Chapter 36 The Evolution of Chinese Cultural Tradition-4

Four In the second period, during the Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang dynasties, political martial arts, social economy, and all had very good facilities. The Qin Dynasty unified the world and created a situation of one country and one nation.This is what is called a nation-state.In other words, China in the Qin Dynasty was already equivalent to what modern people call a modern country.After Qin, Han, Sui, and Tang, the greatest achievements of Chinese culture were in the aspects of political and social organization.The achievement of a unified politics and an equal society is the achievement of the Han and Tang Dynasties.We always feel that China has not surpassed the pre-Qin in terms of academic thought, and has not surpassed the Han and Tang in terms of politics and society.It is difficult to briefly talk about the history of the Han and Tang Dynasties. Now that we have to, let's briefly talk about it.

Most people often say that China used to be a country of absolute monarchy. I think it is true to call it a monarchy, but it is a bit unfair to call it an autocracy.In Chinese society, since the Qin Dynasty, there has been no so-called privileged class.Officials in the government are not privileged nobles in society.So what kind of people below the Qin and Han Dynasties can be officials?To use a modern phrase, who can participate in politics?China has a specific system for citizens to participate in politics from the Han Dynasty down. The Han system first entered the school to receive education. After graduation, they entered the government to practice and work as an official.When he has experience in practical administration and has achieved considerable results, he has to be recommended to the imperial court and pass an exam before he officially becomes an administrative officer.As for the level of official rank, it is determined by the performance after serving in the official position.Following the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, this system has changed, but generally there is always a system.From the Tang Dynasty until the Qing Dynasty, there was a famous imperial examination system.Therefore, since the Han Dynasty, although China had emperors, it did not have feudal aristocrats.And there are no plutocrats and nobles who came from capitalists in disguise.Officials are selected by the people who are educated and capable, and they are evenly distributed across the country.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, one person in about 200,000 households could participate in politics.Until the Qing Dynasty, each province had stipulated the number of applicants for the imperial examination, which was still distributed equally according to the region.Judging from this point alone, traditional Chinese politics is no longer an autocratic monarchy.Because the people of the whole country participate in politics, it is stipulated by government laws, and the emperor cannot amend it arbitrarily.Even the examination date stipulated by the examination system of the Qing Dynasty has not been changed for more than two hundred years.Therefore, China's traditional politics cannot really be said to be an autocratic monarchy.

In such a political situation, a unique social situation in China has emerged.During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China was still a feudal society, and there were classes such as the public, the minister, the doctor, the scholar, and the common people, and they were clearly divided.After the Qin Dynasty, the feudal society disappeared long ago. At that time, there should have been a tendency to gradually embark on a capitalist society.It is very natural for everyone to go the way of seeking wealth because it is impossible for those who seek wealth.China's vast land and abundant resources are also very suitable for doing business and making a fortune.But when Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty came, new regulations were drawn up, stipulating that only those who had studied and received education could be officials, and those who became officials could no longer do business.Moreover, it is stipulated that all large businesses with patents are managed by the government, and the people are engaged in business, and the income tax is very heavy.Under such circumstances, China has embarked on what seems to be the so-called economic control path in modern times.At this time, the feudal system was overthrown, the private economy could not develop unlimitedly, and the government established an examination system, stipulating that citizens have the right to be educated and selected to participate in politics and become officials.This kind of situation, in the hearts of the Chinese people at that time, everyone thought it was very reasonable, so the feudal society went away, and the capitalist society did not come, and everyone worked hard on education and culture to realize the ideals of self-cultivation, family harmony, state governance, and world peace. Therefore, they don't want to ask another worldly religion for comfort. In other words, they can settle down in real life.

But in this way, you will definitely ask, since the system of the Han Dynasty was so good, and life at that time was so reasonable, why did the Han Dynasty decline again?This question is too urgent to answer in detail, which is equivalent to asking, you are healthy and strong today, why did you get sick later?It’s like asking you are full now, why are you still hungry and want to eat more later?These questions could have been left unasked, but if they were asked, they would go too far.But we can't help asking, if the political society in the Han and Tang dynasties was so reasonable, why is it so bad now?This problem, I will go on to explain.We all know that after the chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty, the Chinese at that time felt that the reality of the world was meaningless, that the politics was not clear, that the society was unfair, and that people in general were very negative and pessimistic, so they turned to religion and believed that there was a birth. Hope for the next life, that is the Buddhism that was newly introduced to China from India at that time.But why are the Chinese people today living in such a bad environment, but not as negative as the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties?This is because people now feel that there are foreigners who are reliable and seem to have a way.In the past, I hoped to be in the next life, but now I hope to be abroad.So now the Chinese worship foreigners, but it is not easy to believe in religion.If we feel that there is nothing we can do for a while, the only option is to believe in religion and seek rebirth.Therefore, under the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, there were especially many people who believed in Buddhism. It was not until the unification and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty that they recovered and embarked on the road of real life.

The situation of the Han and Tang dynasties cannot be described in detail now, probably the society and politics of China below the Song Dynasty could not escape the rules of the Han and Tang dynasties.Therefore, we generally say that politics and society below the Song Dynasty seem to have made no progress.But we cannot say that the Han and Tang did not make progress just because the academic thought of the Han and Tang did not exceed that of the pre-Qin period.Because in the pre-Qin period, the sages of Confucius and Mencius have already expressed their ideals of life very profoundly, and it is really difficult to surpass them in the future.The question is only how to achieve it.The achievements of the Han and Tang Dynasties, if they can gradually follow the ideals of the pre-Qin people, and gradually manifest those ideals, that is truly remarkable.The ideals of the ancient Chinese, like the pre-Qin schools of thought, were already very high and perfect.To this day, they have still not surpassed them. This cannot mean that China is not progressing.What we now say that Han and Tang are not as good as pre-Qin probably refers to the aspect of academic thought, saying that the Han and Tang eras still cannot escape the category of pre-Qin academic thought.But if we take it a step further, although the thinking of the pre-Qin people was high, they were only empty words.However, the Han and Tang dynasties after the Qin Dynasty did work according to it, making the ideas of the pre-Qin people gradually realized in society.Until the Song Dynasty and below, the political society, all scales, could not escape the rules of the Han and Tang Dynasties.This is hard to say is the progress of the Han and Tang dynasties.Here, I dare to boldly say that in the future, China's political society may still be unable to escape the scale of the Han and Tang Dynasties. For example, the unity of politics and the equality of society will be the scale of the Han and Tang Dynasties.