We know that the Tang Dynasty was divided into four periods, namely the Early Tang, the Sheng Tang, the Middle Tang and the Late Tang.
The early Tang, Sheng Tang, Middle Tang, and late Tang Dynasties were not historical concepts at the beginning, but literary concepts.
Originally from the Ming Dynasty, Gao Yi's "Tang Poetry Collection General Preface" divides the poets of the Tang Dynasty into four periods, namely: the early Tang, the Sheng Tang, the Middle Tang and the late Tang.
Gao Yi was a poet of the Yongle period, and his "Collection of Tang Poems" had a great influence on later generations, directly opening the collection of "All Tang Poems" and "Three Hundred Tang Poems" for later generations.
The reason why Gao Yi is so divided is because he found that the poets of the four periods of the Tang Dynasty had very different styles.
The representative of the early Tang period is naturally the four masters of the early Tang Dynasty. Wang Yang Luo, Wang Bo and Luo Bing Wang are all examples of spirituality, but the poetry of the early Tang Dynasty is still a little rough and has not completely emerged from the quiet wind of the Six Dynasties.
Coincidentally, the history of this period can also be called the early Tang Dynasty.
Early Tang, this is a vigorous dynasty, all aspects are prosperous, during the reign of Zhenguan, although the society is not fully prosperous, but the politics are clear, the people's life is thriving, and relying on the unique military system at that time, Tang Taizong has repeatedly used troops abroad, relying on the minimum cost to achieve the greatest results, although it is the early stage, martial arts are very amazing.
Emperor Taizong of Tang
So, when is Sheng Tang?
On this point, there is a bit of controversy in historian and literary circles.
According to the point of view of the literary world, it was not until Tang Xuanzong ascended the throne that he reached the Tang Dynasty. Therefore, the famous poets of the Wu Zetian period, Shen Baizhi and Song Zhiwen, were included in the early Tang poets.
According to the view of historians, after Tang Gaozong came to the throne, the Tang Dynasty came to the Tang Dynasty, because Tang Gaozong opened up the territory and had the largest territory.
In fact, neither possibility is quite right, according to the point of view of the literary world, it is too late, the entire early Tang Dynasty lasted for 94 years.
According to the view of historians, the early Tang Dynasty was too short, only 31 years, but the Tang Dynasty was as long as 117 years, which is also the origin of many people who say that the Tang Dynasty was prosperous for more than 100 years.
But both are too much.
I think it is just right to take the year 683 of Wu Zetian's reign as the node. Before Tang Gaozu, Tang Taizong and Tang Gaozong as the early Tang, then Wu Zetian and all the way to Tang Xuanzong, is the Sheng Tang, so that the early Tang 65 years, the Sheng Tang 83 years, the time is about the same.
The poets of the Sheng Tang Dynasty are naturally familiar to everyone as Gemini, Li Bai and Du Fu, and also Wang Wei, the three of them are Shi Xian, Shi Sheng and Shi Buddha, and the poems respectively reflect the ethereal Taoist elegance, Confucian perseverance and Buddhist ethereal, which can be called three genres, three masters, and their birth and death years are basically the same as Sheng Tang.
The poetry of the High Tang Dynasty is magnificent, needless to say, there are also many types, including Biansai poems that reflect the pride of Biansai, such as Wang Changling, Wang Zhixian and Gao Shi, and idyllic poems that show the idyllic landscape style, such as Meng Haoran. It is precisely because of so many kinds of flowers blooming that there is a literary Sheng Tang phenomenon, of course, the one who has achieved the most is Li Bai, so Yu Guangzhong said, Li Bai, embroidered mouth is half a Sheng Tang.
Du Fu is known as the "History of Poetry" because his poetry faithfully records the characteristics of this era. "Rice is flowing fat and corn is white", how prosperous the economy is. And the Anshi Rebellion after the end of the Kaiyuan Dynasty was also faithfully recorded by Du Fu, "The country breaks mountains and rivers, and the city is deep in spring and trees." When I felt the flowers splashed tears, I hated other birds and was scared. "Become the swan song of the ages.
Although the movie "The Legend of the Demon Cat" has a mixed reputation, it restores the scene of the Tang Dynasty in a relatively atmospheric way.
As for the Middle Tang, it experienced the ravages of the Anshi Rebellion, the dictatorship of eunuchs, and the division of domains and towns, one after another, but after all, the Tang Dynasty had a foundation, and finally Tang Xianzong strongly reduced the domain and ushered in Yuan and Zhongxing.
Unexpectedly, there was a phenomenon unprecedented in the Tang Wenzong period, after the change of manna, the eunuch Qiu Shiliang influenced the emperor, and could even kill the emperor at will, for the first time in five thousand years, there was such a bold eunuch. The change of manna is the dividing line between the Middle Tang and the Late Tang.
Although the Middle Tang Dynasty was politically broken, it also achieved great achievements in poetry, with the poets led by Bai Juyi and Yuan Shu advocating the Xinlefu movement, while Li He, like a shooting star, was an eternal ghost.
Bai Juyi's long hate song
In the late Tang Dynasty, nature was full of holes and storms, but "the sunset is infinitely good, just near dusk", Li Shangyin and Du Mu brought the last glory of Tang poetry, the most glorious period of the Tang Dynasty was Li Du, and the most downtrodden period was still Li Du, which is the creation of heaven.
That is to say, the four periodizations of the Tang Dynasty can be used not only to summarize Tang poetry, but also to summarize history, and a novel must have the same as "beginning, development, climax, and ending". Early Tang, Sheng Tang, Middle Tang, and Late Tang, starting and turning, all in one go.
Moreover, according to this division, the early Tang is 65 years, the Sheng Tang is 80 years, the Middle Tang is 72 years, and the late Tang is 72 years, which is exactly the same.
I'm wondering why China's unified dynasties are mostly 300 years old, not 400 years, or 500 years? The article said why China's unified dynasty is mostly 300 years.
This is because Chinese takes 20 years as a generation, at the beginning of the dynasty, the land is barren, and after three generations it gradually settles, which is the early stage, about 70 years.
In the prime of the rich period is not more than three generations, there must be a contradiction of land acquisition, this is the heyday, about 70 years.
In the medium term, the contradictions intensified, but they can always overcome the danger, this is the middle term, about 70 years.
The late period is already irreconcilable, waiting to die, this is the late stage, about 70 years.
Four 70 years is 280 years, which is the life span of the general dynasty, so the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties are 300 years of life, and the early Western Han Dynasty is more special, usurped by Wang Mang, and strongly suspended. Of course, if a dynasty did not survive the first period, it would not have exceeded 70 years, such as the Qin, Western Jin and Sui dynasties.
And this happens to be the four segments of the Tang Dynasty, and the time is almost the same.
So, we have to ask, can the Han Dynasty, Ming Dynasty, and Qing Dynasty, such a standard quartering be used?
First of all, we must know that the Tang Dynasty was divided into the Early Tang, the Flourishing Tang, the Middle Tang and the Late Tang, not according to the emperor, but events.
Five nodes, in 618, the Tang Dynasty was established. In 683, Wu Zetian reformed the dynasty. In 763, the Anshi Rebellion ended. In 835, the change of manna. In 907, the Tang Dynasty collapsed.
Therefore, the criterion for division is not according to the emperor, but events, the Anshi Rebellion, the change of manna, these famous events are nodes.
618-683 is the early Tang dynasty, 65 years.
683-763 is the Sheng Tang, 80 years.
763-835 was the Middle Tang dynasty, 72.
835-907 is the late Tang, 72.
Exactly the rule of quarters.
So, let's first look at the Western Han Dynasty.
First, the first node was established in 202 BC, the Western Han Dynasty. What is the second event?
I think it was the Battle of Mayi, from this period, Emperor Wudi of Han began to fight back against the Xiongnu, and the Han Dynasty against the Xiongnu, from defense to attack, offensive and defensive exchange, this is a big event.
So, what is the sign of the end of the heyday?
Some people say that it was Emperor Hanwu who issued the edict of sin, which is also okay, after all, the later reign of Zhaoxuan was only Zhongxing, not the heyday, so Emperor Hanwu issued the edict as a node, 89 BC.
What are the middle and late stages? I think it was 8 years ago, Wang Mang was appointed as the Great Sima as a symbol, after all, although the previous Emperor Yuan of Han and Emperor Cheng of Han fainted, they would not die in the country, and they could only be regarded as the middle period.
Therefore, the Western Han Dynasty can be divided into:
202-133 BC is the initial period, 69 years.
133-89 BC is the heyday, 44 years.
BC 89-8 BC is the middle period, 81 years.
The first 8-8 years are the late period, 18 years.
Some people say that according to this obvious time is not right, the first three are only about 70 years, how can the late period only 18 years, this is because the Western Han Dynasty was artificially interrupted and usurped by Wang Mang.
This led to a curious phenomenon, that is, the Western Han Dynasty was almost the only dynasty that did not break out in peasant uprisings at the end of the period.
According to the law of land annexation, in the late period, there should be a peasant uprising, and as a result, Wang Mang was good, and directly usurped the throne of the Western Han Dynasty, and this time it was good, and the Western Han Dynasty's illness was taken to himself, and as a result, the peasant uprising that should have broken out broke out in the Xinmang period, that is, the Green Forest Chimei Uprising.
That is to say, in fact, from the first 8 years to the 25 years of the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, these 33 years were the late period of the Western Han Dynasty, various contradictions broke out, land annexation was serious, and peasant uprisings were raging, but these did not happen in the Western Han Dynasty, they happened in the Wang Mang period, and Wang Mang was unlucky.
Let's take a look at the Qing Dynasty, the reason why I don't look at the Northern Song Dynasty and other dynasties, because it is not a great unification, in the face of a serious foreign invasion crisis, it is directly destroyed by foreign races, which is an abnormal phenomenon.
The Qing Dynasty counted from the entry into the Central Plains, and the first node was in 1644, when it entered the Central Plains. The second node should be 1722, when Yongzheng began to reform, and the three major reforms of apportioning money into acres, returning fire consumption to the public and returning land to the river created prosperous conditions. Needless to say, after Qianlong stepped down, the White Lotus Uprising broke out in 1796, which was an important node, from prosperity to decline. The fourth node is 1840, the Opium War, the beginning of modern history.
Therefore, the Qing dynasty can be divided into:
1644-1722 is the early period, 78 years.
1722-1796 is the heyday, 74 years.
1796-1840 was the middle period, 46 years.
1840-1911 is the late period, 71 years.
As you can see, basically each paragraph is also about 70 years, indicating that it is basically the same as the Tang Dynasty, and the two emperors of Shunzhi and Kangxi in the early stage, mainly to complete the unification of the country and restore production.
The heyday was dominated by the two emperors, Yongzheng and Qianlong. In the middle period, Jiaqing and Daoguang persisted bitterly, and the Opium War, in fact, advanced the late period, according to the degree of land annexation in the Qing Dynasty, the middle 70 years, should have occurred around 1866, 24 years earlier.
However, even so, the Qing Dynasty still had a lifespan of 300 years, and the late Qing Dynasty only had 70 years, after all, the late Qing Dynasty was troubled internally and externally, and it was extremely decaying, and the limit of what could be held was this.
So, what about the Ming Dynasty?
First, the founding of the Ming Dynasty in 1368 was a node, and the second node marked the beginning of the Ming Dynasty's heyday and the end of the initial period. What is the second node? It is impossible that the change of the Tumu Fort marked the beginning of the heyday of the Ming Dynasty.
That can only be Zhu Di's accession to the throne, after all, Zheng He's trip to the West, the "Yongle Classic", and the move of the capital to Beijing are all prosperous moves.
However, in order to avoid equating the node with the reign of a certain emperor, the third year of Yongle, the year in which Zheng He went to the West, was chosen as the node.
What does the third node choose?
It marked the transformation of the Ming Dynasty from prosperity to decline, from heyday to mid-period.
The first thing that comes to our mind is the change of the Tumu Fort, which historians recognize as a sign of the Ming Dynasty's decline from prosperity to decline, no doubt, this is an important node, marking the beginning of the middle Ming Dynasty.
In this way, after the beginning of the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Hongzhi Zhongxing, and even Chenghua Zhongxing, Jiajing Zhongxing, all Zhongxing occurred in the middle and late period, such as Zhaoxuan Zhongxing, Yuan and Zhongxing, Tongguang Zhongxing and so on.
So, what were the marker nodes of the middle and late Ming dynasties? The Tang Dynasty was a change of manna, and from then on, the emperor was reduced to a puppet of eunuchs, at the mercy of others. The end of the Qing Dynasty was the Opium War, and since then it has become the meat of the great powers, which can be slaughtered by others. What about the Ming Dynasty?
Here I think that the Gengjiao change in 1550 can be used as a node, the Tatar army invaded Datong, accepted bribes and went straight to Beijing, scared Jiajing half to death, scared out of his guts, from then on, Jiajing only dared to hide in the West Garden alchemy, did not seek advancement, and sank.
Some people say, but the Wanli period is also considered ZTE, then it can only be regarded as late, Tongguang in the late Qing Dynasty is still ZTE, and Zuo Zongtang has recovered Xinjiang.
Therefore, the four periods of the Ming Dynasty are divided into the lower ones.
1368-1405 is the initial period, 37 years.
1405-1449 is the heyday, 44 years.
1449-1550 is the middle period, 101.
1550-1644 is the late period, 94 years.
Here we find a problem, whether it is the Western Han, Tang Dynasty or Qing Dynasty, the early stage is 70 years, the peak period is also 70 years, the middle period is also 70 years (the Qing Dynasty was forcibly interrupted by the invasion of the great powers is less than 20 years), and the late Western Han was forcibly interrupted.
But the Ming Dynasty did not have this law.
At the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, there were only 37 years, not only 70 years, but even less than 40 years.
We know that 20 years is a generation, how did the Ming Dynasty reach its peak in two generations?
I think that after the economic center of gravity shifted south after the Song Dynasty, the land of Jiangnan became the top priority of the country's wealth, and many of Zhu Yuanzhang's measures were actually implemented as early as when the Western Wu Kingdom was established, or the previous base area.
The state of Western Wu was established in 1364, while Zhu Yuanzhang's capture of Nanjing was in 1356, which is equivalent to saying that at this time, the reign had already begun, and it had long been disobedient to the orders and rule of the Yuan Dynasty.
If you count from 1356 to 1405, exactly 50 years, it is two to three generations, which is enough to complete a series of policies such as Zhu Yuanzhang's Hongwu dispersal and great migration.
So the early Ming Dynasty, in fact, should be 1356-1405, 49 years, nearly 50 years.
The early rule, no matter how clear it was, was only ruling the world, not reaching the point of prosperity, so we only said "the rule of Zhenguan", but said "the beginning of the prosperous era", so the early Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di periods were just in ruins, and it was difficult to call it a prosperous era.
Well, the heyday of the Ming Dynasty was not 70 years, but only 44 years, which is very simple, because the change of the Tumu Fort was forcibly interrupted.
We look at the history of the Ming Dynasty and find a strange phenomenon, the Ming Xuanzong and Ming Xiaozong both lived only 36 years old, Ming Xuanzong reigned for 10 years, and Ming Xiaozong reigned for 18 years.
However, the Jiajing Emperor reigned for 45 years and lived to be 60 years old. The Wanli Emperor reigned for 48 years and lived to be 57 years old.
Therefore, the life span of the emperors of the Ming Dynasty is reversed here.
Let's look at the emperor Wudi of Han during the heyday of the Western Han Dynasty, who reigned for 54 years and lived to be 69 years old.
Emperor Tang Xuanzong, who reigned for 44 years and lived to be 77 years old.
Qianlong, the emperor of the heyday of the Qing Dynasty, reigned for 60 years and lived to be 89 years old.
It can be said that these three people are the leaders of these three dynasties who have been in power for half a century, and they are also the factors that led to the transformation from prosperity to decline in the early stage and mediocrity in the later period. Therefore, during the Tang Dynasty, people always liked to compare Tang Xuanzong to Emperor Wudi of Han, for example, Bai Juyi's "Long Hate Song" said that "the Han Emperor was heavy on thinking about the country", and Du Fu's "Troop Carriage Line" said that "Emperor Wu opened the side without end", and more than one person compared Tang Xuanzong to Emperor Wudi of Han.
However, the emperor Ming Chengzu in the heyday of the Ming Dynasty reigned for 22 years and lived to be 64 years old.
Akihito Munong, who reigned for 1 year, lived to be 48 years old.
Emperor Xuanzong of Ming, who reigned for 10 years, lived to be 35 years old.
These three emperors combined reigned for 33 years, which is about the same length as Zhu Yuanzhang's reign.
Of course, the emperor's actions had nothing to do with the length of his reign, and Emperor Taizong of Tang only reigned for 22 years, but created the rule of Zhenguan and the Heavenly Khan.
But Ming Xuanzong's short life really caused a fault line in the Ming ruling class, he only lived 35 years, and only 8-year-old Zhu Qizhen could take the throne after his death.
After Zhu Qizhen succeeded to the throne, he could only be assisted by the Empress Dowager, in fact, he succeeded to the throne at an early age, and there were also those who had great achievements later, such as Emperor Wudi of Han and Kangxi, but I didn't expect that this guy played it directly, and the change of Tumu Fort was captured by Wala, interrupting the process of the heyday of the Ming Dynasty.
In my article on why most Chinese dynasties live 300 years, not 500 years, I said that Chinese dynasties generally have a four-quartered rule, the first 70 years, rest and recuperate. The heyday is 70 years, opening up the territory. In the middle of 70 years, it is difficult to return. At the end of 70 years, it survived. Generally, when a dynasty reaches 70 years, a prosperous monarch will be born, pushing the dynasty to the extreme, such as Emperor Wudi of Han, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, and Emperor Qianlong, however, when the Ming Dynasty was 70 years old, he encountered Zhu Qizhen of Ming Yingzong and was directly captured alive, so the prosperity of the Ming Dynasty was interrupted.
If Zhu Qizhen could honestly reign for 20 years and strive to govern, then the heyday of the Ming Dynasty could also be extended a little, but this person abruptly interrupted this process.
Therefore, in the general impression, they feel that the Ming Dynasty is not as strong as the Han and Tang Dynasties, which has a lot to do with the short life of Ming Xuanzong and the fooling of Ming Yingzong.
Therefore, the "heyday" of the Ming Dynasty did not develop into a prosperous era, and the Ming Dynasty also became the only dynasty in the Han, Tang, Ming, and Qing dynasties that did not have a prosperous era.
At the same time, we have also counted the average life expectancy of emperors of successive dynasties, and some emperors will not be counted if the number is less than 10, only the dynasties with more emperors are counted.
In order, the conclusion is as follows:
In the Qing Dynasty, the average life expectancy of emperors was 51.6 years.
In the Song Dynasty, the average life expectancy of emperors was 51.2 years.
In the Tang Dynasty, the average life expectancy of emperors was 43.2 years.
In the Ming Dynasty, the average life expectancy of emperors was 41.2 years.
In the Yuan Dynasty, the average life expectancy of emperors was 32.9 years.
In the Han Dynasty, the average life expectancy of emperors was 30.9 years.
It can be seen that the reason why the Ming Dynasty is not strong is also because the emperor's life expectancy is too short, here the average life expectancy of the Han Dynasty is low, that is because the Western Han and the Eastern Han are calculated together, the average life expectancy of the Eastern Han emperor is only 28.5 years old, in history, we know that the Eastern Han Dynasty has a large number of baby emperors, so the political situation is also very unstable, the average life expectancy of the Eastern Han emperors in history is only higher than the average life expectancy of the Northern Wei emperors, and half of the emperors of the Northern Wei Dynasty died abnormally and were killed.
Therefore, in addition to the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty, the lowest average life expectancy of emperors was the Ming Dynasty. The Qing and Tang dynasties, which had a high average life expectancy of emperors, lasted for a long time.
God made a joke, in the middle of the Jiajing period, suddenly he reigned for a long time, and there were many talents, there were many military generals, Yu Dayou, Hu Zongxian, Qi Jiguang, Gao Gong, Xu Jie, Hai Rui, Zhang Juzheng, but the situation made heroes, and the situation at this time was no longer the situation of the heyday, but the middle period, so it was difficult to do anything.
All in all, the Ming Dynasty did not prosper, mainly for two main reasons.
1. In the 70 years of the founding of the People's Republic of China, when there should have been a prosperous monarch who pushed the dynasty to its heyday, the Ming Dynasty met Ming Yingzong Zhu Qizhen and was directly interrupted.
2. The average life expectancy of emperors of the Ming Dynasty was low, so the second emperor of Renxuan was relatively short-lived, and he did not begin to live long until the time of Jiajing Wanli, but it was already the end of the period.
Therefore, the Ming Dynasty did not prosper.