<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > preface:</h1>
The Donglin Party was the largest of the factions involved in the late Ming Dynasty, and many people do not understand why it has risen.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > the ideological program of "virtuous literature" in the late Ming Dynasty</h1>
Many people think that the ideological program of the Donglin Party is the set of Song Ming Theory, but this view is actually inaccurate, and in fact, Song Ming Science is only a small part of the academics. The core ideological program of the Donglin Party also includes content such as light endowment and not competing with the people for profits, which also has in common with the virtuous literature of the Western Han Dynasty.
However, it is clear that the Donglin Party members are more passionate than the virtuous literature of the Western Han Dynasty, and they are more enthusiastic about the current politics, "family affairs and state affairs are concerned", which refers to opposing various irrational phenomena in the society of the late Ming Dynasty, which is a more active posture of influencing the government of the dynasty.
This is undoubtedly appealing to aspiring readers at first, and it is not even an exaggeration to say that it is sympathetic. Therefore, when The Eight Gentlemen of Donglin, Gu Xiancheng, Gu Yuncheng, Gao Panlong, Qian Yiben, An Xifan, Liu Yuanzhen, Xue Shijiao, and Ye Maocai, just established the Donglin Academy (rebuilt), they gained a large number of fans at that time, and suddenly became famous, and literati from all over the country came to visit.
The original Donglin Party members also formulated the Donglin Convention and embodied it, which was not available to other factions involved in the party struggle in the late Ming Dynasty. In the case of the Xuan Party, they actually have similar ambitions to the Donglin Party, and its leader Tang Binyin also recruited disciples, but he never clearly put forward the ideological program, and his power was limited to nepotism between disciples, which was difficult to expand.
Since ancient times, even in the historical period when the Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty had serious party disputes, there had never been such a clear ideological program as the Donglin Party, and it can be said that the existence of no ancient people was many steps ahead of other factions in this era. It is no wonder that there are thinkers like Huang Zongxi among them, who originally have this gene.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="9" > the organization of the Donglin Party is unprecedented</h1>
The Donglin Party has its own base area, Donglin Academy, which is not available to other factions. This group of readers gathers together once or twice a year to hold a conference to exchange friendships, and once a month there is a small meeting to maintain the popularity of the members, which is very effective, which is also impossible for other factions.
Most people feel that the Donglin Party represents the Jiangnan Shi dafu class, but in fact, this is partly controversial. For example, Wang Huazhen was from Zhucheng, Shandong, Sun Chengzong was from Gaoyang in Baoding, who was directly subordinate to northern China, and Yuan Yingtai was from Fengxiang, Shaanxi, all of whom were not native to Jiangnan. In fact, the Donglin Party members are all over the country, more like a national organization. On the other hand, factions such as Qichu, Zhejiang, Kunxuan, and so on have strong regional characteristics, and rarely absorb outsiders, and their disadvantages are very obvious.
By virtue of its numerical superiority alone, the Donglin Party can form the largest group through nepotism, giving other factions a crushing advantage.
In addition to the factional struggle of the anti-Gold line, in all other aspects, the Donglin Party always acted in unison, and the influence brought was considerable. In contrast to other factions, it is difficult to achieve unity on many issues. For example, the Xuandang formed an alliance with the Qi, Zhejiang, Chu, Kun, Qin, and other parties, but the infighting between them was very fierce and they were not united at all. When the eunuch party rose, these factions were either dependent on the eunuch party, or neutral, or sided with the eunuch party, and the unity was far inferior to that of the Donglin party.
Of course, this is mainly a characteristic of the Early Donglin Party. In the middle and late period, the Donglin Party members had many traitors, either castrated the party or voted for the Manchu Qing, not monolithic, not good temperament, and obviously inferior to their predecessors.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" > consistent strategy</h1>
Although the Donglin Party was the most powerful faction in the Wanli period and needed other factions to unite to fight, Wanli did not like them at all. The reason is actually very simple, the team of the Donglin Party is the crown prince Zhu Changluo, and Wan Li likes the Fu King Zhu Changxun, and there is a natural conflict. However, in the early days, this group of Donglin Party members was a hard bone, and in the dispute over the foundation of the country, they supported the crown prince Zhu Changluo to go all the way to the end, which was a spirit that other factions did not have.
Taking the Zhejiang Party as an example, the leader Fang Congzhe actually sided with the Fuwang Party, but he did not dare to blatantly support it, and could only secretly curry favor with Zheng Guifei. After pleasing the Wanli Emperor, he became the first assistant and led the Zhejiang Party to gain momentum. However, before and after Wanli's death, in the case of moving the palace, he was pulled by Yang Lian, one of the leaders of the Donglin Party, to greet the emperor, cowering and shrinking, not daring to offend Zheng Guifei, nor daring to offend the Donglin Party, and losing a lot in momentum. After the Donglin party ostracized him, he became dependent on the castration party; when the eunuch party lost power, it continued to be liquidated. With such ups and downs, it is difficult to lead the Zhejiang Party to grow.
The crown prince is the future monarch, and it is clear that the Donglin Party is more long-term than the Fu Wang or neutral who has invested in other factions. Under the ancient system of primogeniture, the Donglin Party actually occupied the moral high ground, while other factions that joined the Fuwang Party were at a disadvantage.
However, this stubborn spirit of the Donglin Party members is not a good thing, and during the Southern Ming Dynasty, Ma Shiying supported Zhu Yousong, the son of Zhu Changxun, the King of Fu, as the new king, and as a result, the Donglin Party members once again set off a continuation version of the "dispute over the foundation of the country", and the harm behind them was very great. It can be seen that the strategy of stability cannot focus on the overall situation, and in the end it is only an act of self-interest.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="20" > Summary:</h1>
The ideological program of the Donglin Party is clearer than that of other factions, so it can attract more readers to join them and break through regional restrictions to develop into a nationwide organization; at the same time, the Donglin Party has unprecedented organizationality, and its degree of unity is unmatched by other factions; and in the process of party struggle, their direction and strategy have always remained unchanged, other factions are relatively wavering, and their strength cannot reach the level of the Donglin Party. With these three advantages, the rise of the Donglin Party became inevitable, so other factions could not compare with them.
However, blessings and misfortunes depend on each other, and sometimes advantages can be transformed into disadvantages, and even into harms. If you are careful enough and know enough about the history of the late Ming Dynasty, you may find some problems. Even if the Donglin Party sends out a field with improvements, it has never been able to break through the limitations of the times, daming's key problems have still not been solved, and many hidden dangers have been buried along with the problem of party struggle until they broke out.