Behind this contradictory narrative lies a historical truth about how the rulers of the Yuan dynasty consolidated their dominance through the system. As a unified dynasty founded by ethnic minorities, the Yuan Dynasty faced the challenge of effectively ruling over a vast multi-ethnic territory. To do this, they constructed a seemingly rigid hierarchy of their subjects. However, is the system really as harsh as it is rumored? Zhu Yuanzhang is an eyewitness, what is the reason for his evaluation? The reasons behind this are worth digging into.
The Doubts and Choices of the Yuan Dynasty Rulers
Kublai Khan can be said to be the founder of the Yuan Dynasty, and during his reign, the territory of the Yuan Dynasty has spread throughout the entire East Asian continent, and even annexed most of Eurasia. However, as a unified dynasty established by ethnic minorities, the Yuan Dynasty faced serious challenges in terms of rule.
First of all, the Mongols did not have a dominant population in terms of their large territory. According to historical records, even in the heyday of the Yuan Dynasty, the population of the Mongols was only about one million, compared to the number of conquered Han Chinese, Nanren and other ethnic groups several times more.
Secondly, as a nomadic people, there is a certain gap between the Mongols and the agricultural civilization in the Central Plains in terms of civilization. Although they have superb riding and archery ability, they are far inferior to the Central Plains Dynasty in many fields such as administrative structure, science and technology, and culture.
In view of this, Kublai Khan, the founding monarch of the Yuan Dynasty, knew that force alone could not achieve long-term peace and stability. He was faced with a dilemma: should he completely abandon the cultural identity of the Mongols and integrate with the conquered Han Chinese and other ethnic groups? Or is it to build a line of defense for the Mongols at the institutional level, to guarantee their privileged position?
In the end, Kublai Khan chose the latter. As a result, during his reign, the "four-class system" with distinctive characteristics was gradually formed. Through this system, Kublai Khan divided his subjects into four categories: Mongols, Semu, Han Chinese, and Nanren, giving the Mongols the highest status and privileges.
The real operation of the fourth-class system
Throughout the reign of the Yuan Dynasty, the so-called "four-class system" was not a rigid hierarchical system, but a relatively relaxed and adapted management method to local conditions.
In practice, the Yuan rulers' differential treatment of their subjects focused on the following aspects: first, the appointment of officials, Kublai Khan issued an edict in the second year of the Yuan Dynasty (1265), stipulating that the Daru Huachi (a position similar to that of a governor) could only be held by the Mongols, and the Semu and Han Chinese held secondary positions such as Tongzhi and Governor, respectively. However, this rule was not strictly enforced later, and many Han Chinese still served as Daru Huachi.
Secondly, in terms of enslavement, the Yuan Dynasty adopted a policy of adapting land to time to different ethnic groups and different regions. In the hometown of the Jin Kingdom, the Yuan Dynasty continued the "five-household silk tax system" of the Jin Dynasty; In the hometown of the Southern Song Dynasty, the "two tax system" of the Southern Song Dynasty was followed. At the same time, the Yuan Dynasty also retained the characteristics of the "various color households", dividing the people into different "households" according to their occupations and beliefs, and each "household" had different obligations of servitude.
Moreover, the Yuan Dynasty did not have a one-size-fits-all approach to the application of law. In many areas, they have retained the original legal customs, but they have only regulated the general names and degrees of punishment. For example, in Tibetan areas, the Yuan Dynasty set up a "Xuanzheng Yuan" that was different from the inland provinces.
It is worth mentioning that the Yuan Dynasty's attitude towards local tyrants was also quite relaxed. The big families in various places have taken in the displaced people and expanded their strength, but the imperial court basically ignored them. In some places, the powerful even became the intermediary of the imperial court to levy taxes and levy labor.
In general, the Yuan Dynasty did not impose strict hierarchical segregation on its subjects in the specific process of governance, but treated them differently according to the traditional customs of different regions. As the famous historian Chen Yuan commented in "The History of China's Legal System": "Although the Mongols had a four-class system, there is no trace of its actual implementation. ＂
Loose administration
The rulers of the Yuan Dynasty also adopted a relaxed approach to administration, which was directly related to their nomadic traditions.
As a nomadic people, the Mongols originally followed the model of "delegated administration". As long as the local officials can ensure that the jurisdiction is peaceful and pay the prescribed taxes in full, the imperial court will not interfere and demand more in their other affairs.
This style of management continued after the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, local officials had a high degree of autonomy, and as long as they sent the tax payable to the central government, it was up to their own preferences to collect and manage the tax.
In order to reduce their own burden, some magistrates simply delegated the power of tax collection to local wealthy families, who collected taxes on their behalf. As long as they can pay the quota of the imperial court on time and in full, the rest of the excess taxes will belong to them.
This so-called "package tax system" was widely popular during the Yuan Dynasty, which led to many drawbacks. On the one hand, in order to grab more profits, the tax collectors often arbitrarily levy taxes and extort from the people; On the other hand, they will also use their tax power to bribe court officials to a considerable extent.
In addition to the tax system, the Yuan Dynasty also gave great autonomy to the local government in terms of justice. According to the well-known dating system, in the event of a civil case, the supervisors of each "household" can make their own dating decisions without the intervention of the magistrate.
In the absence of strong supervision, this autonomy soon turned into the indulgence of the magistrates. Most of them colluded with local tycoons and tyrannicals to overlord and exploit the people. According to relevant records, in just a few decades, the commercial tax has increased by nearly 10 times, and the tea class has skyrocketed by more than 200 times, which shows how the people suffered at that time.
Another point of concern is that the Yuan emperors did not have a fixed statute for the selection of heirs. The absence of an absolute successor will lead to clan strife and warlord division, plunging the country into turmoil. In fact, it was precisely because of this defect in the later Yuan Dynasty that it led to the continuous strife between Hongtuoke and others, thus exacerbating the crisis of the loss of popular support.
Relaxation of cultural and religious policies
Echoing the loose style of administration, the Yuan Dynasty also adopted a fairly liberal attitude in the cultural and religious fields, giving a great deal of room for tolerance.
In terms of ideology and culture, the Yuan Dynasty was indeed tolerant. They not only continued some excellent traditions of the previous dynasties such as Jin and Liao, but also vigorously absorbed the advanced culture of Arabia, India, and other foreign countries, injecting new vitality into the cultural development of the Central Plains.
Among them, great progress has been made in the fields of medicine, history and geography. For example, the famous Ma Boying compiled the book "Interpretation of the Source", which systematically sorted out the source of the three religions; Hu Sihui created and popularized the Hui Pa Si Pa alphabet; The writing of the historical book "Yuan History" is also a major innovation.
Ideologically and theoretically, the Yuan Dynasty implemented a fairly high degree of freedom of religious belief. Not only did they not interfere with Buddhism and Taoism, but they even absorbed foreign cultures such as Islam and allowed them to spread and develop.
Specifically at the level of life, the Yuan Dynasty's avoidance system was also quite loose. At that time, some poets were not afraid to refer to themselves as "mad husbands", and some poems expounded theoretical ideas that transcended taboos such as "the joy of sexual reason", which shows how low the implementation of the Yuan Dynasty's evasion was.
Against this backdrop, the freedom of folklore flourished like never before. The gradual growth of the citizen class has provided a broad space for the creation and circulation of folk literature. New opera arts, such as commentaries and miscellaneous operas, came into being, which greatly enriched the cultural life of the Yuan society.
In addition, the Yuan government was very lenient in its management of religious affairs. They recognized the spread of foreign religions such as Catholicism and Islam in the country, and they also implemented a certain degree of preferential policies for Buddhist monasteries.
Interestingly, the Yuan dynasty, by contrast, was much more strict in its management of its traditional beliefs, Tibetan Buddhism. They did not allow lamas to build monasteries in the interior and forbade them to engage in secular political activities.
In general, the Yuan Dynasty adopted a very relaxed attitude in the field of culture and religion, alleviated national contradictions, and formed a cultural atmosphere in which a hundred schools of thought contended. But on the other hand, too laissez-faire has also laid the foundation for the secularization of culture and entertainment, and has contributed to the spread of all kinds of unhealthy trends in society.
Zhu Yuanzhang's judgment on "wide".
In the face of various loose management styles during the reign of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang, Taizu of the Ming Dynasty, gave an evaluation and judgment of "Yuan Yilenient loss of the world".
As a witness who personally experienced the turbulent situation in the last years of the Yuan Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang naturally had a deeper understanding of the Yuan Dynasty. The reason why he called the Yuan Dynasty "wide" was mainly because of its laissez-faire attitude in terms of administration, culture and religion.
From Zhu Yuanzhang's point of view, this kind of "leniency" in the Yuan Dynasty does not mean "benevolence and leniency", but refers to its too loose management and gradual loss of discipline. In his view, if a country wants to have long-term peace and stability, it must have complete laws and regulations and an effective supervision system, and the Yuan Dynasty did have serious shortcomings in this regard.
The state of disorder is first reflected in the government level. The Yuan Dynasty lacked a clear system for selecting successors, and there was constant infighting within the clan, which plunged the entire central power into a state of instability. In addition, local officials are overbearing and corrupt, and they have no time to take care of people's livelihood and suffering.
Secondly, in terms of social atmosphere, the Yuan Dynasty's almost laissez-faire attitude also had a serious negative impact on the lives of the common people. In the absence of strong cultural censorship, secularization prevailed, and low-grade entertainment such as miscellaneous dramas gradually replaced the dominance of traditional culture. In addition, the intensification of exploitation by powerful landlords has created a miserable situation in which the people of the whole country are struggling to make a living.
Finally, in terms of military defense, the Yuan Dynasty was too complacent to take precautions. Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty, once had the rhetoric of "relying on the sea as a pool" during his reign, but in the Hongwu period, the Ming army broke through the defense lines of the Yuan Dynasty several times, and finally overthrew this once powerful empire in one fell swoop.
It was precisely because he was soberly aware of the various calamities brought to the country and the people by the Yuan Dynasty's "lenient" government, which had completely lost discipline, that Zhu Yuanzhang made great efforts to implement a series of strict laws, regulations, and systems after seizing the world, and worked hard to establish a new dynasty in which the country was rich and the army was strong, and the people were rich and the country was strong.
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From this point of view, Zhu Yuanzhang's comment on "Yuan Yilenient Lost the World" is not only a summary of history, but also a kind of reflection and vigilance, hoping to learn from the lessons of the Yuan Dynasty and open up a new road of great ambition for the Ming Dynasty.