Reading | why did Liu Xin, the Emperor of han, insist on giving up the throne when he was alive?

In Chinese history, the Western Han Dynasty was different from the dynasties of "one family and one surname" that were stereotyped in later generations. It is not only a dynasty, but also a new stage in the first time that Chinese Confucian culture has realized legislation. At the same time, the Western Han Dynasty was also an era of superstitious heaven and man induction, and in less than two hundred years of history, it was full of the study of Wei Wei. From the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the changes in disasters and the auspicious accusations were closely linked to realpolitik movements.

Born in the late Years of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang lost his father at an early age and did not receive preferential treatment as a member of a foreign family. He went from being a Confucian to becoming a rising star with his family's high hopes. With the help of the "Xiangrui" theory, he returned to the court, and rose step by step in the cheers of the crowd, and finally legally established a new dynasty. How did he, then, in just fifteen years, go from a "philosopher king" who "returned to the heart of the world" to a usurper who "abandoned the heavens and men together"?

Faced with an increasingly severe crisis of political legitimacy, Wang Mang, a practitioner of Confucian theory, worked hard to build the Yong Dynasty, make liturgical music, and restore Ida, winning the recognition of other Confucians of his time. So what is wang Mang's real motivation for becoming emperor? Is Wang Mang an evil and lawless snatcher, or a reformer of the retro faction? Was he the decider of the founding of Confucianism, or the political performer with superb acting skills?

"Xiangrui: Wang Mang and His Time" intercepts the historical fragment from Emperor Xuan of Han to Xinmang, cuts from the perspective of "Xiangrui", analyzes Wang Mang's personal, family and regime-related character events, reproduces the struggle between the empress dowager Wang Zhengjun, the foreign relatives of the Wang family, the royal family surnamed Liu, the Confucian scribe, the bureaucratic master, etc. in the political arena in the late years of the Western Han Dynasty, and then re-examines Wang Mang in the center of the vortex to peek at him and the true appearance of the times.

Xiang Rui: Wang Mang and His Time

Zhang Xiangrong

Century Wenjing/Published by Shanghai People's Publishing House

Han Yuanshou 2nd year of June 5 noon (August 15, 1 BC), late at night.

As usual, Chang'an City is under curfew. According to Han law, even the government was not allowed to arrest suspects at night. On the road, except for the guards who patrol the night, there are no idle people and so on. Although it is a warm summer, the tranquil atmosphere exudes a solemn atmosphere.

At this time, a person from Changle Palace, that is, the residence of the empress dowager Wang Zhengjun, was speeding through the streets, which was particularly eye-catching. Knowing his identity, the night guards did not dare to stop him, but only secretly guessed what was happening in the court.

The man hurried to a Luli, passed through the heavy gate of Luli and the mansion, and soon saw the awakened owner, the nephew of the empress dowager, Wang Mang, the Marquis of Xindu. Wang Mang had served as Sima Dai, but had been removed from his post six years earlier, and had been expelled from Chang'an four years earlier and sent back to the feudal state. More than a year ago, he was recalled to Chang'an to take care of his aunt Wang Zhengjun, and is now idle at home.

The emissary conveyed Wang Zhengjun's will: to pack up and prepare as soon as possible and rush to Weiyang Palace immediately.

Weiyang Palace is the palace where the emperor lived, the heart of the Han family.

Although Wang Mang belonged to a foreign nobleman, he did not hold any position in the outer court, that is, the "government", and the emperor did not give him the status of being able to enter the inner court palace. Therefore, unless summoned by the emperor, Wang Mang was not eligible to enter Weiyang Palace. Of course, there is another possibility:

The emissary uttered a piece of news that shocked Wang Mang: Just now, the emperor yan drove!

Wang Mang's shock was that the news came too suddenly. This young emperor, whose name was Liu Xin and later known as the Emperor of Han, had already completely expelled Wang Mang from the field of power. Wang Mang was 44 years old, the emperor was only 25 years old, and as long as he lived, Wang Mang was destined to die under the household. Second, the Han Dynasty must have fallen into a serious crisis of rule. Wang Mang was eager to know if Liu Xin had a last word? If so, who will inherit the throne? Is it true or false that the aunt urgently summoned herself to the palace? Is Ji ji fierce? ......

About an hour or two ago, Weiyang Palace.

Emperor Liu Xin, sensing that he was about to make a big move, ordered fu Xilang, the official in charge of the jade seal, to take the jade seal and ribbon of the country—which was a sign of the emperor's possession of the throne—and handed it to Dong Xian, a 23-year-old favorite who accompanied him at the dragon bed, and said something meaningful:

Nothing to be vain with people.

It means "don't give it to someone else".

Soon after speaking, Liu Xin drove away. He had no heirs and no heirs. It is reasonable to say that such important news should be reported to the empress dowager as soon as possible. There is no emperor in the world, her qualifications are the most noble, and the Changle Palace where she lives is not far from Weiyang Palace.

But the news was blocked intentionally or unintentionally by Dong Xian.

Dong Xian was originally from an unknown origin, and was a prince when Liu Xin was crown prince, and was loved by Liu Xin. Two years after Liu Xin ascended the throne, he was recalled to his side to serve as a squire Huang Menlang. Since then, the two have been together day and night, inseparable.

In the second year of Jianping (5 BC), a disaster occurred in Dingxiang County, and a mare gave birth to a three-legged foal. The Book of Han later held that horses were sharp weapons for fighting, so how could a three-legged horse fight a war? This means that there will be a person who is not worthy of this task to become the Grand Sima of the Great. Sure enough, shortly thereafter, Dong Xian, who was in his twenties, was worshipped as the Grand Sima and held the position of Shanggong, with titles including Gao'an Hou, Grand Sima (大司馬), General wei (衛將), and Lingshang Shushi (領尚書事), becoming the second-largest figure in the empire, and his family also quickly soared, confirming the disaster of the three-legged horse.

But this is Dong Xian in the eyes of others, and Liu Xin may not see it that way. Carefully examining the situation on the day of Liu Xinyan's driving, although he did not select an heir with the surname of Liu, the action and instructions to hand over the jade seal and the seal of the country to Dong Xian were like a political testament to explain the aftermath, to put it more clearly, that is, he hoped that Dong Xian would have a son on the same day, at least dong Xian would preside over the selection of a successor.

This is not unfounded speculation, first, because the Chuanguo Jade Seal is not a seal with only formal significance, but the most precious thing that Emperor Gao inherited from Emperor Qin, and it is the evidence of the Liu family's legitimate rule over the world. Second, this is not the first time that Liu Xin has expressed the meaning of Zen Rang.

Originally, when Dong Xian was just worshipped as the Grand Sima (大司馬), the book used the phrase "allowed to hold on to it", which was from the Book of Shang, which was said by Yao Zen when he gave shun. It is used in the book of worshiping Dong Xian as the Great Sima and is very eye-catching. At that time, Xun Lao privately discussed, "This is the text of Yao Zen Shun, not the story of the Three Gongs, and the elders who see it, they must not be afraid", that is, to use these four characters to establish the Three Dukes, which means nothing.

The second time, it was Liu Xin who drank and feasted with Dong Xian's father and son and other close courtiers in the Qilin Hall of Weiyang Palace, perhaps out of temptation, or perhaps through wine, he looked at Dong Xian, calmly smiled and said:

I want Fa Yao Zen Shun, why?

It means, "I intend to emulate Yao Shunchan and give the throne to you, how?" This is certainly a step further than the implicit use of "allowed to cling to it" in the booklet.

Liu Xin's repeated expressions of Zen ren's wishes seemed quite unusual in later generations. The Zen concessions of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Wei, and the last years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty were all because the emperor had already become a puppet, and the great power had become the pocket of the powerful subjects. However, Liu Xin firmly controlled the imperial power, and there were no arrogant courtiers like Huo Guang, nor deviant foreign relatives such as Lü Hou, let alone rebellious princes and invading foreign tribes.

A powerful emperor who wants to cede the prosperous empire to a different name reveals that he himself is in a serious mental crisis.

In the imperial era, the spiritual crisis of the emperor was a manifestation of the crisis of imperial rule.

So the question is, what is Liu Xin's spiritual crisis? Where does it come from?

From the perspective of posterity, less than ten years after Liu Xin's death, the Western Han Dynasty was replaced by a new dynasty, interpreting the second change of dynasty in the era of Chinese imperialism. This shows that Liu Xin's spiritual crisis is indeed not his personal affair, and his violent death has plunged the Han Dynasty into an unprecedented crisis.

However, in general, the overthrow of dynasties is often associated with political corruption, economic collapse, cultural decay, territorial division, and failure of the imperial family. The Han Dynasty when Liu Xinyan was driving basically did not have the above problems, at least to a far less serious extent. Social problems such as land annexation, the division between the rich and the poor, and natural disasters certainly exist, but compared with the alternating dictatorship of foreign relatives and eunuchs in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" in the Western Jin Dynasty, the feudal towns and Huangchao in the late Tang Dynasty, and the rebellion in the late Ming Dynasty and the Later Jin Dynasty... The situation in the last years of the Western Han Dynasty did not reach the level of collapse at all.

From a broad point of view, since the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" within the han jing emperor's rule, there has been no large-scale civil strife for about 150 years, which can be called a long time; externally, the Xiongnu problem that has plagued the Han Dynasty for many years has also eased, from the Han Emperor Wudi sent Wei Qing and Huo to chase after the north, and the Han Yuan Emperor sent "Zhaojun out of the plug" so far, the Han Dynasty and the Xiongnu have coexisted peacefully for more than 30 years, and when it comes to the feeling of the Xiongnu and their relatives, the situation in the western region is also very stable.

Although the degree of prosperity of the ordinary subjects of the Western Han Dynasty living at this time should not be exaggerated, it was by no means the bleakness of the great chaos in the world: the subsidence of the war, the stability of society brought economic growth, and the population was extremely prosperous. According to the Book of Han, by the second year of the first year of the Han Dynasty's successor, the Han Ping Emperor, the Han Dynasty had a population of 59.595 million people and about 8.27 million hectares of land reclamation, which was the most prosperous in the two Han Dynasties.

Judging from liu's rule, the Han Dynasty has experienced many crises of rule during the transfer of imperial power since its founding, and most of them seem to be more serious. After Emperor Gao's death, Lü Hou Bingzheng and Lü Shi ascended to the throne, relying on a group of Emperor Gao's old meritorious servants and princes surnamed Liu to launch a coup d'état, which was able to reverse the situation; Emperor Wu of Han was very happy and extremely squeezed the people's strength, and the "Wu Qiao Rebellion" in his later years even led to the death of the crown prince and the death of Emperor Han Zhao's eight-year-old; after Emperor Han Zhao's death, King Changyi was deposed by Huo Guang and replaced by Emperor Xuan of Han, and the situation was once dangerous.

So another question arises: why did Liu Xin's death lead to an unprecedented crisis in Han Dynasty rule, and why did the Han Dynasty ultimately fail to survive?

A general answer to the above two questions is that the crisis of the past was only a crisis of power, and the crisis of this time is a crisis of legitimacy. The so-called legitimacy is "Providence". The crisis of power does not leave Chang'an City, or even the Weiyang Palace; and the crisis of legitimacy is everywhere.

Liu Xin's spiritual crisis is actually a crisis of legitimacy in the Han Room.

The Han Dynasty took the world with Emperor Gao's three-foot sword, and the gun came out of the power, but if the regime wanted to be stable for a long time, it could not purely use the crude and barbaric way of force as a source of legitimacy, and it was necessary to design a set of noble reasons for elegance, benevolence, morality, or political and religious ethics to be stable and far-reaching. At that time, the power to interpret political and religious ethics was in the hands of Confucianism, which is known as "virtue".

Whether the Han Dynasty conformed to Confucian ideals meant whether it had the legitimacy to rule.

One of the major characteristics of the Han Dynasty people is to believe in Providence, ghosts and gods, and heaven and man. Heaven, earth, and earth are a world of tranquility. What joy is there in life, and what is bitterness in death? Anyway, the ghosts don't die. Geography corresponds to the star map, and the stars correspond to the monarch. Heaven does not speak, but will express its will through "disasters" such as earthquakes, floods and droughts, locusts, eclipses, meteorites, rumors, etc., or "auspicious" such as pheasants, jiamu, colorful clouds, and manna.

These calamities and auspiciousness, with a harbinger of the future and a praise and criticism of the past, embody the true attitude of Heaven towards the rulers. Through the "theory" of Confucianism and the "technology" of mathematics, Confucianism holds the key to solving the meaning of disasters and auspiciousness. As a result, the rule of the Han Dynasty, the Confucian concept, and the will of the heavens are concentrated in the disasters and auspiciousness.

In fact, the legitimacy crisis of the Han Dynasty was already signified as early as the time of Emperor Zhao of Han, and the terrible prediction that the royal family surnamed Liu was about to lose its Mandate of Heaven was circulating in the government and the public. It was the first month of the third year of the Han Zhao Emperor YuanFeng, 77 years before Liu Xinyan was driven, and Huo Guang was in power. On the south side of Mount Taishan and Laiwu Mountain, a boulder erected itself, and thousands of white crows gathered next to the stone. At the same time, in the forest garden of the royal garden, a large willow tree that had been dead on the ground for a long time suddenly came back to life, and it also stood up, and there were insects that ate the leaves into words, which is a five-word proverb:

Gongsun's illness has been established.

At this time, there was a central official in the Han court named Xiao Hong, a Confucian figure. He deduced from the Spring and Autumn Period that these calamities meant that "the king changed his surname to the emperor" and "Pifu was the son of heaven", that is, to change the dynasty; in view of the "Han Family Yao Queen", the Han Room was a descendant of Yao, so The Han Zhao Emperor should take the initiative to abdicate and give zen to Shun's descendant "Gongsun Clan".

Huo Guang saw this and thought that "the demon's words deceived the people and rebelled against the people", and killed Xiao Hong.

In the follow-up to this matter, on the one hand, Emperor Han Zhao died, the King of Changyi was deposed, and Huo Guang was replaced by Emperor Xuan of Han. Emperor Xuan of Han's original name was Liu Yiji, and he was also the great-grandson of Emperor Wu of Han, which coincided with the proverb "Gongsun Yiji". Therefore, Xiao Hong's bold words proved to be true, and the catastrophe that was thought to herald the demise of the Han Dynasty was actually Xiangrui who ascended the throne of Emperor Xuan of Han. Emperor Xuan of Han later enlisted The son of Xuan Hong to enter the dynasty as a lang, with the intention of repaying.

But on the other hand, this prediction was confirmed, which strengthened the inevitability of the dynasty changing its surname to Yi Dynasty, so that the han dynasty must abdicate and since then it has become an undercurrent, surging between the government and the opposition. In fact, it is likely that Xiao Hong was hinting at the time that Huo Guang should be made emperor, because because of the deduction of the genealogy, Huo Shi was believed to be traced back to Shun.

Therefore, in order to hedge this kind of public opinion, Emperor Xuan of Han, the heir of Emperor Han Zhao, actively responded to the earthquakes, eclipses and other disasters that occurred during his reign, and showed his subjects their generosity and ability to resolve crises; at the same time, they vigorously publicized various auspicious rui, and a little statistics showed that during the han Xuan Emperor's period, phoenixes continued to appear throughout the country, manna frequently descended on Weiyang Palace and Shanglin Garden, and the gods (that is, the gods and birds) appeared many times in Mount Taishan and Yongcheng, the royal sacrifice site, and the five-colored birds flew over the sky, and more rarely, the yellow dragon appeared. Emperor Xuan of Han had only seven era names, at least four of which were from Xiangrui: Shenjue, Wufeng, Ganlu, and Huanglong.

Looking at the Xiangrui that appeared during the han Xuan Emperor period, the number is almost comparable to that of Wang Mang's period.

In fact, the disaster and Xiangrui are essentially the same thing, and Emperor Xuandi's actions temporarily consolidated the world's confidence in Liu's still having a destiny, but it also contributed to the belief in disaster and Xiangrui, which made the government and the public more deeply believe in the prophecies contained in the vision. The seeds of a crisis of legitimacy, once planted, take root.

By the time of Emperor Xuan of Han's son Emperor Han Yuan and grandson Emperor Hancheng, such prophecies had been widely circulated in the folk, and some Confucian believers believed that as long as the successor Xiangrui continued to appear, Yao's descendants Liu surname would definitely be ceded to Shun's descendants, and Huode would eventually be replaced by Tude, which was an inviolable mandate of heaven.

This is like the "objective law of the development of things", and it is precisely because peace and stability have been too long that people at that time will look forward to the transfer of destiny, and believe that the Han Room will bring a better, fairer and more just tomorrow.

Under the "historical inevitability" of this "objective law", it is Liu Xin's sudden driving that plays the "historical accident", and our protagonist Wang Mang hastily appears on the stage of history. Therefore, this book is not intended to provide another biography of Wang Mang, but to examine a period of history in which people pursued and "realized" the Confucian version of the "Republic" in the imperial era, and in the next details, who is the doll, who is the master, what lessons, what experiences, and whether it feels full or empty after watching this drama.

Let's start with the Majestic Han Room...

——Excerpt from Xiangrui: Wang Mang and His Time, Published by Century Wenjing/Shanghai People's Publishing House

Author: Zhang Xiangrong

Editor: Jiang Chuting