Bai Juyi wrote in a poem: "When the Duke of Zhou feared rumors, Wang Mang was humble and did not usurp the throne. Xiang Xiang died in the first place, and who knows the truth or falsity of his life? In the writings of ancient literati, Wang Mang has always been the object of criticism, a "hypocrite", an "ambitionist", and a person who has been with Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao (Dong Zhuo and Cao Cao are also the objects of vigorous criticism by later generations, whether the criticism is reasonable or not, regardless of whether it is reasonable).
These people criticized Wang Mang because in their eyes, Wang Mang was disloyal to his subjects, and he usurped the Han Dynasty and became emperor himself. In the so-called Confucian orthodoxy of later generations, Wang Mang was a "chaotic courtier and thief", so not only did he himself bear the infamy of eternity, but even the new dynasty he established was not recognized by historians.
However, if we carefully analyze Wang Mang's behavior throughout his life, especially the "restructuring" he carried out after becoming emperor, we can actually find that Wang Mang has always been a loyal fan of Confucianism and a firm practitioner of Confucianism. It was also because of his belief in Confucianism that it eventually led to his political failure and the tragedy of his life.
Wang Mang was the nephew of Wang Zhengjun, the empress dowager of the Han Yuan Emperor, and the royal family power was tilted towards the opposition, and in the Western Han Dynasty, it was the most prominent family. When Wang Mang was young, he was different, and the Book of Han recorded: "Mang is lonely and poor, because of the folding of the knot as a frugality." Received from the Book of Rites, He was taught by Pei Junchen Chen, who was diligent and erudite, and was obeyed like a Confucian. Mothers and widows, raising orphan brothers and sons, and doing very well. "At that time, the children of the Wang family were all extravagant, and only Wang Mang was poor because of the early death of his father. He was poor and self-disciplined, willing to be simple; he was humble, diligent and studious, worshiping the Confucian Chen Shan as a teacher and studying the Book of Rites; he served his mother and widowed sister-in-law, raised his brother's widow, and behaved strictly.
Poverty, studiousness, and filial piety are typical Confucian moral requirements, and the young Wang Mang strictly regulates his behavior according to this standard. Later generations of Confucians believed that he was selling his reputation and reputation, which was the embodiment of hypocrisy, just as Bai Juyi said in his poem.
In this regard, the historian Mr. Lu Simian put forward a different view, he believes that all those who falsify must have a plan, but Wang Mang's han claim that the emperor's plan has not changed after it has been achieved.
Is Wang Mang's behavior at this time hypocritical, is he selling his reputation and reputation? If his heart does not agree with these Confucian moral norms, he only does this to achieve his own ends, in modern parlance, that is, to "pretend." However, once a person's purpose is achieved, it is often no longer "pretended" and will reveal its original appearance. Wang Mang is nothing more than to gain power, so what happens after he gains power? In the first year of Suihe (8 BC), Wang Mang was appointed as the Grand Sima and took charge of the imperial government, but his life was more frugal, and the money and goods he received were used to entertain celebrities. Once, when the Hundred Officials and Secretaries of State came to visit his mother, they saw That Wang Mang's wife was simply dressed in shabby clothes and thought that she was a slave of his family. Some people may say that at this time, Wang Mang's position was not stable, the purpose had not been completely achieved, and he was still "pretending". After he became emperor, this purpose was completely achieved, and he did not have to pretend anymore, but after Wang Mang became emperor, he still lived a very frugal life. Some people may say that he is pretending to show the people of his subjects. It's hard to say, but how can we easily conclude that a person is "pretending" if he insists on doing something all his life?
In fact, later Generations of Confucians concluded that Wang Mang was hypocritical only because he later seized the authority of the Han Dynasty and became emperor himself. This is to infer a person's psychology from the results of things, and is a manifestation of consequentialism. Of course, Wang Mang's personality and character are not invulnerable, he has flaws and deficiencies, but he still always demands himself with Confucian moral norms.
Wang Mang replaced tianzi as emperor of the Han Dynasty through the method of "Zen Concession". "Zen Ren" was originally a system espoused by Confucianism, and later generations of Confucians criticized Wang Mang on this point for two main reasons. First, Wang Mang did not let the world give to others, but accepted the concessions of others, which did not meet the requirements of Confucianism.comity. However, in the thoughts of Confucius and Mencius, although those who "let" the world are praised, they do not say that it is immoral to accept the world, Shun and Yu are both accepting the Zen concessions of others, and Kong meng is also taking the world as their own responsibility, if they get the opportunity to govern the world as the supreme ruler, I think they will not resign.
Of course, the more important point is that the Han Emperor "Zen Concession" to Wang Mang was forced, not from the heart. Some people have said that if Wang Mang is loyal to Confucian morality, he should not commit the following crimes and seek the throne as a courtier. This is disloyalty, disobedience, and a complete violation of Confucianism.
In fact, this idea of "being loyal to a family and one surname" is the thinking of later Generations of Confucians, which is different from the Confucianism of the Pre-Qin and Western Han Dynasties. Although Confucius paid attention to "kings and subjects", the premise was that "jun" should be like "jun" and "subjects" should be "subjects"; if "jun" is not like "jun", "subjects" will no longer be "subjects". Therefore, Confucius would travel around the world in the hope of realizing his political ambitions, and he would not cling to the king of the State of Lu or the son of Zhou Tianzi. Mencius said that the King of Wu (武王) "heard of a husband and a wife, but did not hear of the King of Liang" (Mencius Liang Hui Wangxia). That is to say, if the king has no way, the courtiers can not only switch to others, but also take their place. This is completely different from the pure slave mentality of later generations that "the king lets the subject die, and the subject has to die". By the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, the idea of changing the Fa Zen had been embraced by many Confucians. Therefore, Wang Mang's generation of Han had a Confucian theoretical basis and was also recognized by most Confucian students at that time.
What was the social situation before Wang Mang's han dynasty? The Book of Han records that "[the common people] shall not shelter from the wind and dust in the spring, from the heat of the summer, from the rain in the autumn, and from the cold in the winter; between the four o'clock, the day of death shall rest." "At that time, the Han Dynasty was politically corrupt, the imperial court was extravagant, and officials large and small wantonly plundered the people. The most serious thing is that powerful landlords have annexed a large number of lands, causing the people to be displaced, living in hardship, social and economic decline, and panic.
Of course, Wang Mang's ascension to the throne cannot completely exclude the element of realizing personal ambitions, but he sincerely wants to change reality and resolve social contradictions. After he became emperor, he did not only take care of his own pleasures, but immediately introduced a series of reform measures. He firmly believed in Confucianism, believing that it was possible to restore the world to the era of ritual rule before Confucius declared that "the liturgy collapsed and the bad", so he tried to achieve the goal of governing the country and the world by restoring the Zhou li.
In short, Wang Mang became emperor, which does not mean that he violated Confucianism. Bai Yang said in the Outline of the History of Chinese: "Wang Mang was a giant of the Confucian school, building a huge empire with a single scholar, only once in Chinese history. His purpose in seizing power was different from that of Liu Bang, who was only to become an emperor and a king and satisfy his selfish desires. Wang Mang had his political ambitions, and he wanted to gain greater power so that he could put Confucianism into practice politically and create an ideal happy world. ”
Under the circumstances at that time, if Wang Mang wanted to change society and realize his ideals, he had to hold power in his hands and must ascend to the throne of God. Mr. Lü Simian said in the "History of Great China": "People must say that he (Wang Mang) later became emperor, so I saw that he was false at first. I would like to ask whether a person who has great ambitions to carry out extraordinary reforms and not be monarchs can always be carried out under the previous form of government? In order to implement his own propositions, the emperor can get his hands on the matter, is it advisable to do it to implement his own propositions? Or should we obey the righteousness of the monarch and be a slave of one family and a family, and obey the affairs of the world, and all corruption and rupture? ”
Wang Mang called the dynasty he founded "New", which means "to reform the Han Dynasty and establish a new one, to abolish Liu and Xingwang" (Book of Han, Biography of Wang Mang). In the late Western Han Dynasty, under the domination of the five virtues of heaven and man, there was the idea of replacing the old virtues with new virtues in society, and Wang Mang presented himself as the spokesman of the new virtues, hoping that he could complete the social innovation instead of the Han Dynasty.
Every step of Wang Mang's claim to the throne was also carried out in accordance with the Confucian way. After Emperor Hanping ascended the throne, it was suggested that the emperor should be allowed to "do the things of heavenly sons, such as the Duke of Zhou" (Book of Han, Biography of Wang Mang). After Emperor Ping fell ill, "(Wang) Mang made a strategy, please order Tai Qi, Dai Bi Binggui, willing to take his own place, hide the golden treasure, and place it in the front hall." (The Book of Han, Biography of Wang Mang) This is the story of imitating the Duke of Zhou's request for the king of Wu and making a golden robe. Later, "(Wang Mang) lived in The Story of the Duke of Zhou" (Book of Han, Biography of Wang Mang). Emperor Wei had been imitating the Duke of Zhou (Zhou Gong was another "sage" worshipped by Confucianism), and Emperor Zhi was modeled after Yao Shun's "Zen Concession" method. Of course, this is inevitably the suspicion of putting on a show, Wang Mang is not Zhou Gongyao Shun after all, he is selfish (Zhou Gong Yao Shun has a selfless heart, and posterity also has different sayings, leave it alone). However, Wang Mang's reverence for Confucianism can still be seen, and his seizure of power is imitated by Confucian precedents and in Confucian ways.
Another reason for later generations to scold Wang Mang was the incident of "killing Emperor Ping", but this matter is not recorded in the Book of Han, and was first written by Zhai Yi in the text against Wang Mang. Later, when Yan Shigu made annotations to the Book of Han, he quoted the Notes on Han, describing Wang Mang's killing of Emperor Ping, and the Zizhi Tongjian continued to use this statement. Whether the Hanping Emperor was killed by Wang Mang is difficult to draw conclusions, and it is not fair enough to criticize Wang Mang according to this.
After ascending the throne, all the reforms made by Wang Mang were carried out in strict accordance with the "Zhou Li" revered by Confucianism.
Confucians pay attention to the "Fa Xian Wang", and they believe that the ancient system is the best. Confucius was very much advocating "Zhou Li", and in the Analects, he repeatedly talked about his yearning for Western Zhou Lile: "Zhou Jianhu Second Generation, Depressed Wen zhao, I follow Zhou." ("Eight Tongs") "Zhou Zhide, which can be described as the supreme virtue." (Tabor) "If there is any use for me, I am the Eastern Zhou Hu!" ("Yang Goods")
Wang Mang can be said to be a resolute implementer of this idea of Confucius, and most of the new policies he promoted were modeled on the system of the Western Zhou Dynasty, restoring the well field system in the name of the Wang Tian system, nationalizing salt, iron, wine, mountains, forests, and rivers, reforming the currency system, changing the official system and official names, and so on.
In response to the problem of land annexation, Wang Mang established the "Wang Tian System". He declared that the land in the whole country was owned by the imperial court, called "Wang Tian", and Wang Tian was not allowed to buy or sell it arbitrarily. He restored the "well field system" of the Western Zhou Dynasty, limiting the number of men under eight families to occupy no more than one well (nine hundred acres), and the excess land must be distributed to the clan neighbors, and the peasants who did not have land were granted land by the government, "one husband and one hundred acres". In response to the problem of a large number of poor people becoming slaves, he banned slave trade and introduced a system of private ownership.
Confucianism has always been "heavy agriculture", "the country is based on the people, and the people take food as the sky", which is a consistent understanding from Confucius to Han Confucianism. From the beginning of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, he was implementing the policy of "emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce", and Wang Mang further established the "five equals and six baskets" system. The "five equals" means to nationalize the five categories of salt, iron, wine, currency, mountains, forests, and rivers in order to control the economy, balance prices, and increase the revenue of the national treasury. The Five Officials also collected one-tenth of the net profits from fishing, hunting, animal husbandry, witchcraft, medicine, silkworm farming, textiles, etc., called "tribute", which is like modern income tax. The "Six Baskets" are the six pipes, that is, the income from the previous six items of "Five Equals" and "Tributes" is managed by the government, and regulations and penalties are formulated for each one.
Wang Mang also reformed the monetary system five times in succession, and he far-fetchedly agreed to the saying that the Zhou Dynasty minted large coins, adding a deed knife, a wrong knife, a large coin, and a total of four han Dynasty five baht coins.
Wang Mang reformed the official system according to the Zhou Guan and the Wang System. In the central official positions, dasi nong was changed to "XiHe", Dali was changed to "Zuoshi", Tai often "Zhizong", Dahongxu was "Dian Le", Shaofu was "Gonggong", and so on; at the local level, Taishou was changed to Da Yin (or 卒正, Lian Rate), Du Wei was changed to Tai Wei (太尉), County Commander (長) was changed to County Zai, and so on. In addition, many new official posts were added, such as the new Sima Siyun, the Great Situ Sizhi, and the Great Sikong Siruo in the central authorities; at the local level, the prefectures placed deputy pastoral deputies, the ministries placed deputy supervisors, and so on. He also changed the name of Rank Lu, according to the legendary Zhou system, the great feudal fifth class princes a total of 796 people, vassals 1511 people, due to too many seals, many of them did not actually get fiefs, can only receive a few thousand dollars a month.
In short, a series of retro restructuring measures have been fully implemented. However, Wang Mang's ideal "Zhou Li" society could not be established, but soon collapsed completely.
His failure, in addition to personality factors such as good daxigong and self-sufficiency, improper employment of people, and incorrect means and methods at the time of implementation, was mainly because the social system of the Western Zhou Dynasty espoused by Confucianism could not match the actual situation at that time.
Historian Mr. Qian Mu once said: "Wang Mang's politics is completely a kind of scholar's politics. "Different from ancient to modern times, from the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Han Dynasty, society has undergone great changes. Wang Mang's new laws, which originated from the ancient system, violated the laws of history, and failure was inevitable. Huang Renyu said in the "Great History of China": "He (Wang Mang) believed in Chinese classics and really thought that the pyramids could be upside down. ”
Wang Mang was a loyal fan of Confucianism, a staunch practitioner of Confucianism, and a politician who was divorced from reality, and the social model of the Western Zhou "ritual system" that he admired was simply not feasible at that time.
Wang Mang's thought, to a large extent, is actually the common idea of many benevolent people since the pre-Qin Dynasty. The overthrow of the new dynasty and the failure of Wang Mang actually represent the complete disillusionment of Confucian retro thought. The pre-Qin Confucian ideal of establishing a cosmopolitan world, the western Han Confucian political theory of changing the law and Zen concessions, disappeared from then on, and the idea of the unity of the emperor and the world gradually took shape.