As an important dynasty in the history of China, the Yuan Dynasty not only played a connecting role in the cultural history of China, but also made a new leap in many fields, which promoted the development of China's pluralistic and integrated culture, created a new situation of China's national cultures and made important contributions to the prosperity and development of China's culture.
China has been a multi-ethnic country since ancient times, and all ethnic groups have contributed to the progress and development of Chinese civilization in different historical periods. Yuan Dynasty refers to the feudal regime established by Mongolian rulers from 1206 to 1368. In the dynastic sequence of China, although this regime existed for a short time, its influence on the historical development of China was very important. This paper attempts to discuss its position and influence in the cultural history of China from a cultural perspective.
It has promoted the process of China's pluralistic and integrated cultural pattern. /kloc-At the beginning of the 3rd century, after more than half a century's conquest, Mongolian rulers successively wiped out the regimes of Xixia, Jin, Dali, Tubo and Southern Song Dynasty, completed the unprecedented unification of multi-ethnic countries, and formed a favorable environment for the cultural exchange and development of all ethnic groups.
The coexistence of multi-ethnic cultures in China has been further affirmed. Since the Spring and Autumn Period, the theory of "Xiayi" formed in the Central Plains has emphasized the idea of "respecting Xiayi" and "changing Xiayi", which has formed an obstacle to equal exchanges among all ethnic groups. For example, the "positive leap" theory, which is very influential in the field of history, advocates that "the four foreigners can't be orthodox", and puts the northern nationalities into the Central Plains regime, juxtaposed with "thieves" and "usurpers" and put them into the unorthodox sequence, which actually excludes the political culture of other nationalities. Since the Yuan Dynasty also belonged to the minority regime in the Central Plains, the rulers need to try to reverse this traditional concept in order to establish the legitimacy of its status. When compiling the history of Liao, Song and Jin Dynasties, the chief executives of the three historical capitals and the prime minister of Zhongshu Right spared no effort to arrange people's opinions. "It is arbitrarily said that' the three countries are orthodox and each is related to their titles'." Then the discussant rests. "This move ended the debate about' orthodoxy' for more than 200 years after the demise of the Liao Dynasty, and at the same time, in the history of Chinese historiography, for the first time, it affirmed the legal status of various ethnic regimes in the name of the central government. Its significance is just as summarized by Mr. Han Rulin: "This decision determines the basic principle of treating the three histories equally, which is in line with the objective reality that China is a multi-ethnic country and the historical situation that Liao, Jin and Song San Dynasties are irrelevant, so it is correct, so Tuotuo's contribution to the three histories cannot be ignored. "
It has accelerated the cultural exchange among ethnic groups. The national cultural policies implemented by the rulers of Yuan Dynasty brought many new phenomena to the integration and development of ancient national cultures in China. Mongolian characters came into being in this period and have been used ever since. The Secret History of Mongolia, the first historical work in the history of nomadic people in the north, was born. In the history of China's feudal dynasty, the ethnic composition of Yuan officials was the most complicated. The Yuan Dynasty was also the first dynasty in the history of China's unified dynasty to use multi-ethnic languages. Liao History, Song History and Jin History are the only historical books in the twenty-four histories, compiled by multi-ethnic historians. They are also the first works edited by an official for three dynasties in the history of Chinese historiography, which have preserved precious historical and cultural heritage for future generations. The Central Plains culture has been widely spread in frontier ethnic areas, Confucian classics have been translated into Mongolian and published, and schools teaching Confucian culture have appeared for the first time in remote areas such as Mobei and Yunnan. For the first time, the educational institutions of minority languages and characters approved by the central government appeared in China-Mongolian Sub-Ministry and * * * Ethnic Sub-Ministry, and a large number of China writers emerged in Mongolia, Khitan, Nuzhen and Semu. The cultures of all ethnic groups in the western regions spread further to the Central Plains society, and Tibetan Buddhism spread in the Central Plains. Kapok planting and textile technology of Li nationality in Hainan promoted the development of cotton textile industry in China. In the relaxed political and cultural atmosphere, the blending of all ethnic groups has also entered another period. The Khitan, Nuzhen, Tangut and other ethnic groups have quietly merged into Mongolia, Han and other neighboring ethnic groups, and a brand-new ethnic group, the Hui nationality, was born on the land of China. For the harmonious coexistence of various cultures in the Yuan Dynasty, Doric, one of the "four great travelers" in medieval Europe, once called it "the greatest miracle in the world" with emotion.
It can be seen that the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty broke the artificial cultural shielding phenomenon that appeared in the past history, and the reality of China's cultural diversity was generally recognized. The concept of "four seas as home" and "one country under the sun" is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and the pattern of pluralism and integration has become a reality in the unified environment.
Inclusive and pragmatic cultural policies promoted the development of feudal culture in China. Compared with most feudal dynasties in China, the ideological and cultural concepts in the Yuan Dynasty have two remarkable characteristics: one is inclusiveness, and the other is "no emphasis on empty words". Under the guidance of this thought, the cultural environment of the Yuan Dynasty showed the characteristics of inclusiveness and pragmatism.
The cultural compatibility of the Mongolian and Yuan Dynasties is mainly reflected in the following aspects: it is the only dynasty in the ancient history of China that did not put forward the "taboo" system from the official point of view; It was one of the dynasties with the least system of ideological and cultural imprisonment in the feudal history of China. So far, no unfortunate cases of people in the Yuan Dynasty due to speech have been found. According to statistics, the cultural ban in Yuan Dynasty was only a few tenths of that in Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is also the only dynasty in China's feudal history that explicitly put forward freedom of religious belief. At that time, all the major religions in the world had venues and followers in China, which was probably a unique cultural phenomenon in Eurasia at that time.
The compatible cultural atmosphere provides a good environment for the development of China culture. China's "major event in the history of drama and literature" ―― Yuanqu (Sanqu and Zaju) was formed in this environment. Nowadays, Yuan Qu is regarded as a treasure of China culture, alongside Tang Poetry and Song Poetry. Some scholars believe that the birth and prosperity of Yuanqu in the Yuan Dynasty mainly benefited from the influence of the ethics of the northern ethnic minorities in the Yuan Dynasty and the relaxation of cultural policies, which "freed social thoughts from the shackles of traditional norms" and created them freely.
The social status of Confucian culture has been further improved. In the Yuan Dynasty, Confucius was named "Dacheng Shenggong Wang", which made his reputation unbounded. Mencius and other famous Confucian scholars have also won lofty titles; For the first time in the history of China, the Yuan Dynasty established a "Confucian" class to protect intellectuals, and "those who wish to be disciples are free from all kinds of chores". The popular education in the Yuan Dynasty surpassed that of the previous generation, with more than 400 academies and more than 24,400 state and county schools at most. Regarding the development of Confucian culture in the Yuan Dynasty, Mr. Chen Yuan commented as follows: "The Yuan Dynasty lasted only a hundred years. ..... If we start with Henkel and Emperor Taizong, end with the centenary of the Han and Tang Dynasties, end with the theory of the Qing ancestors, and end with the Qianlong 20 years ago, regardless of the Qianlong 20 years later, the academic prosperity of the Han, Tang and Qing Dynasties will surpass the Yuan Dynasty! "
Pragmatic spirit promotes the interaction between culture and social practice. The Mongols who founded the Yuan Dynasty were in the rising stage of feudal society and had more urgent development requirements. Therefore, compared with the Song Dynasty, the pragmatic cultural spirit of the Yuan Dynasty is very remarkable. Kublai Khan, the founding father of the Yuan Dynasty, advocated that "those who should respond to heaven should be sincere and those who save the people should be realistic" and emphasized that "things should be realistic and not empty words". On this basis, he put forward that "the imperial examination is empty, I won't take it", abolished the imperial examination system and emphasized the selection of talents instead of simply "winning by writing"; Some scientific cultures related to the national economy and people's livelihood have also developed rapidly with the support of * * *: a series of large-scale astronomical observation activities organized by * * * have made China at the advanced level in the world in many astronomical fields (such as ecliptic angle, star number, calendar and other scientific data). ); Geographically, Dayuan Unification Annals is the first official annals in China and the largest official annals in ancient China history. There are 160 kinds of local chronicles compiled in Yuan Dynasty, more than in Song Dynasty. Yuan * * * also organized the first field trip to the source of the Yellow River in China history; In terms of agricultural technology and agronomy popularization, crops in the north and the south are widely exchanged, and agricultural technologies (such as production tools) in various places learn from each other. Cotton planting was fully popularized in the Yuan Dynasty, and many crops were popularized. * * * strengthened the summary and popularization of agricultural science and technology. The Summary of Agriculture and Mulberry edited by the Ministry of Agriculture is the earliest comprehensive agricultural book in ancient China to guide the national agricultural production. Lu Mingshan's Summary of Agriculture, Mulberry and Food is the oldest one in China, and Wang Zhen's Agricultural Book is the first agricultural book in China to systematically study ethnic agriculture. On the basis of the invention of movable type printing in Song Dynasty, metal movable type, wheel typesetting and color printing were invented in Yuan Dynasty. In addition, the Yuan regime also attached great importance to medicine, shipbuilding, pottery making and water conservancy.
It opened the most prosperous cultural exchange between China and the West in China during the feudal period, and the emergence of the Yuan Dynasty and the four great khanates, which greatly changed the Eurasian political pattern after13rd century. Many former regimes in East Asia, Central Asia and West Asia disappeared in an instant, and parts of Europe were also brought under the rule of the Mongolian khanate. There is no doubt that brutal wars and violent social unrest have brought great suffering to people in Europe and Asia. However, the positive impact of the conquest war and the subsequent establishment of the Mongolian regime can not be ignored objectively, which broke the barriers of economic and cultural exchanges between Europe and Asia. The Mongolian rulers' open policy of encouraging trade and convenient and safe post transportation have narrowed the distance between Europe and Asia, made the direct dialogue between various cultures a reality, and shortened the gap between Europe and Asia due to unbalanced development, geographical space and artificial closure in the process of civilization. The exchange made China know the world, and the world also knew China. The mystery between the East and the West has been uncovered, and the history of world civilization has entered a new era. From the perspective of China's cultural history, the influence of the Mongolian and Yuan dynasties is mainly reflected in two aspects:
Promoted the internationalization of China. In the ancient history of China, the most influential dynasties were the Tang Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty. However, if we compare the scope of external influence, the number of countries and the international status, the Tang Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty cannot be compared. Preferential trade policies, smooth trade routes, rich countries and beautiful legends make the Yuan Dynasty attractive to all walks of life in the west and the world. Shangdu, Dadu, Hangzhou, Quanzhou and Guangzhou have become international cities, and Quanzhou Port has become the largest foreign trade port in the world. Travelers, businessmen, missionaries, envoys and craftsmen came to China by land and sea. Some of them have lived in China for a long time, and some have worked as officials. According to statistics, these people come from Persia, Iraq, Azov, Li Kang, Syria, Morocco, North Korea, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Poland, Hungary, Russia, Britain, France, Italy, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan and other countries. After returning home, some people recorded their experiences in China. It is these travel notes that make westerners fully grasp the information of China and the East for the first time, and a civilized and wealthy China is truly presented to the world. This information has changed Europeans' understanding and knowledge of the world. It is generally believed in academic circles that the works of Kyle Poirot and others have had a crucial impact on the arrival of the era of great navigation.
Created the most prosperous era of cultural exchanges between China and the West in ancient times. In the Yuan Dynasty, the number of countries and regions that conducted economic and trade exchanges through the Maritime Silk Road increased from more than 50 in the Song Dynasty to more than 140. Arriving from the coast of Africa by sea and going directly to Western Europe by land, the unified environment has created unprecedented convenience for international and regional exchanges. Historically, it has been said that "the fittest is thousands of miles away, at home; Wan Li is like a neighbor ". While a large number of people and Europeans flocked to the East, China people broadened their horizons, gained a clearer understanding of neighboring countries, Central Asia, South Asia and the Indian Ocean, and even extended their footprints to West Asia and Western Europe.
People's understanding and introduction to the outside world is no longer limited to hearsay, but mostly personal experience. For example, in Wang Dayuan's book "A Brief Introduction to the Island", the historical facts about the countries along the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea are "all visited in person and heard by the eyes, but the legendary things are not contained". The book records hundreds of place names, as well as mountains and rivers, climate products, folk customs, economic and cultural exchanges with China, etc. Most of these are unknown to our predecessors. Similar documents are The Journey to the West and The Journey to the West's Notes on the Northern Envoys, Notes on the Western Envoys, Notes on the Local Customs of Zhenla, and Records of Foreign Countries. It reflects China people's new understanding of the outside world and broad cultural vision in Yuan Dynasty.
The unprecedented prosperity of economic and cultural exchanges between China and the West has accelerated the two-way economic and cultural exchanges between different regions, countries and regions. China's gunpowder, compass and printing technology were introduced to * * * and Europe, which promoted the process of civilization in these areas. * * * Medical science, astronomy, agricultural technology, European mathematics, metal technology and South Asian sculpture art were introduced into China, which promoted the enrichment and development of ancient China culture. The amount of information, the scope of communication and the influence on the future history of Chinese and Western cultures in the Yuan Dynasty are unprecedented in human history. It can be said that it is the first time to realize the all-round sharing of the achievements of Chinese and Western civilizations.