This is what this article should pay attention to-gentry.
Let's briefly introduce the origin of the gentry.
Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty respected Confucianism alone, the selection of officials has been carried out by the check system. To be inspected and enter the official career, this premise is that you must be familiar with Confucian classics. But at that time, without printing and papermaking, it was difficult for ordinary people to get the opportunity to receive education, and academics were monopolized by a few people. These families with learning, knowledge and books handed down their knowledge and books from generation to generation, thus forming the "eternal Confucian classics". Because of their academic knowledge, members of these families are naturally qualified to become officials. In this way, "Confucian classics" has been transformed into "officials and ministers". At that time, there were two pillars outside the official gate, one on the left was called "valve" and the other on the right was called "reading", which was used to post works. Later generations called the people who have been officials for generations "valve reading", "door family" and "gentry".
In this way, the gentry class was formed.
The development and prosperity of the gentry class.
Liu Xiu established the Eastern Han regime by relying on the Haozu. At that time, the gentry did not distinguish between north and south, east and west, and everyone contributed to the construction of the Han Dynasty. But these powerful landlords enjoyed political and economic privileges in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Political control of the central and local governments. Economically, they merged land, managed manors, gradually became independent, and gradually became aristocratic families. At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, some scholars began to form. Among them, the Sima family in Hanoi is also known as the Millennium family. These people are big landlords, and they are in high positions, and they are intimate friends and students all over the world, so they are the leaders of literati.
Until the end of the Han Dynasty, there was chaos in the world, and the Han Dynasty was divided into Wei, Shu and Wu. Cao Cao and Sun Quan of the Three Kingdoms also relied on the strength of the gentry to establish political power, and Liu Bei also relied on the support of Yizhou gentry. In the end, Sima family, a rich family in the north, was superior. Three generations took Wei from Cao Jia and decided Shu Wu.
At this time, the status of the gentry changed. They began to climb to the center of power and reach the peak of their lives.
In the Western Jin Dynasty, Sima Yue, the final winner of the Eight Kings Rebellion, was in power and went to the end of his life. His supporters, the gentry headed by Wang Langya, crossed the Yangtze River with population and songs.
These people include Wang Langya, Xie Chenjun, Ling and Long Kanghuan. They mastered everything in the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Children born in these families, as long as they are born, can guarantee food and clothing for a lifetime. Once he grows up, he can be an official, and there must be a ministerial position waiting for him in his life.
Economically, they closed mountains to facilitate afforestation. The farmland, lakes, animals and population in this land are all private products of the family and have nothing to do with the country. This is the Jiangnan gentry. It was these Jiangnan gentry who established the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
At that time, the gentry and their rule reached the peak. Therefore, there is also a saying that "the king and the horse, * * * the world". Due to the power of the nobility. The emperor must rely on the support of the gentry. The power of the gentry coexisted with the imperial power, and even surpassed the imperial power for a time.
There is a saying that prosperity will decline. When Emperor Wu of Song established the Southern Song Dynasty, he still relied on the gentry, but he was not controlled by the gentry like the Eastern Jin Dynasty. After he proclaimed himself emperor, he reused the poor family, which to some extent curbed the situation that the aristocratic families unified the political affairs. At that time, the economic strength of the gentry was still very strong, but the military power could not be mastered. Don't look at Emperor Wu of Song. He was born in the military. How can he tolerate the military holding power?
The decline of the gentry showed signs.
The first turning point occurred in a political event in the Liang Dynasty-the Hou Jing Rebellion.
Hou Jing, born in Xianbei tribe beyond the Great Wall, is a jie tribe. It turned out to be a general under Gao Huan of Beiqi. Later, he surrendered to Liang Wudi. He thought that he had made great contributions to the Southern Dynasties and made many demands on Liang Wudi. Most of Liang Wudi also satisfied him. Later, in order to improve his social status, Hou Jing asked to marry two famous women, Wang and Xie. But he didn't know how serious the family relationship was. Liang Wudi, even if you are the king of a country, you dare not help Hou Jing, for fear of offending famous families. Liang Wudi gently told Hou Jing.
"The king, xie's high not even. You can visit under the guidance of Zhu and Zhang. "
This means that two families in Xie Wang are too high for you. You can try Zhu and Zhang. This remark deeply hurt Hou Jing's self-esteem. To this end, he said with indignation: "I want to match Wu's children into slaves." It is he who wants to send Jiangnan women to be soldiers and slaves in the future. Soon, he launched a rebellion and invaded Jiankang, the capital of Liang Dynasty. Starve to death Liang Wudi Xiao Yan.
Its rebels "killed and plundered soldiers, turned over their bodies and blocked roads." Rich children, wantonly stripped, wives and children, learned to enter the military camp. "The swallows of Wang He and Xie Gu can finally fly to the homes of ordinary people.
The Hou Jing Rebellion not only physically destroyed some of the gentry, but more importantly, it triggered a series of wars and completely disintegrated the network of contacts on which the gentry in the Southern Dynasties depended. Therefore, when Chen Baxian reorganized the Southern Empire, there were few nobles above the temple, and even the function of decorating the temple was regarded as a burden by the new emperor. In this way, the roots of traditional clans were uprooted. Although this big tree won't wither immediately.
Finished the cremation in the Southern Dynasties. Then look at the northern cremation.
During the Eight Kings Rebellion, the North Gate, which did not belong to Sima Yue camp, stayed in his hometown. Including: Qinghe Cui Shi, Boling Cui Shi, Fan Yang Lu, Taiyuan Wang Shi, Hedong Shi Pei, Xingyang Zheng, Zhaojun Li and so on. This is the Shandong gate valve. Most of the former Zhao, the later Zhao, the former Qin and the former Yan were closed to the outside world, ashamed to work for the conference semifinals, and still looking forward to going north.
Until Tuoba came from the grassland and established the Northern Wei Dynasty. Only then did they realize that it was difficult for the imperial court to recover the Central Plains, because the overall situation in the north was set. Only in this way can they serve as officials one after another and transform and govern this land with their own talents. At this time, the representative is Ho Choi of Qinghe Cui Shi. Shandong gate valve, after a hundred years of silence, made great progress in the Northern Wei Dynasty. During Emperor Xiaowen's period, in order to win the Han people into the Central Plains, he praised the high surname of the Han people: "Wei Zhu (Emperor Xiaowen) Yazhongmen family was promoted by Fan Yang Min Lu, Qinghe Cui Zongbo, Xingyang Zheng and Taiyuan."
Since then, the Northern Wei Dynasty has been divided into the Eastern Wei Dynasty, the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty and the Northern Zhou Dynasty. With Gao Huan and Yu Wentai as the team leaders respectively. Shandong gate valve worked in Beiqi and became one of the pillars of political power. Zhao even became the queen of the founding emperor of the Northern Qi Dynasty.
Yu Wentai, a remote and dilapidated Guanzhong city, integrated Wu Chuanbing and Han strongmen through the government military system. Led by eight "column generals". Among them, Du, Hou are Xianbei people, Zhao Gui and Yu Jin are Han people. The Han gentry are: Pei's family in Hedong, Yang's family in Hongnong, Linghu's family in Dunhuang and Wechsler's family in Guanzhong.
"Eight Pillars Country" and its subordinates and relatives are "Guanlong nobles". "Guanlong nobles" laid the glory of the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty through the desolate northwest. Through the reform of the system of officers and soldiers, tenancy and so on, Yu Wentai gradually became stronger. Finally, during the period of Emperor Yuwen Yong of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Northern Qi Dynasty perished and the North was reunified. Emperor Wen of Sui Dynasty usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor. After the establishment of the Sui Dynasty, Chen Nan was destroyed in 589. The world is unified, and the highest status is of course the founding father "Guanlong Group". "Shandong Gate Valve" is the subject of national subjugation and belongs to the object of repression, and finally enjoys the treatment of the State of Wu 300 years ago.
To sum up: according to the order of dynasties, the northern gentry first worked for the Northern Wei, then the Northern Wei was divided into the Eastern Wei and the Western Wei, and then the Northern Qi replaced the Eastern Wei. Shandong gentry worked for the Northern Qi Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty replaced the Western Wei Dynasty, and Guanlong nobles worked for the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
The noble group of Beiguan Long Jun, which has a history of nearly 200 years in China, made its grand debut.
With its support, the Western Wei Dynasty, the Northern Zhou Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty were established successively. This is a unique miracle in the history of China, pushing China to a new historical peak. This Guanlong military aristocratic group originated in Wuchuan, North China, first built in Guanzhong, and originated in Bashu State in the Western Wei Dynasty, when it was in its heyday. The famous ones are: Emperor Wendi of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Li Yuan's grandfather, Li Bi, the great-grandfather of the leader of the Wagang Army, and Du, the father-in-law of Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty and Li Yuan's grandfather.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the gentry with five surnames and seven families gradually formed. Namely, Longxi Li, Zhaojun Li, Boling Cui Shi, Qinghe Cui Shi, Fanyang Lushi, Xingyang Zheng and Taiyuan Wang. There was a princess in the royal family who wanted to marry into five surnames and seven families, but she was rejected because of the Hu nationality. It seems that in their eyes, only five surnames and seven cases are the noblest. If you don't pay attention to imperial power, you will be punished. No, punishment will come soon.
The second turning point was a series of repression in Sui Dynasty, Early Tang Dynasty and Wu Zhou Dynasty.
When the aristocratic forces began to threaten the imperial power, the monarch would begin to destroy the gate valve.
The practice of two emperors in Sui Dynasty:
Emperor Wendi of Sui Dynasty abolished Jiupin and Yang Guangxing took the imperial examination, which broke through the situation that aristocratic families monopolized official career and played a role in restraining the door valve. Expand the source of officials and provide opportunities for a large number of humble civilian landlords and intellectuals to participate in politics; The imperial examination system closely linked reading, examination and being an official, and also improved the cultural quality of officials. It can be seen that the imperial examination not only gave the bottom people glory and dreams, but also showed the evil spirits hidden in the hearts of emperors all the time.
In the Tang Dynasty, in order to suppress the gentry, Emperor Taizong even rebuilt the Genealogy, ranking the imperial clan as the first class, and then positioning the queen's consort stone as the second class, that is, the next big family, with the intention of weakening the influence of the five surnames and seven families on the people. In the 12th year of Zhenguan (AD 638), Cui Shi, the Shandong cremation, still ranked first. Emperor Taizong was very dissatisfied after reading it. He pointed out that Shandong gentry "declined from generation to generation without a crown" and made money by marriage. "I don't know what's important in the world?" He ordered Gao Shilian and others to republish it, and instructed that "there is no need to discuss the previous algebra, but only take today's official title as the grade".
The newly revised Chronicle of Clans "Where there are 293 surnames, there are 1,651" basically implements the instructions of Emperor Taizong, with the royal family as the leader, consorts as the second, and Cui Shi as the third.
Tang Gaozong and Wu Zetian revised the records of surnames, saying, "People who were classified according to their grades, that is, those who classified their military achievements into five categories according to their rank at that time, all entered the ranks of scholars. These actions by the government to expand the scope of gentry all played a role in weakening the status of the old gentry.
During the period of Wu Zetian, she carried out drastic political reforms and attacked the gate valve. After Wu Zetian became queen, Sun Chang Wuji and Chu Suiliang, who opposed her, were expelled from the court. For Wu Zetian, it is an example to drive these Guanlong groups and their followers out of the political arena, marking the end of Guanlong group's rule for more than a century since the Northern Zhou Dynasty.
She strongly supported civilians, collected more talents from civilian landlords and expanded its ruling base. With the development of the imperial examination, a large number of civilians in cloth flooded into North Korea to be officials, which brought great impact to the children of these noble families.
After several generations of monarchs in Sui and Tang Dynasties and the suppression of Wu Zetian, Guanlong Group can no longer change dynasties at will, but can only survive in the system of Tang Dynasty.
However, in the middle and late Tang Dynasty, clan forces rose again. But it feels like a flash in the pan. In a blink of an eye, it was the last year of the Tang Dynasty.
The third turning point, Huang Chao Uprising, completely destroyed the gentry's gate valve.
Huang Chao, history books don't think highly of him, because he is so cruel, killing people into demons. There are records of cannibalism, which shows the terrible crime.
Maybe everything has two sides, because of his cruelty, so we will kill innocent people, CoCo Lee people, princes and nobles are the targets of his killing, as described in the history books:
Its subordinates "kill people all over the street, and their nests can't be banned." Few people stayed in Chang 'an in the imperial clan of the Tang Dynasty, and officials of the Tang Dynasty were in constant fear. "Fu Qin Yin" says: "Huaxuan embroidered hubs are all sold out, without a head and a half"; "The inner library is burned as splendid ash, and the white bones in Tianjie are full." They haven't collected the property of the rich family, so-called "scouring things", and all the palaces walk barefoot.
After Huang Chao, the chaotic times of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms reappeared, and these gentry had no protection. Even those who survived under Huang Chao are hard to survive in this war-torn era. In the Song Dynasty, there was basically no interference from gentry, and the Song Dynasty created a very brilliant civilization in politics, economy and culture.