The Zen system was a system of democratic selection of tribal alliance leaders in primitive societies. The people associated with the "Zen system" are: Yao, Shun, And Yu. Yao, Shun, and Yu were the leaders of a famous tribal alliance in the Yellow River Valley after the Yellow Emperor. The first to implement the system was Yao to elect Shun as his heir, and it was Yu who ended the system. After Yu's death, his son Qi succeeded to the throne, breaking the Zen practice of democratic elections, and since then the hereditary system of the throne has replaced the Zen system, and "Qi" has opened the hereditary system of the throne passed down from father to son. The primitive society of "the world is the public" was replaced by the slave society of "the world is the home".
Introduction to zen concession system
One way in which China's rulers changed their rule was when a reigning monarch ceded the reins of power to others during his lifetime. Formally, Zen was performed voluntarily by the reigning monarch in order to allow the more able to rule the country. Usually, Zen is to cede power to a different surname, which will lead to a change of dynasties, called "outer Zen"; while the blood relatives of the same surname given to oneself are called "inner Zen", and the giver is usually called "Emperor Taishang", which does not lead to a change of dynasty.
The Zen system of ancient China was first recorded in the Book of Shang, but its authenticity has always been controversial. In ancient China, a way of electing tribal leaders, that is, each individual of the tribe voted and decided by a majority. According to legend, when Yao was the leader of the tribal alliance, Siyue elected Shun as his heir, and Yao made Shun helpful after three years of examination. After Yao's death, Shun succeeded to the throne, using the same method of promotion, passing the test of water control, with Yu as the heir. After Yu succeeded to the throne, he also cited Gao Tao as his heir, and Gao Tao died early, and took Bo Yi as his heir. This is the system of tribal alliances to elect leaders, known in history as "Zen Rang". It is said that the chief would hide in the woods and then be supported by his people to come out. But another theory is that the Zen concession system ended only after Yu, and he established the first dynasty, the Xia Dynasty.
The dynastic changes in Chinese history have also been carried out in the name of Zen concessions and the practice of seizing power. These so-called Zen concessions were all coerced by the courtiers of the dprk into abdicating the emperor, and since the successor was the courtier of the ruler, in order to avoid the insult of "disloyalty", they used the banner of Zen concession to obtain legitimacy. Therefore, the destruction of a certain dynasty by Zen concessions is often expressed in the history books as "usurpation" (such as "Wang Mang usurping Han"), and if a certain dynasty is directly overthrown by force, "annihilation" (such as "Yuan extinguishing the Song" is used to indicate a certain value judgment.
Related legends
In Chinese history, there is a legend of the first king Chan Rang, who believed that the transfer of the rule of yao, shun, and Yu was peacefully achieved through a series of procedures such as selection, recommendation, inspection, and appointment. The purpose of Zen rang is "to make a sage", and the word "Zen" in it may have originally been a term related to etiquette, and some scholars believe that it originally referred to the ceremony of the transfer of power after the expiration of the term of office. The word "jean" here is itself another term that means Zen concession. However, the homonym of "Zen", "skillful", and the "shun" that is common to the word "let" are less enlightened in their attitude toward power, at least in the political vocabulary of later generations, these two words have the meaning of monopoly and theft respectively.
The stories of Zen Rang of Yao, Shun, and Yu are described in many ancient books, such as the "History of the Five Emperors": "Yao Zhizi Danzhu is not good enough to grant the world, so it is authorized shun." If you grant Shun, the world will benefit from it and Dan zhu will be sick; if you grant Dan Zhu, the world will be sick and Dan Zhu will get its benefit. Yao Yue 'will not benefit one by the disease of the world in the end', and the pawn will be given to the world. "The Confucians, mo families, Zonghengjia and later generations of literati of the pre-Qin Dynasty relished the ancient stories of the former king Chan Rang and diligently pursued them. Newly unearthed historical documents in recent years, such as the Tao of Tang Yu and the Poor Da Yi Shi in Guodian No. 1 Tomb, and the Rong ChengShi and Zi Lamb, which are included in the Chu Zhu Shu of the Warring States in the Shanghai Museum, speak of the ancient Zen Rang. Among them, the "Tao of Tang Yu" also clearly links the Zen system with the concept of benefiting the world: "The king of Yao Shun, the king of The World, the World and Foley." Zen is not specialized, and the holiness is also abundant. Benefit the world and Foley, benevolent to the most. These records the reappearance of the ancient Bamboo Jane of Zen after being buried for thousands of years, and seem to provide new evidence for its existence.
History and culture
Whether it is a historical document handed down from generation to generation or newly excavated, the texts on the Zen system are retrospective descriptions of later generations, and the lack of direct evidence of faith and evidence should belong to the nature of legends. In fact, it is not uncommon in history to deny the existence of Zen. Mencius and Xunzi, the two great representatives of the pre-Qin Confucian Confucius, both held a negative view, such as the Xunzi Zhengyi (荀子正論) which clearly stated: "The secular speaker is known as: 'Yao and Shun make concessions.'" Not really. The Fajia's work "Han Feizi Wai Chu Says Upper Right" bluntly said: Yao did not perform Zen concessions at all, but was only "conjured" by Shun, who was usurped because of his old age and decline. The ancient "Bamboo Book Chronicle" Yun: "Xi Yaode declined, and was imprisoned by Shun", "Restore Sai Dan Zhu, so that he will not see his father." Mr. Gu Jiegang, a modern historian, once pointed out: "The theory of Zen concession is a utopia formed in the imagination of Warring States scholars stimulated by the times. He also believes that the legend of Zen Rang was "created by the Mo family for the sake of propaganda at this time" (The Seventh Book of Ancient History). Although there is still room for further discussion on whether the Zen Rang theory was the first of the Mo family, Gu's analysis of the causes of the Zen Rang theory is still not unreasonable. The Spring and Autumn Warring States Era, in which zhuzi advocated Zen Rang, was an era of advocating violence and full of power plots, and perhaps it was this bloody reality of power and profit that aroused the romantic reverie and warm call of the scholars for Zen Rang.
Of course, the Zen concessions of history did not exist only as conceptual forms. According to historical records, there have indeed been rulers who have tried to emulate the previous kings in trying to make zen concessions. For example, King Hui of Wei once wanted to spread the kingdom to Huishi ("Lü Shi Chunqiu Unyielding"), the Wei general Gongsun Yan also encouraged Shi Ju to persuade The King of Wei Xiang to lie in Zhang Yi ("Warring States Policy Wei Ce II"), and the most famous is the "concession of the state" of King Yan in 316 BC. This matter is found in the Warring States Policy Yan Ce I and the Shi Ji Yan Zhao Gong Shi Jia, and the synopsis of the incident is: Lu Maoshou persuaded the Yan King: "You might as well pretend to give up the country to the State Minister Zizhi." The reason why people call Dao Yao a sage is because he ceded the world to Xu You, and Xu Yu did not accept it, so Yao had the good name of making the world and did not actually lose the world. The Yan King then followed the plan. Later, someone said to him: "Dayu recommended Boyi, but appointed his son Qi's courtiers as officials, and later Qi and his cohorts successfully seized power from Boyi, so everyone in the world said that Dayu nominally passed the world to Boyi, but in fact let Qi himself take it back." The King of Yan believed it to be true again, and in order to avoid the suspicion of Dayu's kind of false Zen concession, he put away the seals of officials of more than three hundred stones and handed them all over to Zizhi. As a result, Zizhi was able to fully exercise the power of the king, and the King of Yan, who was old and idle, became a courtier. Three years after Zizhi's reign, the Yan state was in chaos, the prince and his supporters rebelled, so the civil war broke out, the State of Qi took the opportunity to intervene, and the two factions died tens of thousands in the power struggle.
Although the incident in which the King of Yan gave the state to Zizhi was a conspiracy of the lobbyists who supported Zizhi— the King of Yan was fooled by Lu Maoshou and others, the political show of the King of Yan himself selling fame and reputation was also one of the fatal factors. In the dynastic changes of later generations, there is no shortage of farces in the name of Zen concessions and the fact of seizing power, trying to use this form to coat the usurpation of power with a halo of legitimacy. For example, the Western Han Dynasty's widow Infant Chan ceded to Wang Mang of the New Dynasty, the Eastern Han Dynasty Emperor Liu Xiechan ceded to Cao Pi, the Cao Wei Yuan Emperor Cao Yichan ceded to Sima Yan, the Emperor wu of the Western Jin Dynasty, and so on. The legend of the first king Zen Rang and the practice of Zen Rang in later generations, one is more than a fiction, one is difficult to get rid of the disadvantages of ugliness, to paraphrase a famous saying of Wang Guowei, it can be said: "The cute person is not credible, and the credible one is not cute." ”
Zen system
Some scholars say that the Zen system is the world's earliest democratic system, in fact, its top-down way of generating power is the opposite of the spirit of democracy; some people say that it is the embodiment of "public world". However, if those in power do not regard the state as a personal property in the first place, why should they "let" it? When the King of Yan gave way to the son, Mencius was in the state of Qi, and after hearing the news, he expressed strong opposition: "The son must not be with the swallow, and the son must not be subject to the swallow." (Mencius Liang Hui Wangxia) and urged the State of Qi to attack the State of Yan. Mencius's attitude was based on his consistent political philosophy. In Mencius's view, the king simply could not give power to his successor because it was beyond his personal power. The king can only recommend his successor to Heaven, who has the right to give dominion to someone. If there is indeed a transfer of power between the three generations of Yao, Shun, and Yu, it is also out of providence. So, how is the will of Heaven manifested? Mencius believed that "the heavens are recommended and the heavens receive it, and the violence is received by the people and the people receive it." That is to say, "It is heaven that makes it the lord of sacrifice and enjoys it of the hundred gods; and it is the people who make it the lord and govern, and the people who are at peace." Therefore, the "heavens" that are high above are only a cabinet, and it is we the common people who really have the final say - although Mencius did not speak of effective technical means of expressing public opinion.