The Contemporary Value of Political Thought in the Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty period was the foundation period of China's traditional "great unification" of the country, and it was also one of the prosperous times in Chinese history, and the national and cultural spirit it shaped deeply influenced the political and cultural development of later generations. It is undoubtedly of great significance for us to stand at the historical turning point of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and absorb and learn from the ideological essence of the Han Dynasty.

Ram "Three Theories" and the Theory of Historical Evolution

In Han Ru's view, after the fall of the Spring and Autumn Period, the world entered a "chaotic world", and the Qin reached its peak, "The Zhou Chamber has declined, the tyrants have slowed down their economic boundaries, they have engaged in servitude, they have not believed in government decrees, they have deceived each other from top to bottom, and the public land has not been ruled... So the people were greedy and resentful, and disasters were born and chaos was written. As for the Warring States, Lingyi is a noble and deceitful and a benevolent friend, first rich and then courteous." In the face of the chaotic world, the first task is naturally to "correct the chaos." For example, Mencius once spoke highly of "Confucius's work of "Rectifying Chaos" in "Spring and Autumn", "In the past, Yu suppressed the flood and the world was peaceful, Zhou Gong and Yi Di drove away fierce beasts and the people were peaceful, Confucius became "Spring and Autumn" and the chaotic courtiers and thieves were afraid." (Mencius Teng Wen Gongxia) After that, ramologists inherited this line of thought, "Junzi Yu for "Spring and Autumn"? To eliminate the chaotic world, against the positives, it is not close to the Spring and Autumn Period." ("Spring and Autumn Ram Biography • Fourteen Years of The Duke of Sorrow") developed to the Eastern Han Dynasty, and on this basis, the ram scholar He Xiu further proposed the famous ram "Three Theory", which raised the Confucian political ideal of "rectifying chaos" to the height of the law of historical development.

The ram's "three theories" theory originates from the Ram Biography's statement about "seeing different words, hearing different words, and rumoring different words". The Spring and Autumn Chronicle records the history of "Lu Yin's First Year" to "The Fourteenth Year of the Duke of Lu'ai", and Confucius divided the Spring and Autumn into three different historical stages according to the differences in his "seeing, hearing, and rumoring", and then adopted different writing methods according to the degree of "depth of grace and righteousness". The Biography of the Ram further summarizes the different ways of writing its three different stages as the "calligraphy" that Confucius deliberately adopted to express his "small words and great righteousness". On this basis, He Xiu summed up, elevated, and condensed the different "calligraphy" of these three different stages and the "small words and great righteousness" that Confucius wanted to express into the so-called ram "Three Theories", that is, "the world of decay and chaos - the world of ascension to peace - the world of taiping". The "third world" is in different historical stages, and naturally the means of governance adopted by the "third world" are also different, the "decaying and chaotic world" should "be within its country and the outer xia, first detailed inside and then outside", "Shengping Shi" should be "inner Xia and outer YiDi", the ultimate goal is to enter the "Taiping World", to achieve the Taiping prosperous world of "Yi Di entering the lord, the world is far and near small and big if one". He Xiu's summary, elevation and refinement get rid of specific historical facts, and focus more on the universal law of historical development and the ultimate goal of historical development, reflecting a strong goal of "rectifying chaos" and optimistic self-confidence in the evolution of historical development.

The ram "three theories" theory can be said to represent the spirit of the times in Han Dynasty society. "Rectifying chaos" is the common ideal of Han Confucianism, and realizing "peace under heaven" is its ultimate goal. The Ram's "Three Theories" combine the two and elevate them to the height of the law of historical development. In fact, any great era needs a set of scientific systems of historical development theory to guide, which must not only have a clear goal of struggle, but also have a clear path of struggle. The reason why the society of the Han Dynasty showed the momentum of swallowing mountains and rivers and changing the world and changing the world was due to such a group of excellent theorists. They are worried about the world, full of ideals, and on the basis of summing up the laws of historical development, they innovate the theory of historical development, and "when they investigate the heavens and the people, the changes through the ancient and modern times, and the words of a family" are their true portrayals.

Today, ancient China is on the great journey from standing up and getting rich to becoming strong, and the support behind this is the scientific summary of the historical development of China by generations of communists and the arduous exploration of the road of human development. The scientific system of socialism with Chinese characteristics not only pointed out the broad road for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, but also contributed Chinese wisdom and provided Chinese solutions to solve human problems.

It contains humanistic and people-oriented ideas

The theory of "heaven and man induction" was very popular in Han Dynasty society, and in modern times it was mostly regarded as feudal scum and discarded. In fact, the "heaven" in "Heaven and Man Induction" is only a formal element, and more importantly, the ideological connotation to be expressed behind it. "Heaven" is a collection of values gradually condensed by the sons and sages since the pre-Qin Dynasty, which carries a series of political, moral and cultural values created by the sages, and the natural and theological attributes represented by "heaven" have been gradually diluted since the Spring and Autumn Period. In other words, in the theory of "heavenly induction", the focus is on "people", "heaven" is completely in a passive position, and behind the "heavenly induction" theory is the "human-oriented" and "people-oriented" ideas in traditional political culture.

In Han Ru's view, the purpose of setting up all actual political systems and political institutions is for the sake of "the people", and "the king" is no exception, "the subjects are born to steam the people, cannot rule each other, for the king to rule, the party system is not the son of heaven, the land is divided into non-princes, all think that the people are also." According to this logic, the will of the people is providence, and only by following the will of the people can we obtain providence, "Those who are yin and yang are based on heaven." If the heavenly heart is smooth, the yin and yang are harmonious, and the heavenly heart is inverse, the yin and yang are obedient. Heaven takes the people as its heart, the people's happiness is heavenly, and the people's sorrow is the heavenly heart is reversed." Similarly, valuing the people and raising the people has become the basis for the monarch's "destiny of heaven", and "the lord of man who inherits the mandate of heaven to feed the people also." If the people survive, the society will survive, and if the people die, the society will die. Therefore, those who value the people, so they attach importance to the society and accept the destiny of heaven." With such a political and ethical premise, Dong Zhongshu dared to say, "The people born of heaven are not kings, but the kings of Heaven think that the people are also." Therefore, his virtue is enough to please the people, and Heaven gives it; his evil is enough to thief and harm the people, and heaven takes it." ("Spring and Autumn Fanlu Yao Shun Does Not Move Tang Wu And Does Not Kill Exclusively") The political purpose of Han Confucianism is really highlighted here, "Those who the husbands and the people complain about, the heavens go; the people think, the heavens and the also." Great deeds must be in accordance with the will of the people at the moment, and in accordance with the will of Heaven, and the merits can be accomplished." This is the benchmark belief of Han Confucianism on the ideas of "humanism" and "people-oriented", which had a great influence on the politics of the Han Dynasty.

The key links of "Heaven and Man Induction" are "Xiangrui" and "Disaster", and the emergence of "Disaster" and "Xiangrui" mainly depends on the "King's Way", "Gaiwen is born steaming people, can not be reasonable, for which to establish a monarch, so that si muzhi." If the king's way is below, then Hugh is above, and if things are out of order, they are blamed for seeing the signs." (Later Han Shu Huan Emperor Ji) "XiangRui" and "Calamity" as a reflection of "Providence", projected into the human world is to require the emperor to constantly reflect on his own political and moral behavior, to maintain reverence for political order and political ethics, "Therefore judge me to be good, and not to be ashamed of the Heavenly Dao, Shangye; suspect that I am not good, lead the Heavenly Dao to help himself, and secondly; do not seek himself, but seek the heavens, the Lord of foolishness." ("Changyan") Here, the status of "heaven" in "heaven and man induction" is further dissolved, and more emphasis is placed on the political consciousness and political cultivation of the politicians themselves.

Although the connotations of "human-oriented" and "people-oriented" contained in the "heavenly induction" theory of the Han Dynasty are very different from today's "people-centered" thinking, their spiritual essence is the same. There is no "heaven" in the world that can control everything, and the "people" is the real "heaven".

The Ideal of "Great Unification" and the "Community of Shared Future for Mankind"

"Great unification" was one of the core concepts of Confucianism in the Han Dynasty. The "big" of "great unification" is a verb in the discourse system of Han Dynasty ramology, which is equivalent to the meaning of "vast and admired", representing a value orientation and goal of struggle. China has been a multi-ethnic community since ancient times, and "Yixia relations" have always been an important political issue. Although there were also periods of tension and even war between Yixia and Yixia in history, from the perspective of cultural psychology and political concepts, it was believed that Yixia and Yixia should have been harmonious and harmonious. Because in the context of traditional Chinese culture, Yidi is considered to be a person with a low degree of civilization and an impolite religious person; a person with a developed degree of civilization and a polite and righteous religious person is "China" and "Zhuxia", and civilization and barbarism are the only criteria for distinguishing Yixia. Therefore, since Confucius, he has advocated "changing Yi with Xia", so that Yi Di, who was originally backward and barbaric, will gradually transition to civilization and advancement, and finally reach the civilization level of Zhu Xia and realize the ideal of "unity under the heavens".

During the Two Han Dynasties, the mainstream culture inherited this ideological tradition, and in the view of the people of the time, the distinction between China and Yidi could not be based on blood race, nor on geographical territory, let alone on the strength of strength, but on "etiquette and culture". This is a national view with a clear sense of equality and regards the world as one family. Distinguishing Yixia by this criterion provides logical rationality for Yidi to enter China and achieve ethnic integration, and the great unification scene of "Huayi Gongzu" carefully created by Sima Qian in the "History" is a concentrated display of this cultural psychology. The description of the "Taiping Dynasty" in the aforementioned Ram "Three Sayings" is also a vivid portrayal of this kind of national cultural psychology, "to the world that is seen, to rule the Taiping, Yi Di jin to the Lord, the world is far and near small and big as one." Here, yixia's distinction is closely related to his political ideal of "great unification" and the historical philosophy of "Zhang III", and He Xiu's ultimate ideal here is to realize a peaceful and prosperous era of "Yixia mixing". Since the Qin and Han Dynasties, the consciousness of "great unification" is the political concept of the Chinese nation above all else, whether it is the Han nationality or ethnic minorities, they have taken "great unification" as the ideal and goal of struggle, and the reason why ancient China was able to maintain national unity for thousands of years is closely related to this concept of "great unification" in the history of the Chinese nation.

The vision of "great unification" is not limited to the traditional Yixia relationship, the traditional Chinese world view is a "tianxia view" with a clear center and vague edges, and the exchanges between different civilizations outside the region also belong to the broad category of Yixia relations. In other words, the ultimate cultural ideal of Han Confucianism is to create a harmonious "world under the same" society, such a peaceful and prosperous world, "when the yin and yang are harmonized and the wind and rain are mixed, the masses are harmonious and the people breed, the grain is ripe and the grass and trees are lush, the heavens and the earth are moist and rich, the four seas smell of virtue and all the subjects, and the blessings of the world can be auspicious and endless." ("Hanshu Dong Zhongshu Biography") It is precisely because of such a strong yixia equality value and the concept of "unification of the world" full of cultural ideals that the world-famous Silk Road was born. The formation of the Silk Road opened up the channel of exchanges between Asian and European civilizations, promoted the rebirth of their respective civilizations, and in turn further strengthened the importance of national equality and ethnic integration. Historically, the Chinese civilization has developed and grown in continuous exchanges and mutual learning with other civilizations in the world. Today's China still needs to strive to build a "community with a shared future for mankind" in the new era on the basis of ethnic equal exchanges, and "unity and happiness between China and foreign countries" is still our best wish.

Excellent traditional culture is the spiritual lifeblood of the Chinese nation and an important carrier containing the core values of socialism. The Han Dynasty was the foundation period of the great unified empire in Chinese history, and many of the principles of political civilization and spiritual and cultural temperament it established condensed the profound insights of the sages into the universe and history. Deeply excavating the essence of the ideology has important reference value for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

(The author is a professor at the School of History and Culture, Shanxi University)

Edit: Hu Zixuan