Since the beginning of the first dynasty of the Qin Dynasty to unify China, there has been no great unification of the dynasty in duration of more than three hundred years, even if the Song Dynasty combined for more than 400 years, the middle also experienced the changes of the Northern Song and Southern Song Dynasties, the powerful Tang Dynasty, only 289 years, what is the reason for this? The following interesting history Xiaobian will bring you a detailed introduction, let's take a look at it!
1. There are basically three models for the downfall of Chinese dynasties.
The first can be called "institutional collapse", that is, the rebellion or conflict between people within the system leads to the demise of the state. For example, the Han Yuan Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty, the whole ruling system was incapacitated, and finally usurped power by the wang family. There are Qin, Western Han, Eastern Han, Western Jin, Eastern Jin, Sui, and Tang.
The second can be called "the end of life", the dynasty lasted to a certain period, civil unrest broke out, and the army rushed everywhere. Although the state system itself was not fatally flawed, it was eventually exhausted by long-term repression and the country collapsed. In contrast to the collapse of the system, the main perpetrators of the end-of-life model are those outside the system. The Ming Dynasty was basically like this model (if it were not for the civil unrest that depleted the Ming Dynasty's national strength and army, the Manchu Qing would have little hope).
The third can be called "foreign invasion", which is unlucky and has been destroyed. This is basically the Southern Song Dynasty and the Northern Song Dynasty.
The Yuan Dynasty had a bit of a synthesis of the first and second kinds, but I think it can basically be attributed to its poor system. The reasons for the fall of the Qing Dynasty are too special to be explained here.
Therefore, in fact, it can be seen that the main reason for the demise of China's major dynasties, the overwhelming majority, is the collapse of the system itself. The people in the system stand up and seek power and usurp the throne, or the national strength is weakened due to the armed conflict between the people of the system, and eventually it will perish.
2. How did all the dynasties perish?
When the Qin Dynasty fell, the population did not reach the limit of land carrying capacity. It was precisely because of Hu Hai and Zhao Gao's own rectification that the dynasty was broken early.
In the Western Han Dynasty, the emperor sounded like a dog and horse, ignored the government, was controlled by foreign relatives, and perished.
In the Eastern Han Dynasty, foreign relatives and eunuchs fought, and finally the military leaders took the opportunity to usurp power, and finally the warlords in various places divided and fought back and forth, and the Han Dynasty collapsed.
Western Jin Dynasty, rebellion of the Eight Kings, the destruction of the country.
Eastern Jin Dynasty, Huan Xuan/Liu Yu usurped the throne, and the country was destroyed.
The Sui and Sui Emperors made many huge political mistakes, Yang Xuangan and the sons of the magnates rebelled one after another, Yu Wenhua and other mutinies, and the country was destroyed.
Tang, the degree of moderation caused the system to lose control, and since An Lushan, the collapse of the entire system has been inevitable.
3. Summary of the reasons for the demise of the dynasties
The first is that the emperor himself is in order, and the country is finished.
The second is the failure of the balance of power, the civil struggle between all parties becomes armed, and the country collapses.
The third is the failure of the balance of military power, the rebellion of the military leaders, and the collapse of the state.
In fact, in ancient times, each dynasty was improved on the basis of the previous generation. After the Two Han Dynasties, the selection of officials changed from the relatively arbitrary inspection system to the nine-pin Zhongzheng system, and then evolved to the world-leading imperial examination system. The government structure evolved from the fragile dictatorship structure of the Qin Dynasty to the later three provinces and six ministries system of separation of powers and checks and balances.
By the time of the Song Dynasty, the civilian government's ability to control the army had surpassed that of the Tang Dynasty. Since then, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty have basically not had the problem of rebellions by important generals and soldiers in the past system.
The restraint of the emperor's power has also been moving forward. During the Western Han Dynasty, the emperor's disregard for government could lead to chaos in the world. By the time of the Ming Dynasty, civil officials had begun to displease the emperor in running the government. The emperor played with himself and played for a lifetime, and it did not have much impact on the government of the dynasty. The will of the emperor has become increasingly difficult to oppose the will of the civilian government. It can be said that at that time, it was gradually developing in the direction of a "virtual monarchical republic".
Therefore, from this road, the politics of ancient China is also constantly developing, constantly seeking solutions to many political problems.
Therefore, both Han Dynasties perished in 200 years, and the Two Jins and Sui were in the midst of radical changes, and they were finished in a few decades. Tang persisted for more than three hundred years before he was finished. The Song Dynasty was killed by foreign enemies, which is extremely rare in the history of China. The Ming Dynasty has obviously solved the system problems of the Tang Dynasty, and the national defense has also done a good job, but the luck is too bad, encountering the Xiaoice Sichuan Period, successive years of disasters, civil unrest, which is the end of life ahead of schedule. If it were not for the Xiaoice Sichuan period, it would not be a problem for the Ming Dynasty to live longer than the Tang Dynasty. Especially in the late Ming Dynasty, potatoes and corn had already been cultivated in China, and these two crops greatly increased the limits of the population that the land could carry. If there is no Xiaoice sichuan period, I am afraid that the Ming Dynasty will not be a problem to continue for another one or two hundred years, and perhaps directly promote China into the capitalist era.
The reasons for the end of each dynasty are different and cannot be generalized. In general, due to the evolution of the system, their vitality has gradually increased. The Song Dynasty and ming dynasty did not live longer than the Tang Dynasty, and the main reason was not due to the system or economy, but some external factors that were difficult to control. Looking at the longevity of Chinese dynasties, it cannot be simply boiled down to one or two elements.