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Chapter 330: Han Dynasty: Confucianism as the Only Doctrine

After Su Chen described the first stage of the development of Confucianism, the ancient people of various dynasties were extremely interested in the next stage.

Especially Emperor Wu of Han and Dong Zhongshu, they were key figures in promoting the development of Confucianism.

The reason why Confucianism has been able to occupy a dominant position for thousands of years is that it eliminated all other schools of thought and only respected Confucianism.

The ideological guideline of abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone was proposed by Dong Zhongshu and decreed by Emperor Wu of Han.

In response to the requirements of the development of the times, Dong Zhongshu formed New Confucianism by complementing the advantages of other schools of thought. He completed the construction of great unification in thought and established the dominant position of Confucianism.

"The second stage of Confucianism's development was during the Western Han Dynasty, when Confucianism became the mainstream ideology for the unification of the Chinese nation."

"In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, people's livelihood was in decline due to the previous years of war."

"In order to calm people's hearts and resume production."

"The rulers of the early Han Dynasty followed the teachings of Huang-Lao and used the principle of inaction as their guiding ideology in politics."

"The rulers of the Western Han Dynasty adopted the Taoist advice of governing by inaction, rested with the people, and created the first prosperous era of feudal society - the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing."

"With the recovery and development of social economy, the contradiction between the central ruling power and local separatist forces has deepened, and the Huang-Lao school's policy of inaction no longer meets the needs of the ruling class."

"When Emperor Jing of Han put down the rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms, the central imperial power was greatly strengthened."

"Since the founding of the Han Dynasty, Confucianism has gradually been revived thanks to the efforts of Confucian scholars."

"During the period of Emperor Wu of Han, Confucianism gradually gained a dominant position in the struggle between Legalism, Taoism and other schools."

"Emperor Wu of Han summoned famous scholars from all over the world to Chang'an to seek ways to govern the country. Dong Zhongshu proposed to abolish all schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone."

"Dong Zhongshu introduced some ideas of Taoism, Legalism and Yin-Yang and Five Elements into Confucianism, forming a new Confucian ideological system."

"Dong Zhongshu believed that great unification was the natural law of heaven and earth. To maintain the unity of the state power, it was necessary to achieve ideological unity and strengthen the imperial power."

Liu Che: Faced with the complicated situation, Dong Zhongshu's idea of ​​abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone came at the right time.

He ascended the throne at the age of 16, but the situation he faced at the beginning was not optimistic.

After the recuperation during the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing, the national strength was restored to a certain extent and the lives of the people were improved.

However, social contradictions at that time were still prominent, mainly manifested in three aspects.

First, the border threat was serious and the power of the Huns continued to grow.

There were frequent invasions into the Han Dynasty's borders, posing a huge threat to the stable development of the Han Dynasty.

Second, the policy of reducing the power of the princes adopted during the reign of Emperor Jing led to the massive Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms.

Although the rebellion was quelled, local fiefdoms were abolished or weakened.

However, this also resulted in a large amount of wealth accumulated during the previous period of recuperation being consumed, which to a certain extent shook the country's foundation.

Third, the political system structure of the central court and local governments is still imperfect and there are still great hidden dangers.

In particular, the imperial power was restrained and constrained by various political forces and could not form a strong political operating system.

Faced with complex social contradictions and political situations, the young man was extremely eager to break through the shackles of the old system.

He longed for the opportunity to display his talents and realize the grand blueprint in his heart.

And all of this must start with one thing, which is to strengthen the imperial power.

Strengthening the imperial power is easy to say, but difficult to implement, especially for him who was so young at that time.

Although with the unification of the Qin Dynasty, a centralized political system was established.

However, it will take a long time for the people, whose minds have been influenced by the ideas of feudal division and co-rule of the world by the monarch and his subjects for nearly a thousand years, to fully adapt to this change in thinking.

At the beginning of his reign, the constraints and threats to imperial power were particularly obvious.

There are threats from the Empress Dowager's power, threats from the external relatives' power, and even more threats from the prime minister's power.

His grandmother, Queen Dowager Dou, and his mother, Queen Dowager Wang, were two women with strong desire for power.

Although at the beginning of his reign, the two queens dowagers played a key role in stabilizing the situation.

But as time went on, this control over power seriously affected the prestige of the imperial power.

Important court affairs often could not be resolved or implemented without the Queen Mother's decision, which constrained him in many ways but made it difficult for him to do anything.

Since the Empress Dowager's power is so strong, then the clan power that is attached to the two Empress Dowagers will naturally benefit from the success of one person.

In the early days of his reign, he was not actually opposed to appointing relatives by marriage to high positions. After all, he had just ascended the throne and still had to rely to a large extent on his grandmother and mother.

As relatives by blood, it is more reliable to use them than outsiders. This is human nature.

However, as his throne became increasingly stable and he developed his own ideas and plans for politics, the existence of his external relatives' power slowly became a stumbling block that prevented him from exerting his influence.

However, he could not tolerate these powerful relatives who relied on the empress dowager's power and were arrogant and rude.

After the establishment of the Han Dynasty, the prime minister has always played a key role in commanding all officials and connecting the upper and lower levels.

The prime minister can set up his own government and have his own team.

Even if he, the emperor, ordered the prime minister to do something, he had to follow the prescribed procedures.

It can be said that the prime minister is the head of all officials, second only to the emperor and above ten thousand people, and even he has to give him some ground.

Faced with the complicated political situation and the huge threat to imperial power, he would not allow this situation to continue.

He wanted to break these annoying shackles and constraints and take power firmly into his own hands.

In his heart, life is not about fighting for power and profit, but about expanding territory and achieving great things.

In order to change this situation, he took a series of reform measures.

He set up inner and outer courts to limit the power of the prime minister, implemented the Enfeoffment Order to limit the power of feudal states, and created the recommendation system to select talents, etc.

Although these measures were effective, they remained at the institutional level. At the ideological level, he also found a good strategy to achieve his grand ambitions, which was to abolish all schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone.

"To this end, Dong Zhongshu proposed two main ideas, the correspondence between heaven and man and the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues."

"With the gradual recovery of social economy in the early Han Dynasty, the desire and demand for a unified economy, politics, ideology and culture became increasingly strong."

"Dong Zhongshu proposed the idea of ​​the interaction between heaven and man based on the absorption and integration of the thoughts of various pre-Qin philosophers."

"The heaven in this theory is the highest category in Dong Zhongshu's thought, the origin of all things in the universe, and the core content and theoretical basis of the interaction between heaven and man."

"Dong Zhongshu's Heaven encompasses the three meanings of natural Heaven, dominant Heaven and moral Heaven."

"In the sense of natural heaven, heaven is composed of heaven, earth, man, yin and yang, and the five elements."

“In the sense of the sovereign Heaven, Heaven is not only the creator of all things in the world.”

“Heaven, with its personal will, also rules over all things in the universe as the Supreme God, and rewards and punishes humans and human society.”

“In the sense of moral heaven, heaven has moral and ethical attributes.”

"Man refers specifically to the supreme ruler. Ordinary people cannot communicate with heaven. Only the emperor has the privilege of communicating with heaven."

"Dong Zhongshu believed that the Yin and Yang and the Five Elements in nature are closely related to the behavior of human society."

“Heaven and man are similar and connected. Heaven can intervene in human affairs, and human behavior can also sense Heaven.”

"Therefore, the monarch should follow the will of heaven and achieve the ideal state of living in harmony with nature by cultivating oneself, managing the family, governing the country and bringing peace to the world."

"In the theory of the correspondence between heaven and man, auspicious signs from heaven and disasters from heaven are the two basic manifestations of the correspondence between heaven and man."

"In Dong Zhongshu's view, the monarch is the son of heaven. He obeys the will of heaven and governs human society on behalf of heaven."

"The correspondence between heaven and man is actually the correspondence between heaven and the emperor. Heaven reveals its will through auspicious signs and disasters."

"If a monarch governs well and governs properly, it will move the heavens, who will reward him with auspicious signs."

"Disasters are the opposite of auspicious signs, and refer to bad omens in the process of things developing, including astronomical phenomena, natural disasters, etc."

“When a ruler does not follow the Way of Heaven, Heaven will first send down disasters as a warning.”

"If you still don't realize your mistake, God will create strange things to warn you."

"If you don't know how to change, you will end up getting hurt and failing."

"Dong Zhongshu's idea of ​​the interaction between heaven and man established the supreme position of Confucianism in the ruling thought and ideology of the country."

"It provided a theoretical basis for the characteristics of the times and its practical significance for the great unification of the Han Dynasty, and further implemented it in the practice of social governance."

"This idea not only provides a theoretical basis for the monarch to gain legitimacy in his rule, but also serves as an ideological tool for the Confucian scholars to prevent the monarchy from being overly distorted."

"In addition, the idea of ​​the correspondence between heaven and man also influenced the political and legal systems of the Han Dynasty and had a profound impact on the literary creation of later generations."

"The Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, or simply the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues, are the basic moral principles and codes of conduct in Chinese feudal society."

"The Three Bonds refer to the ruler as the bond between the ministers, the father as the bond between the sons, and the husband as the bond between the wives. It is believed that the ministers, sons, and wives should obey the ruler, father, and husband."

"The Five Constant Virtues are benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness, five moral norms and moral consciousness, which are determined by heaven to ensure the implementation of the Three Bonds."

"The Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues are the basic political and ethical principles of ancient Chinese society and are the inevitable result of the development of a patriarchal feudal hierarchical society."

"As the moral code of feudal society, the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues played a stabilizing role in the traditional society and autocratic politics of the feudal era."

"But in the late feudal society, with the decline and decay of feudal society, the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues gradually solidified and became rigid."

"From a historical perspective, the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues were argued by Dong Zhongshu."

"It completed the formation and establishment of traditional Chinese ethics and morality, and China's feudal ethics and morality were further standardized."

"The Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues stipulated the status of Confucianism as the official ideology, and based on it, constructed the political and cultural model of feudal society, providing the ideological ruling foundation for the subsequent two thousand years of Chinese feudal society."

"The moral theory of the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues played a positive role in the formation of a unified multi-ethnic culture and in strengthening national cohesion." "The combination of the Three Bonds and the Five Constant Virtues constructed the Chinese feudal moral system, which influenced China for thousands of years."

"Among them, the three principles of the ruler as the guide for the ministers, the father as the guide for the sons, and the husband as the guide for the wife involve the political life relations of the state in the patriarchal feudal society and the ethical life relations in the family, and objectively solve the problem of the status and role of the political power, the husband's power, and the father's power."

"The Five Constant Virtues of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness involve the relationship between people and are the spiritual pillars for a person to settle down and make a living. They solve the problem of political and moral cultivation."

"The Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues permeate all aspects of ancient Chinese society, politics, economy, and culture. They are the moral guidelines for people to cultivate themselves, regulate their families, govern the country, and bring peace to the world. They are the core components and important content of the entire Chinese traditional culture."

Dong Zhongshu: To abolish all schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone does not mean to eliminate the thoughts of various schools of thought ideologically, but to absorb, digest and integrate them into Confucianism.

The policy of inaction in the early Han Dynasty achieved the prosperity of the reign of Emperor Wen and Emperor Jing.

But it was precisely because of inaction that Confucianism and Taoism argued endlessly, the central and local governments were in a state of disunity, and the threat from the Huns grew increasingly greater.

The ideological, institutional and diplomatic problems of the Han Dynasty were never completely resolved, and all of this was handed over to Emperor Wu of Han.

Emperor Wu was ambitious and would certainly not be content with ruling by inaction.

This requires an authoritative ideological system as a theoretical basis to realize Emperor Wu's ambitions.

As soon as Empress Dowager Dou passed away, Emperor Wu of Han, who had long been unable to contain his excitement, immediately issued an imperial decree to seek out famous people across the country and ask for good advice on governing the country.

In such an era, he and his three strategies of heaven and man came into being.

The three main ideas he proposed in the Three Strategies of Heaven and Man are the interaction between Heaven and man, the divine right of kings, great unification, respecting the king and expelling the barbarians, and abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone.

The idea of ​​the correspondence between heaven and man and the divine right of kings solves the problem of the legitimacy of the political power.

When Emperor Gaozu conquered the world, he relied on force to seize power.

However, he believed that the reason why Gaozu could become emperor was because he was born to be an emperor, which was God's arrangement.

Of course, it doesn't mean that the people will agree if he says that the king's power is granted by God.

Therefore, Dong Zhongshu put forward the idea of ​​the unity of man and nature.

He absorbed the concepts of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements from the Yin-Yang School, combined them with the natural laws and human norms of Confucianism, and further derived the core idea that the emperor was appointed by Heaven.

He also emphasized that the Way of Heaven is manifested in the human world, and its essence is the Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues.

While he believed in the unity of nature and man and the divine right of kings, he also emphasized the interaction between nature and man.

The emperor was appointed by heaven to govern the world, and if he did a good job, heaven would bestow auspicious signs.

If the emperor did not do well, God would send down natural disasters as a warning to restrain his behavior.

But what exactly is a good omen and what is a disaster, and what do these auspicious signs and disasters indicate?

The final right of interpretation was in the hands of Confucianists, which in turn formed an ideological consensus between Confucian scholars and emperors.

The unification and respect for the king during the Spring and Autumn Period resolved the issue of centralization and local division.

The historical problems caused by the feudal system in the early Han Dynasty gave every emperor a headache.

Emperor Gaozu eliminated kings of different surnames by forcing them to rebel, Emperor Wen divided kings of the same surname by suppressing them, and Emperor Jing suppressed the princes by reducing the power of the vassal states.

When it came to Emperor Wu, there was no need for any conspiracies or overt plots.

Simply by saying that the Spring and Autumn Period unified the country and that we respect the king and expel the barbarians, we can legitimately take back the fiefs of the princes.

The old idea of ​​dividing the land and enfeoffing princes from the pre-Qin period was completely swept into the dustbin of history, thus solving the problem of local princes at one stroke.

Truly make the whole world the king's land and everyone in the four seas the king's subjects.

Banning all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone solves the problem of consciousness and thought.

It is wonderful to have a hundred schools of thought contend and a hundred schools of thought flourish, but when there are too many voices in society, ordinary people will be confused and not know where to go next.

Only when thoughts are unified can society stabilize and continue to move forward.

Therefore, he advocated the abolition of all schools of thought and the promotion of Confucianism alone, using Confucianism to unify and educate people's thoughts.

At the same time, the rulers were required to use Confucianism as their guiding ideology to restrain people's behavior, educate the people, and thus achieve peace and prosperity.

It is obvious that the Confucianism he advocated is very different from the teachings of Confucius and Mencius hundreds of years ago.

Compared with Confucius' obsession with restoring the Zhou rituals that had long been out of date, he kept pace with the times and fully absorbed the essence of Yin-Yang School, Taoism and Legalism.

The proposed new Confucianism is a brand new one that fits the current era and meets the needs of imperial rule. It is a perfect combination of philosophical thought and ruling philosophy.

On the surface, it was about abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone, but in essence it was still autocracy and centralization, which was also the fundamental reason why Emperor Wu of Han accepted Confucianism alone.

"Emperor Wu of Han believed that Dong Zhongshu's ideas were very helpful in establishing a unified regime and maintaining long-term rule."

"So he adopted Dong Zhongshu's suggestion to dismiss the Hundred Schools of Thought and took a series of measures to promote Confucianism."

"In 136 BC, Emperor Wu of Han designated The Book of Songs, The Book of History, The Book of Rites, The Book of Changes and The Spring and Autumn Annals as the Five Classics."

"And doctors were appointed to study and spread the Five Classics, and the Confucian classics became the textbooks designated by the emperor."

"After that, Emperor Wu of Han established the Imperial Academy and stipulated that all students in the Imperial Academy should be taught by doctors of the Five Classics of Confucianism. If they passed the examination, they could become officials in the imperial court."

"From then on, the theoretical system and classics of Confucianism became the orthodox thought respected by rulers of all dynasties."

"This change, in the cultural transformation of China, turned Confucius, a commoner, into a saint of the ruling class."

"On the other hand, it established the dominant position of Confucianism in traditional Chinese culture."

"The implementation of the policy of banishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone had a profound impact."

"First, this policy established the dominance of Confucianism and ended the separation of academics and politics since the Spring and Autumn Period."

"It transformed Confucianism from a private school to an official school, integrating academics with politics."

"Secondly, the implementation of this policy promoted social harmony, consolidated the situation of a unified empire, and influenced the selection of talents and the emergence of Han Dynasty Confucian classics."

"But at the same time, this policy has also led to the emergence of dogmatism, which is not conducive to the development of academic thought."

Li Shimin: Emperor Wu of Han chose Confucianism as the only guiding ideology for governing the world, and there were deep-seated reasons behind it.

In his opinion, there were three real reasons why Emperor Wu of Han abolished all schools of thought and promoted Confucianism alone.

First, from the perspective of the emperor, Confucianism is a kind of thought that tends to be moderate.

Confucianism is neither as harsh as the Legalist thought adopted during the Qin Dynasty, nor as laissez-faire as the Taoist thought adopted in the early Han Dynasty. Instead, it seeks a balance between the two.

Because the Qin Dynasty was not far from the period of Emperor Wu of Han, this view had profound practical significance at the time.

Although the Qin Dynasty swept across the six kingdoms and achieved true unification, the Legalist thought that became a magic weapon in wartime seemed too harsh in peacetime.

As the saying goes, harsh punishments are used in times of chaos. If harsh punishments are still used in times of peace, they will undoubtedly lead to opposition from the people.

The Legalist thought is too harsh and neither is the mild Taoist thought.

In order to ease the exhausted situation in the world and to draw a clear line between itself and the brutal rule of the Qin Dynasty, the early Han Dynasty chose to use the Huang-Lao school of thought as the guiding ideology to govern the country.

After several years of recuperation, the people got a long-awaited respite, and the national strength was restored and strengthened.

The effect is significant, but the disadvantages of this idea are equally obvious.

Due to the advocacy of governing by inaction, local feudal states became increasingly powerful and the central government's control over the local states gradually declined, until the Rebellion of the Seven States broke out during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han.

At the central level, the emperor's authority was also threatened to varying degrees.

Under the influence of various forces, the emperor, as the supreme ruler, often cannot exercise power according to his own wishes.

Confucianism is between Legalism and Taoism, giving Emperor Wu of Han a new choice while avoiding the lessons of the past.

Secondly, the ideas advocated by Confucianism are conducive to centralization, especially the consolidation and strengthening of imperial power.

One of the basic tenets of Confucianism is that the king's power is granted by God, and the emperor, as the Son of Heaven, has an indisputable ruling status.

It is natural and glorious for the people of the world to accept the emperor's rule.

The Three Bonds and Five Constant Virtues in Confucianism were combined with the idea of ​​divine right of kings through the promotion of the Han Dynasty emperors, further forming the theoretical basis for teaching the people to be loyal to the emperor and patriotic.

All of this perfectly fits with Emperor Wu of Han's goal of strengthening imperial power and centralization, allowing the subjects of the world to accept the change of thought from the bottom of their hearts through the process of seeing and hearing.

In a sense, Emperor Wu of Han's original intention of abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone was to strengthen imperial power in order to maintain the rule of the Liu Han royal family.

Finally, Emperor Wu of Han's personal wish was also an important reason for abolishing all schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone.

The idea proposed by Dong Zhongshu coincided with the ideas of Emperor Wu of Han, and was quickly adopted by Emperor Wu of Han.

As soon as this idea was proposed, it was strongly opposed by a group of people who advocated Huang-Lao Taoism, led by Empress Dowager Dou, and a large number of ministers who supported Confucianism were suppressed.

However, Emperor Wu of Han, who had already grown strong, took this opportunity to launch his resistance.

After Empress Dowager Dou's death, Emperor Wu of Han no longer had any scruples, and the faction supporting Confucianism rose again.

Other ideological doctrines, including Huang-Lao thought, were excluded from official learning, and the dominant position of Confucianism was never shaken in the following thousands of years.

The situation that Emperor Wu of Han faced at the beginning of his reign was extremely complicated. There was a lot of work to be done after he had governed the country and eliminated corruption, and there was also the weakening of imperial power due to the influence of Huang-Lao thought.

However, if the ambitious Emperor Wu of Han wanted to realize his grand goals and achieve unprecedented great achievements, he had to change this situation.

There are many measures and methods for reform, and the leading one among them, reflected in the ideological level, is to abolish all schools of thought and respect Confucianism alone.

There are multiple and complex reasons why Emperor Wu of Han chose Confucianism as the only guiding ideology for governing the world.

This was due to both personal preference and the political need to strengthen centralization and imperial power, as well as the lessons learned from the unfavorable situations caused by adopting other ideas during the Qin and early Han dynasties.

But in the final analysis, this was an inevitable choice based on the historical background at that time, and Emperor Wu of Han was just following the trend of historical development.

In a sense, the choice made by Emperor Wu of Han was the choice of the times and the choice of history.

(End of this chapter)