdoms and Jin Dynasties, almost all peasants were transferred to wealthy families and received their shade.据历史记载，当时的田租额，提高到百分之六十，最高有到百分之八十的。薄弱的中央政府，很少直辖公民，财费无着。因此政府田租也依照豪门租额征收，虽想与豪门争夺民众，终鲜实效。直到北魏均田制出现，农民地位，始见改善。这一新制，依然是由北方门第中的中国知识分子，根据历史传统所提供。最要的是把租额锐减，还复汉制，如是则农民们与其为豪门私户，宁愿为政府公民。于是户口田亩的实际数字，很快地由农村直接呈报到各处地方政府来，大门第荫庇下的私户，轻轻一转手间，又成为政府之公民。中国政府凭借广土众民之支持，本来不需横征暴敛，政费是不愁不足的。这又是历史上一番大革命，但也没有经过下层民众的暴动流血，强力争取，只由政府自动地在法律制度上改进一番，而和平地完成了。 其次要说到农民对国家之服役，这与纳租，成为农民对国家之两大义务。在西汉，推行全民义务兵役制，每一个农民都需要服兵役，但分派时期不久，很易负担。汉末大乱，农民转到私家门第下当部曲，国家公民少了，尽量抽丁，那时则农民全成为军队。粮食不给，再由军队抽空屯田。在法理上，是兵队耕着政府的田，正与私家部曲耕种大门第的田一般。因此田亩收入，尽归国有，农民即屯田兵所得，只是最低限度之生活费。上文所说百分之六十的税收，便由当时屯田制演成。五胡以下，在北方是胡人的部族兵，中国民众则在抽丁制下临时加入军役。在东晋，则因门第势力之阻梗，连抽兵也难顺遂推行，于是逐渐改成募兵制，借此勉保疆土。直到北朝末期的北周，再根据历史传统来创立府兵制。在汉是全农皆兵，在北周则成为全兵皆农。农民不需全服兵役，而服兵役的，政府一一给以一份定额的耕地。在政府不再有军晌之支出，在兵队却各有家庭，各有一份优厚生活的保障。田租与兵役制度改进了，农民的政治地位和经济情况也改进了。于是整个时代，也因而转运了。所以我说要研究社会状况，不应该忽略了政治制度。因政府控制着社会的。社会常随着政府之法制而转形。北朝因有均田与府兵两项新制度，遂造成了此下隋、唐两代之复兴盛运。而此两项新制度，则全由当时北方门第中知识分子，从研究古代经史而建立。 当时南方学者讲庄老新思想，北方却守旧，仍着重传统经史之学。尤其是一部《周礼》，成为当时国际间共同看重研讨的对象。创造府兵制的苏绰，便是研究《周礼》的专家。此后北周军队打进北齐都城，北齐的《周礼》权威学者熊安生，告诉他家人说，北周皇帝一定会先到他家来拜访，嘱先打扫门庭。结果北周皇帝果然不出所料，随着大军进城，首先下令到熊先生家去。 以前王莽早已根据《周礼》来变法，以后北宋的王安石，又复根据《周礼》来变法。《周礼》是战国时代一个不知名的学者，假托周公封建来伪造的一部订有精详的具体制度的“东方之理想国”。虽是一部伪书，但也保存有许多周代封建时期的实际史料，又有许多在封建崩溃之后，一种理想的封建制度之再计划。因此，我们要研究中国的封建社会与封建思想，这一部书至少该参考。 至于说到那时的商业，比两汉，只见更活泼，更繁荣。就南朝论，当时说，广州刺史只经城门一过，便可得三千万。就北朝论，魏孝文迁都洛阳，其新都建筑规模，尚有《洛阳伽蓝记》可证。我们一读此书，便可想像当时北方商业繁华之一斑。若我们一定要把西洋社会来比拟中国的，则试问，全国各地，散布着繁盛的商业都市，散布着自由的中产阶级，那样的社会，是否便即是封建？于是有人又要说，那时的中国，便已是前期资本主义的社会了。总之，说通了这些处，又说不通那些处。说近了这边，又说远了那边。勉强比附，终无是处。 下面讲到隋、唐。 Four 隋、唐的府兵制，沿袭了北周成规，而唐代的租庸调制，则由北魏均田制所蜕变。汉代租额三十税一，唐代更轻，只四十税一了。汉代农民服役，每年一月，唐代减到二十天。更重要的，是唐代沿袭北周，接受了古代井田制度为民制产的精神，每一农民都由政府授以耕地，使在轻摇薄赋的传统精神下，人人有一份最低限度的生活凭借。但唐代对工商业却转采自由政策，一切免税。我们把汉、唐两代的经济制度作一对比，汉代只注意裁抑工商资本之过度发展，而没有注意到下层农民最低生活之保障。唐代颇注意农民生活之保护，而放任工商业之自由发展。汉代立法，像是不许有过富的，却可能有很穷的。唐代立法，像是许可有过富的，却不许有过穷的。因此唐代社会经济较之汉代更活跃，更繁荣。 最要的是隋、唐公开考试制度，即所谓科举制度之确立。任何一公民，皆可自动请求参加考试，以获得进入政府的一种最有保障的资格。这一制度推行了，以前门第那一种变相的贵族，便逐步衰退而终于消失了。这又是中国历史上关于社会形态一番极大的革命过程，但仍非由下层民众掀起流血狂潮经斗争而获得，仍是由上层政府在制度之改革上和平达到。 唐代在大一统政府下，全国民众，受着举国一致合理而宽大的法律保护。旧的特权势力，在逐步解体。有希望的新兴势力，在逐步培植。那时的社会，也如西汉般，在无定形的动进中，我们断难称它又是一个封建社会。然而历史演进是永远有波折的。唐代到中、晚期，租庸调制、府兵制都破坏了。另一种变相的封建势力又产生，此安史之乱以后所谓的藩镇。这是一种军阀割据，因唐代长期向外开疆拓土，边防将领除带兵外，又逐渐掌握地方行政财务之实权，外重内轻，尾大不掉，而引起安史之乱。政府对叛乱势力不能彻底肃清，姑息妥协，于是遂有藩镇。他们拥兵自强，又互相勾结。政府虽没有准许军权世袭的明文规定，但他们用种种方法强迫政府，期求变相的世袭。 若说魏、晋、南北朝的门第，是文官家庭之变相世袭，则唐中叶以后之藩镇，是武将家庭之变相世袭。门第造成社会不平等，藩镇造成政治不统一。若使我们把社会不平等和政治不统一，认为那作梗的都是些封建势力，则门第和藩镇可谓各得其半。若我们要权衡两者间之病害轻重，则又似各有得失，颇难遽下定论。门第势力造成政府之弱势，但传统文化，还赖它在乱离中保住。藩镇割据，把中国当时的对外国防，幸算勉强撑持。但在军阀统治下，普遍地文化窒息，而且几乎连根铲灭了。历史告诉我们，南北朝之后，紧接着隋、唐盛运之来临。而唐中叶以后，终至演成五代十国之黑暗，以及北宋统一后之长期衰弱。因此我们知道，在确保对外的国防武力之上，应该更先注意的是，社会上文化传统之养育与保护。 北宋初年，在文化上经济上已经赤地一片，都需要重新建立。首先是没收军阀兵权，加强中央政府之统一。其次是竭力提倡文化与教育，要社会一般风气看读书比当兵为高贵。为近人所诟病的，中国人之尚文轻武的风气，正是北宋初年用尽全力扭成的。若在五代十国，公民想求出路，只有去当兵，否则出家做和尚，读书人则早快绝迹了。经过宋代将近一百年的培植养护，政府又变成像样的读书人的政府，那时遂又有王安石变法和新政运动。首先是要训练民兵来替代职业兵。于是有保甲制，期于农隙中来武装农村。其次注意到减轻社会富农对国家劳役之过重负担，那些全是中唐以下，直到五代十国军阀统治所积累增加的，于是有免役制。把普遍摊款来代替偏差任役。其次又想清丈田地，整顿税收，来逐步走上中国读书人一向想念的古代封建社会下的那种制约经济与均产精神，于是有方田制，即丈量田亩。又想裁抑商人资本，其实那时的商业资本早已有限，只因政府穷困，政费无着，不在农民身上打算，便转到商人身上起念，于是有均输与市易制，由政府来转运物资及平衡物价。又想把农民的困乏，在地主与富人的剥削下解放，于是有青苗制，由政府来贷款，收回轻微的利息。这些仍是中国传统政治下一套传统的经济理论。他们依然是根据《周礼》来做新政的理论上之护符。 那些新政，终于因多数反对而失败。当时反对新政的也有他们的理由。宋代最大症结，还在它养着一百几十万不生产的职业兵，把整个经济拖垮了。王安石要在这上下困乏的环境下推行新政，增加税收，那是利不胜害的。 自从唐代租庸调制破坏，改行杨炎两税制，自由经济又抬头。农田兼并，再度造成小农与大农。直到宋代，南方长江流域，是当时中国经济的新兴区，比较多自耕农。而北方黄河流域，因唐代门第与军阀势力的遗毒，比较多佃农，在宋代称为客户。据当时政府户口统计，北方客户比较多，南方客户比较少，南北经济情况不同，因此王安石的新政，在南北两方利害亦不等。如青苗免役诸法，南方比较多赞成，北方比较多反对。民兵组训即保甲制，亦先在北方推行，因此北方人更多反对。由中央政府制定一种统一的法令来推行全国，北宋以后，是比较困难了。 Fives 宋代以后的中国社会，开始走上中国的现代型。第一是中央集权之更加强，第二是社会阶级之更消融。魏、晋以下的门第势力，因公开考试制度之长期继续，已彻底消灭，商业资本难于得势，社会上更无特殊势力之存在。我们若把分裂性及阶级性，认为封建社会之两种主要特征，则宋代社会可说是距离封建形态更远了。然而正为此故，遂使宋代社会，在中国史上，显为最贫弱，最无力。一个中央政府高高地摆在偌大一个广阔而平铺的社会上面，全国各地区，谁也没有力量来推动一切公共应兴应革的事业，像水利兴修，道路交通，教育宗教一切文化事业，社会没有力量，全要仰赖中央，这是不可能的事。一到金胡南下，中央政府崩溃，社会上更无力量抵抗或自卫，其所受祸害，较之晋代五胡乱华一段更深刻，更惨澹。 中国传统政权逐步迁移到南方，蔡京、秦桧、韩侘胄等权臣，先后在南方长江下流经济新兴区，大量收买农田，南方农村也落在大地主手里。他们的私租额，也和晋代百抽六十差不多。政府争不到田租收入，于是在商税上拼命括削，结果弄得民穷财尽。一辈知识分子，于是又高倡井田均产的老调。到南宋亡国时，贾似道听了他们意见，回买公田，把权家田亩，全部没收。但公家的租额，依然遵照私家规定。那是以暴易暴，并不为民众所欢迎。元人入主，仍依照南宋旧规收租。于是江南社会，永沦入水深火热中。而北方社会，经过金胡长期屯田兵圈地霸占，更不成样子。 我们若要从中国历史上，寻出一个比较最近似于西方中古时期所谓封建社会的时期，或许只有元朝了。那时虽有一个统一的中央政府，但蒙古一切政制，并不沿袭中国旧传统。那时在政治上经济上，有许多不合理不合法的特殊权益，分配在蒙古人即军人、征服者，色目人即商人、帮凶者，以及庙寺僧侣、土豪地主的手里。一切田地被霸占，一切工匠被掠夺。社会上是阶级重重，政治上是处处分割，各地方各阶层，到处有许多世袭的特殊权益在压迫民众。下层民众惟一躲藏逃避的方法，只有向某一特殊势力去投靠。但这些特殊势力，大部分从社会外面加压上来，并非由社会内层自己长成。这又是中国元代社会与西洋中古时期一绝大不同点。 经过元末革命，中国社会又渐渐扭转了蒙古人的封建统治，回复到传统的固有形态来。第一是把蒙古的部族兵队制取消了，重新创行新府兵制，即卫所制度。一面可省国家的养兵费，一面仍使全国大部农民可以避免义务兵役。第二是把户口与田亩登记，彻底整顿黄册与鱼鳞册，来清除豪门大户逃避田租的积弊。这是王安石方田法以及朱子所盛推的经界制度所想做而未成的。但政府对江南的田租，却依然承袭元旧，照南宋以来的私租额征纳，这不能不说是一大缺点。直到清代，始络续经地方疆吏之申请而轻减。大概直到清末，全国田亩，在国家法定租额上，仍是很少超出十分之一以上的。其次是晚明万历时代之一条鞭制，把摇役摊算在田租内，一并征收。这依然沿袭历史上传统法制之用意，要求解放农民的劳役负担。 因此从北周、隋、唐府兵制以下，农民已从兵役中解放。从唐代中叶杨炎两税制以下，农民又从对公家其他的劳役中解放。虽则中间常不免许多反覆波折，但法制传统之趋势在朝向这一面，则不可否认。其他明、清两代在不断裁抑商业资本上之继续注意，也不待再缕述。只是明代的优待宗室，清代的特别袒护满洲部族特权，成为一时之秕政，显然违反传统政治意识，则早为当时所不满。 大体论之，明以后的社会，仍与宋代相似。在政治上，没有特殊的阶级分别。在社会上，全国公民受到政府同一法律的保护。在经济上，仍在一个有宽度的平衡性的制约制度下，不让有过贫与过富之尖锐对立化。除非我们想法罗举许多特殊的偶出事项或变例来，故意挑剔与指摘，否则就历史事实之大体论，则宋明以下的社会，不能说它相似于西洋中古时期的封建社会，是绝无疑问的。 six 现在我们若为唐以下的中国社会，安立一个它自己应有的名称，则不妨称之为科举的社会。这一种社会，实在是战国游士社会、西汉郎吏社会之再发展。这一种社会之内在意义，仍在由代表学术理想的知识分子，来主持政治，再由政治来领导社会，这一套中国传统意识之具体表现。这一种社会，从唐代已开始，到宋代始定型。这一种社会的中心力量，完全寄托在科举制度上。科举制度之用意，是在选拔社会优秀知识分子参加政府。而这一政府，照理除却皇帝一人外，应该完全由科举中所选拔的人才来组织。 由有科举制度，遂使政府与社会紧密联系，畅遂交流。不断由规定的公开考试中，选拔社会优秀知识分子，加进政府组织。政府亦由此常获新陈代谢，永不再有世袭贵族与大门第出现。而科举制度又规定不许商人应考，又因官吏不许经商，因此官僚子弟仍必回到农村去。那一批参加科举竞选的知识分子，遂大部出身农村，因此也抱有传统的防止商业资本过度发展，及加意保护下层民众最低限度水平生活的政治意识。这一种社会之最大缺点，则在平铺散漫，无组织，无力量。既无世袭贵族，又无工商大资本大企业出现，全社会比较能往平等之路前进。 但社会不平等固是一弊，而组织与力量，则有时需从不平等带来。直到现在，人类智慧尚未发现一个既属平等，而又能有组织有力量的社会。那种平等性的社会，若范围较小，弊害亦可较轻。不幸中国又是一个绝大范型的社会，而时时处处用心在裁抑特殊势力上。封建贵族社会崩溃了，资本主义的社会始终未产生。门第社会消灭了，军权社会也难得势。终于走到科举制的社会上，而停滞不前。这是中国社会在其已往演变中的一个客观历史的真相。 这样一个平铺散漫，无组织、无力量的社会，最怕的是敌国外患。北宋为金所灭，南宋的学者们已深切感觉到中央集权太甚，地方无力量，不能独立奋斗之苦，而时时有人主张部分的封建制度之复兴。直到明末满清入关，中央政府倒了，各地虽激于民族义愤，群起抵抗，也终于全部失败。那时著名学者如顾炎武、王夫之、颜元等，他们更都同情于古代的封建，要想斟酌模仿重定一个理想的新制度。他们在大体上，还是注意到一般平民在制约经济下之均衡状态，但更偏重的，则为如何在社会内部，自身保藏着一份潜存力量，不要全为上层政治所吸收而结集到中央去。 seven 上面述说中国史上社会演变一个大体的轮廓，这是完全依据历史客观事实，经过分析综合而来的。但最近期的中国社会，在此一百年来，又开始变动，而且愈变愈剧，还未见有转向停止安定的迹象。这不得不特地再加以叙述。 首先是中西双方两种不同型社会之骤相接触。中国社会一向栽根在农业经济上，骤然接触到近代商业经济性的西洋社会，而手足无措了。自从五口通商，历年的贸易入超，已经迫得中国农村经济逐步干涸。而商业资本，则始终宛转在次殖民地的买办利润下求生存。这是经济上一个大转变。 说到政治，远从洪、杨直到辛亥，地方封疆势力抬头，满清中央政权由低落而崩溃，造成军阀割据。更重要的是，晚清末年取消自唐以来绵历一千年的科举制度，而西方民主自由的地方选举，急切间未能学得，于是政治失却重心，实际上握有军权即握有了政权。学校教育又只在小学中学国民教育方面稍有基础，大学教育不仅发展较缓，而且始终未能达到学术独立之水准。全国最高教育托命在留学制度上，因此只在科学技术方面粗有绩效，至于传统文化与立国精神，在本国最高学府中，从未正式注意到。作为全国中层阶级指导社会的知识分子，长期在搞党与革命两条路上转侧徘徊，非此则没有他们转上政治的其他门路。党的支撑，则不在民众而在军队。因此党争即就是革命。社会并没有力量去影响政治。政治脱离了社会，没有安定的重心。社会脱离了政治，没有集中的领导。政治动摇，社会没有力量控制。内部是军阀，外面则仰赖帝国主义之发踪指示。帝国主义的力量，又远超在本国军阀力量之上，于是不论学术、政治、军事，也全形成一种次殖民地的买