History of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

Chapter 508 Shi Jingtang's Struggle 3
4.3 Two Kings and Three Kes
The "Two Kings and Three Deeds System" is a political etiquette system in ancient China, which is to confer titles on the descendants of the royal family of the previous dynasty. The royal family of the previous dynasty is provided with pensions to prove that the current dynasty is the successor of the previous dynasty and has a pure legal lineage. It is similar to a child inheriting the property of his parents and at the same time having to support his parents and take care of them until the end of their lives.

In the first month of the second year of Tianfu (937), Shi Jingtang issued an edict to find someone among the royal family of the Tang Dynasty to "ennoble and inherit the title of duke". He selected Yang Yanshou, a descendant of Duke of Xing of the Sui Dynasty, as the "Second Queen" and Yuwen Jie, Duke of Jie of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, as the "Third Ke".

In addition, when selecting and promoting civil servants of this dynasty, preferential treatment is given to descendants of the Tang Dynasty royal family.

4.4 Judicial Recognition
In the first month of the fourth year of Tianfu (939), Cao Guozhen, the Left Counselor, suggested revising the constitution and selecting well-educated scholars to compile the "Six Codes of Tang", "Tang Huiyao", "Continued Tang Huiyao", "Da Zhong Criminal Law System", and the format of laws and decrees, and compile them into a new book named "Da Jin Zheng Tong".

"Six Codes of Tang Dynasty" is the earliest existing administrative code in my country; the two "Essentials of Tang Dynasty" are historical literary works that record the evolution and changes of various rules and regulations of the Tang Dynasty; "Dazhong Criminal Law General Classification" is the code promulgated by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang during the Dazhong period.

It is estimated that Cao Guozhen wanted to flatter Shi Jingtang and allow the Jin Dynasty to have its own independent and complete legal system.

But he hit the horse's hoof.

Thirty years ago, Zhu Wen boldly simplified the legal format of the Tang Dynasty and promulgated the "Daliang New Law and Regulations Format". The background at that time was that after years of war, the national legal system was in chaos and disorder, with many unreasonable and even self-contradictory aspects, which seriously affected the country's judicial and administrative work. Therefore, Zhu Wen had to keep pace with the times and make drastic reforms to the entire legal system based on actual conditions.

Although it was a "drastic change", Zhu Wen was still quite cautious. When it came to the operational level, it was still very scientific and standardized. "The Format of New Laws and Regulations of Daliang" also played a role in promoting history and is worthy of recognition and will be recorded in history forever.

Therefore, Zhu Wen really carried out judicial reform for the sake of judicial reform, and its political significance was just an unexpected gain.

Even so, Zhu Wen will forever be infamous as a usurper.

Now, Shi Jingtang is trying to portray himself as the defender of the old order, not the founder of the new order; the successor of the Tang Dynasty, not the usurper; the promoter of Chinese culture, not the spokesperson of barbarians... Therefore, Shi Jingtang deliberately retained the laws of the Tang Dynasty. I am the successor of the Tang Dynasty, so of course I have to use the constitution of the Tang Dynasty.

However, Cao Guozhen called on Shi Jingtang to draw a clear line between "Jin" and "Tang", which showed his alarmingly low political awareness.

Shi Jingtang did not react at first, but when he heard that he wanted to make "Da Jin" famous in history, he happily gave orders and appointed 19 top students and related professionals in the country, including the president of the National Aristocratic University (Guozi Siye) and the Censor, to be responsible for this matter.

Emperors all hoped to do something that would leave their names in history, especially in the cultural field, such as Emperor Qianlong who ordered the compilation of the Siku Quanshu.

These 19 people are worthy of being the country's top intellectuals. They jointly submitted a memorial, saying that if the ritual, music, criminal law and constitution of the previous dynasty were changed to "The Political System of the Great Jin Dynasty", then "The Code of Yao" and "The Code of Shun" should also be renamed "The Code of Jin".

In the joint memorial to Shi Jingtang, everyone directly revealed the truth, pointing out that doing so was extremely absurd and "unjust".

This word of advice woke Shi Jingtang up and he immediately praised 19 people, and the "Political System of the Great Jin Dynasty" was shelved.

4.5 The Bell and the Dinner
In November of the fifth year of Tianfu (940), on the winter solstice, Shi Jingtang accepted the congratulations of all officials in Chongyuan Hall and "began to use two dances":
"When the emperor raised his cup, he played the music of Yuantong; when he sang songs, he played the music of Wentong; when he had a meal, he played the dance of Zhaode for the civil dance and the dance of Chenggong for the military dance."

The Zhou Li regulations are all-encompassing, pervasive, and full of red tape. As mentioned above, when eating, you have to "ring the bells and eat the food", the BGM cannot be used randomly, and the music cannot be danced randomly. For example, when offering sacrifices to the ancestral temple, the music must be switched N times in the same sacrificial activity, and different generations of ancestors have different exclusive music. For example, after Zhu Wen usurped the Tang Dynasty, he built an ancestral temple for four generations of ancestors, and each of the four rooms had its own exclusive BGM:

Emperor Sukjo Sunwon's Chamber: "The Great Dance"

Emperor Guangxian's Chamber: "Dance of the Elephant"

Emperor Zhaowu's Chamber: "Laiyi Dance"

Emperor Liezu Wenmu's Chamber: "Dance of Zhaode"

In Chinese culture, "ritual and music" strictly speaking do not belong to the category of art, but to the category of politics. It is said that "the ancient kings established rituals and music to serve the heaven and earth and to unify the people and gods. This old rule has been passed down through the ages."

Since the end of the Tang Dynasty, especially after the establishment of the Later Tang Dynasty, the emperors were basically illiterate and uneducated warriors who did not understand or despise this set of red tape, so it was abandoned for many years, and no one in the court could sort it out. For example, as mentioned above, Li Congke appointed Feng Dao as "Sikong", and no one in the court knew what "Sikong" was.

Therefore, after years of painstaking collection and compilation, Shi Jingtang finally restored the past, played the nostalgia card, and "revive the two dances."

"The ceremony had been abandoned for a long time, but now it has been revived, and the spectators are delighted."

Comrade Li Xiang, the Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Justice, who had the honor of participating in the celebration, personally experienced the revival of Zhou rituals and was extremely excited. After returning home, he wrote an "Ode to Two Dances" as a New Year's gift and presented it to Shi Jingtang in the first month of the sixth year of Tianfu (941).

Shi Jingtang was very pleased and ordered it to be recorded in the history books (the emperor read it and praised it, and ordered it to be compiled in the history books).

4.6 Compilation of history for the previous dynasty

Every dynasty in China has a fine tradition of compiling history books for the previous dynasty, which also proves the legitimacy of the current dynasty.

In February of the sixth year of Tianfu (941), the emperor ordered Zhang Zhaoyuan, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and Lu Qi and others to compile the history of the Tang Dynasty, with Prime Minister Zhao Ying as the supervisor.

The history of the Tang Dynasty from Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan to Emperor Daizong of Tang has been basically preserved intact, but historical materials from the end of the Tang Dynasty were severely lost due to wars.

Interestingly, the person in charge of compiling the records of the reigns of Emperor Wuzong and Emperor Xuanzong was none other than Wei Baoheng, the big boss of the "Baoyan Party". Wei Baoheng only did this one thing, but in the end, "many things happened... and it was not circulated", and it was lost.

Therefore, Shi Jingtang ordered that the descendants of the former Tang high-ranking officials who were responsible for compiling the Veritable Records, such as Wei Baoheng, or their students and former officials, should search through their houses and cabinets and dig deep into the ground to see if there were any drafts left by their ancestors. Even if there were only a few words, they should be sent to the palace. Those who sent them would be given official positions if they did not have them, and those who had them would be promoted by one level.
In addition, during the sixty years from Emperor Wuzong to Emperor Ai, anyone who presented biographies of people, family biographies, various official documents, and other documentary materials to the palace, regardless of content or length, would be rewarded accordingly. If the time span was long and the content was detailed, additional generous rewards would be given.

(End of this chapter)