During the Spring and Autumn Period, the social and economic development of Qin fell behind that of the main countries in Kanto. The tax reform, which reflects and accelerates the disintegration of the well-field system and the private ownership of land, is much later than that of the Kanto countries. For example, Lu's "first tax mu" was in 594 BC, and Qin's "first rent grain" was in 408 BC, which was completely backward 186 years. However, at this time, Qin had used iron farm tools, and the social economy developed rapidly, which not only accelerated the disintegration of the well field system and the emergence of private ownership of land, but also caused changes in social order. In 384 BC, Qin Xiangong acceded to the throne and ordered the abolition of the bad habit of martyrdom. The following year, he moved the capital to Dongli, determined to reform thoroughly, and ordered the recruitment of talents. Shang Yang entered Qin from Wei, appointed him as long, and began to reform.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, slavery collapsed and the feudal system was established. During this period, the use of iron farm tools and the gradual popularization of Niu Geng led to the state-owned land ownership of slave owners being gradually replaced by feudal private land ownership. With the development of feudal economy, the economic and political power of the emerging landlord class is growing day by day. The emerging landlord class demands political reform, the development of feudal economy and the establishment of landlord class rule. Countries have set off political reform movements, such as the Li Kui Reform of Wei State and the Wuqi Reform of Chu State. Shang Yang's political reform happened under this background. This social and political reform movement embodies the law that the relations of production must adapt to the development of productive forces and the superstructure must adapt to the change of economic base.

Shang Yang is a man

Shang Yang (about 390-338 BC) was a statesman and a famous representative of Legalism in the Warring States Period. The descendant of the Duke of Wei was named Wei Yang, also known as Gongsun Yang, and was later named Shang Yang. In the reign of 19, Qin ruled the country, which was known as Shang Yang's political reform in history.

Shang Yang was good at learning the name of punishment when he was young, and served as a middle hybrid (or "imperial hybrid") under Wei Xianggong's uncle. My uncle recommended it to Wei Huiwang before his death, but King Hui could not use it. When Shang Yang heard that he was ordered to seek wisdom, he was so angry that he left Wei for Qin, saying that filial piety is the greatest. However, Gan Long, Du Zhi and other ministers disapprove of political reform. They created public opinion that "the wise rule without change" and "the legalist school has no hesitation", and filial piety was unmoved. They still regarded Shang Yang as a left aunt and ordered political reform.

After the promulgation of the law, Shang Yang put three-foot-long wood in the south gate of the capital, and was able to move the wood to the north gate to reward twelve ounces of gold, but no one responded. He also raised the reward to 50 gold, and one person subscribed for 50 gold to win the trust of the people. At that time, the prince broke the law, and Shang Yang punished his masters, Gongzi Qian and Gongsun Jia. The commentary of the Warring States Policy on this matter is: "Governing Qin, enforcing laws and regulations, being impartial, upright and powerful, and not appreciating privacy, is like a prince. After the end of the year, the road will not be answered, the people will not take it, and the soldiers will be strong and the princes will be afraid. " Shang Yang's courage to enforce the law did not avoid expensive situation, which caused great shock in Qin State. This is an important reason why everyone can abide by the law.

A few years after the implementation of the new law, Qin people had enough food and clothing, and their subjects dared to be public but not private, so the country flourished and filial piety took Shang Yang as a big tool. Two years later, Qin moved to Xianyang from Yong (now Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province) and changed the law for the second time.

In the twentieth year of filial piety (342 BC), the state of Qin became rich and powerful. Zhou He and other officials sent people to Qin Daoxi. The following year, Qin took advantage of Wei's defeat in the Battle of Maling and conquered Wei. Wei Gongzi Ang led the army to refuse, Shang Yang used deception to win Ang and Pojun, and Wei cut Hexi (now eastern Shaanxi) to make peace with Qin. Shang Yang was named 15 as the title of Shang Dynasty (now Shangxian County, Shaanxi Province, Xixia Region, Henan Province) and was called Shang Jun. ..

When Shang Yang and Qin Xiang were in power, Shang Yang's strict law enforcement aroused the resentment of Qin nobles. After filial piety, Prince Qin was named Li. In order to repay the debt, the pious son accused Shang Yang of trying to rebel and sent officials to arrest him. Shang Yang intended to escape to Wei, but Ren Wei refused to accept him because his son Ang was cheated. Shang Yang had no choice but to return to the State of Qin. Instead, he sent troops to attack Zheng (now hua county, Shaanxi Province) and was defeated and captured. Hui Wang attacked Shang Yang and destroyed his whole family.

In order to meet the requirements of social, political and economic changes, Shang Yang emphasized education reform from his argument that "governing the world differently makes the country lawless". In his view, the foundation of governing the country is to emphasize the agricultural war. To make Qiang Bing rich, it is necessary to publicize the legal system and cultivate talents under the rule of law. Shang Yang criticized Confucianism, which took poetry, calligraphy, ceremony and music as its educational contents, and advocated "burning poetry to make the law clear" and replacing "the teaching of the former king" with the rule of law education with the content of encouraging farming. It is believed that the rule of law is the basis of the rule of virtue, and the law must be "easy to understand"; We should take judges as teachers, explain laws and regulations to the people, let "everyone know what they have done", and take education as a tool to publicize the legal system and cultivate talents under the rule of law. Shang Yang wrote the book Shang Jun, which was handed down from generation to generation.

The main contents of the reform

Economic measures

The focus of Shang Yang's economic reform is to abolish the well-field system and implement private ownership of land. This is the only case in the Warring States period in which land ownership was changed nationwide through national politics and decrees. The main contents are as follows:

1) Abandoned minefields and buildings

Shang Yang's major economic move is to "abandon the mining field and open a building". Historical Records records that Shang Yang "worked for the field, built and sealed the border, and paid a flat tax". "The Warring States Policy" said that Shang Yang "broke the building to teach the people to plow" and abolished the principle of "no porridge in the field". The so-called "building" refers to the irrigation canals and corresponding vertical and horizontal roads in the middle of the "mine field", which is called "building" vertically and "building" horizontally. "Fengjiang" is the boundary of the mine field sealed by the slave owners and nobles. "Opening the border and sealing the border" means withdrawing and sealing the border marked with state-owned land, abolishing slavery of state-owned land and implementing private ownership of land. Legally abolished the minefield system. The law stipulates that people are allowed to open up wasteland, land can be bought and sold freely, and taxes are shared equally according to how much land each person occupies. Since then, although the Qin government still owns some state-owned land, such as ownerless wasteland, mountains and rivers, and land newly occupied by other countries, it has gradually turned into private ownership. This destroyed the relations of production of slavery and promoted the development of feudal economy.

2) Pay attention to agriculture and restrain business, and reward agriculture and weaving.

Shang Yang carried out the policy of emphasizing agriculture and restraining business. It is stipulated that those who produce more grain and distribute more cloth can be exempted from labor and tax, with agriculture as the "industry" and commerce as the "last industry". The whole family was punished as an official slave because they abandoned their roots for the end, or idled and became poor. Shang Yang also recruited landless peasants in Qin State to open up wasteland. In order to encourage the small-scale peasant economy, it is also stipulated that every family with two sons must make a living independently after adulthood, or they will have to pay double taxes. It is forbidden for father and son (adults) to share the same room and implement the small family policy. These policies are conducive to increasing population, collecting corvee and household registration tax, and developing feudal economy.

3) Unified measurement

Before Shang Yang's political reform, there was no unified measurement in all parts of Qin. In order to ensure the state's tax revenue, Shang Yang formulated standard weights and measures. Now, the Shang Yang Quantity handed down from generation to generation is engraved with Qin Xiaogong's eighteen years, Liang Da made a martingale, and one of the sixteen (inch) five (inch) statues rose. According to Shang Yang Quantity, the standard scale of 1 specified by Shang Yang is about 0.23m today, and the standard scale of 1 is about 0.2l today. According to the measuring device and its inscription, unified measurement was very serious at that time. Shang Yang also unified the weights and measures such as bucket, bucket, weight, scale and ruler. Qin people are required to strictly implement it and must not violate it.

The Significance of unified measurement

First, there are standardized measurement standards all over the country, which provide convenient conditions for people to engage in economic and cultural exchanges.

Second, it has played a positive role in the unification of tax system and salary system;

Third, it is conducive to eliminating the influence of local separatist forces;

Fourthly, it laid the foundation for the unified measurement of Qin Shihuang later.

Political measures

The focus of Shang Yang's political reform is to completely abolish the old system of "Shi Qing Shi Lu" and establish a new feudal autocratic centralization of authority. His contribution in this respect far exceeds that of Li Kui and Wuqi. The main contents are as follows:

1) encourage soldiers to implement a 20-level rank system.

Shang Yang ordered that "whoever has meritorious military service will be honored by himself, and those who fight privately will be punished", rewarding meritorious military service and prohibiting private fighting. It is stipulated that the title is awarded according to military service, and the imperial clan may not enter the public book unless there is military service. That is, "those who make meritorious deeds show honor, and those who do not make meritorious deeds are rich but not glorious." In other words, aristocratic children who have made contributions can enjoy prosperity; No credit, although the family has money, you can't be extravagant.

The establishment of the 20-level title means that Shang Yang completely abolished the old Shi Qing Shi Lu system. In the future, knighthood will be awarded according to the size of military service, and officials will be selected from those who have military service knighthood. Twenty-level titles: the first level is called male scholar, the second level is called Shang Zao, the nineteenth level is called Guan Neihou, and the twentieth level is called Che Hou. According to "Hanshu" records: "For the sake of the law in Qin, I was given a first-class title and wanted to be an official for fifty stones." It also explains the reward method: beheading the enemy's head in the war and conferring a knight, which can be a 50-stone official; Cut off the enemy's head and give him a knighthood, which can be a hundred stone official. Titles at all levels stipulate the number of houses and handmaiden occupying farmland and the order of clothes.

The so-called private struggle does not mean ordinary people fighting, but refers to "city fighting." "Yi" refers to an ordinary town occupied by slave owners. Slave owners often fought for land and property. The purpose of the new law is to weaken the power of slave owners and strengthen feudal centralization. The way to severely punish private fighting is: those who fight privately will be punished according to the seriousness of the case.

Because of the praise of the meritorious military service, Qin Jun's combat effectiveness has been greatly enhanced. In foreign wars, Qin's national strength was further enhanced, thus reversing the long-term passive backwardness. In 355 BC, Qin Xiaogong and Wei Huiwang joined forces in Du Ping, ending the passive situation of long-term nonalignment between Qin State and Central Plains governors and improving the status of Qin State. Qin also gradually occupied Bashu area with fertile land and high agricultural development level and northwest area rich in cattle and horses by force, and social production developed rapidly, laying a material foundation for Qin's reunification.

2) In addition to Shi Qing's official career system, the imperial clan nobles were encouraged to establish a military service system.

According to Records of the Historical Records, the State of Qin stipulated that "the imperial clan must have a theory of meritorious military service, and it is not allowed to follow. In the Ming Dynasty, the official rank and rank were different, the name of Tian Zhai was different, and the clothes of male and female servants were also different. Those who make meritorious deeds show their glory, and those who have no merit are rich. " That is, the level of aristocratic status is determined by the size of military service. This rule dealt a heavy blow to the old nobles of slave owners, and thus aroused their disgust. "Historical Records" records: "Shang Jun entered Qin for ten years, and the imperial clan was rich and resentful." Any political reform in history is not only a re-selection of the general plan of governing the country, but also a re-adjustment of interest relations, which is also the real reason for the obstruction of reform.

3) Reform the household registration system and implement the deskmate method.

The capital, towns, cities and settlements of Qin are all natural settlements. In order to strengthen the feudal autocratic rule and manage the vast number of residents, Shang Yang stipulated that residents should register their household registration. Use heavy penalties for misdemeanors. Li Kui's "Law Classic" was promulgated and implemented, which increased the method of sitting together. The main contents are: residents take five as "five", ten as "ten" and ten and five as basic administrative units. According to the preparation, registration and household registration, and ordered mutual supervision. If one family is guilty, nine families will report it. If they don't report it, ten families will sit together for the same crime. Those who don't report traitors will be beheaded, those who report "traitors" will be rewarded to cut off the enemy, and those who hide traitors will be punished to surrender the enemy. This is the same as the later Baojia system. Shang Yang also stipulated that hotels should not take in people without official documents, otherwise the owners would have to sit together.

4) implement the county system

Shang Yang's major reform was to "set small cities as counties", take counties as local administrative units, and abolish the feudal system, "every 31 counties" (some history books think it is 4 1 county or 36 counties). County magistrate is in charge of county administration, county magistrate assists county magistrate, and county commandant is in charge of military affairs. The county has jurisdiction over several cities, townships, cities and towns. By setting up a county, Shang Yang brought the political privilege of the Lord to the central government. This measure effectively cooperated with the policy of "abandoning mines for construction" and ensured the private ownership of land by political means. It consolidated the centralized feudal rule and weakened the local power of the rich and nobles.

Later, Qin established a county in the newly occupied area. The scope of the county is very large, with the nature of border defense, so the chief of the county is called the county guard. Later, the situation in the county was stable and turned into civil affairs, so there were several counties under the county, forming the county system of Qin State.

5) Establish Qin law, and "burn poems and write laws".

Shang Yang's measure is to eliminate the interference of retro ideas. The high-pressure policy of "burning poems" initiated by Shang Yang not only greatly suppressed people's thoughts, but also destroyed China's cultural classics.

The purpose and function of Shang Yang's reform

Shang Yang's reform abolished the land system of slavery in the form of law, opened up a new road and affirmed the legitimacy of feudal land ownership. It broke the privilege of hereditary nobility of slave owners, determined the feudal hierarchy, and developed and strengthened the political power of the landlord class; The implementation of centralization consolidated the rule of the landlord class over the working people; Developed the feudal economy and strengthened the economic strength of the landlord class; Facilitate taxation and exchange.

The Reforms of Shang Yang

Shang Yang's political reform was carried out twice. The first time began in 359 BC and the second time in 350 BC.

The struggle between Shang Yang and the old aristocratic forces

Shang Yang's political reform violated the interests of the nobles and was strongly opposed by them. Prince Fu's son Qian and Prince Gong also instigated the prince to openly oppose it. With the support of filial piety, Shang Yang strengthened his ideological rule and the new law was implemented. However, in the first 338 years, Xiao Gong died, and the Shang Prince was succeeded by Qin Hui Wang. Gongzi Qian and others took the opportunity to launch a counterattack, framed Shang Yang for "rebellion", arrested him and chopped his car. Although Shang Yang died, King Hui of Qin and his descendants continued to implement Shang Yang's new law, so the national strength of Qin continued to develop, which laid the foundation for Qin to destroy the six countries and unify China.

Reasons for the success of Shang Yang's political reform

First of all, Shang Yang's political reform conformed to the trend of historical development. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, slavery collapsed and the feudal system was established. Shang Yang's political reform conformed to the requirements of the times and the trend of historical development, which was the fundamental reason for the success of the political reform.

Second, Shang Yang's political reform was supported by the rulers.

Third, Shang Yang established the correct guiding ideology of "governing the world with differences and governing the country with the ancient" and won the trust of the people with a firm reform attitude.

Confucius' educational achievements

First, set up private schools, implement the educational policy of "teaching without class", expand the scope of educational objects, and promote the downward movement of culture and scholarship;

Secondly, he put forward the important role of education in social development and personal development and emphasized the importance of education.

Thirdly, he advocated "being an official with excellent learning", which prepared the conditions for the feudal bureaucratic political system;

Fourthly, attaching importance to the inheritance and arrangement of ancient culture and constructing teaching materials laid the foundation for the later Confucian classic education system;

Fifth, he summed up the practical experience of education, put forward many principles and methods of education and teaching, and revealed many laws of education and teaching.

In a word, Confucius' educational thought has an important historical influence, which laid a theoretical foundation for China's ancient education and is a valuable educational heritage of the Chinese nation. Confucianists

Confucius' theory of benevolence in the late Spring and Autumn Period is the core of Confucius' ideological system. He advocates mediating harmonious social interpersonal relationships with love for others. Confucius maintained the "ceremony" of the Zhou Dynasty and advocated the order of nobility and inferiority, which was a conservative part of his thought. He advocated ruling the country by virtue and opposed tyranny and punishment. Confucius was a great educator. He ran a school with the idea of "no class left", which broke the situation that only nobles were allowed to monopolize cultural education in slave society, gave ordinary disciples the opportunity to receive education, and played a positive role in promoting the development of ancient education in China.

Mencius' official position is second only to that of Confucius, which has a far-reaching influence on China's traditional culture.

During the Warring States period, Xunzi's natural laws, his materialistic thoughts and the enterprising spirit of the landlord class made materialism develop to a new stage.

mohists

In the early Warring States period, Lu people represented the interests of civilians and advocated loving business and not attacking it.

dao jia xue pai

Zhuang, Zhou and Warring States developed Laozi's idealistic philosophy and despised fame and fortune.

Legalist school

Han Feizi's Warring States history is developing forward. People should carry out political reform according to actual needs and advocate "law is fundamental and law is not expensive", which is of positive significance to combat the aristocratic privilege of slave owners during the Great Reform of the Warring States Period.