Political System of Ancient China Throughout the Dynasties

Trends in the evolution of ancient Chinese political system

Primitive social system (ancient times - the establishment of the Xia Dynasty)------ slavery (the end of the Spring and Autumn Period)--------- Feudal social system (the formal establishment of the Warring States period ---- the death of the Qing Dynasty)

Briefly; the nation was primitive from the primitive tribal peoples of the development of tens of thousands of years up to the establishment of the Xia Dynasty was the primitive social system. And with the Xiaqi established China's first dynasty, the slave system also followed on the stage of Chinese history and said that the establishment until the end of the Spring and Autumn wooden feudal slavery system gradually disintegrated. The slow establishment of the feudal social system at the end of the Spring and Autumn period and the establishment of the system in the Warring States period until the collapse of the Qing Dynasty, it is no exaggeration to say that the feudal social system has had a significant impact on the history of China, and almost all of the scientific and technological achievements of China's ancient times were created at the peak of the feudal economy. The centralized monarchical system that has always accompanied the feudal social system reached its peak in feudal society and also had a profound impact on Chinese history.

1. Development:

Initial formation during the Warring States period: Han Feizi, a representative of the Legalists, put forward the idea of establishing a monarchical centralized state; Shang Yang's change of law established the county system, which initially set up a monarchical centralized political system.

Qin Dynasty: After the unification of China, Qin Shi Huang formally established an authoritarian centralized system: the supreme ruler was called the emperor, who was in charge of the whole country's military and political power; the central government set up a prime minister, a lieutenant, and an imperial historian, who were in charge of the administration, the military, and the supervision; and the local government implemented the county system.

Consolidation of the Western Han Dynasty: Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty solved the problem of the kingdom and implemented the "Dismissal of the Hundred Schools and Respect for Confucianism", which established the theoretical basis of the authoritarian centralized political system.

Sui-Tang perfect: the creation of the imperial examination system, is conducive to the selection of talents, improve administrative efficiency, expand the base of rule, so that the authoritarian centralized system of power is further improved.

Strengthening of the Northern Song Dynasty:In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the issue of military power was resolved through the "release of military power by cups of wine", and the power, financial and military power of the localities were brought back to the central government. The centralized system was further strengthened.

New development in the Yuan Dynasty: In order to strengthen the feudal rule and the jurisdiction over the vast territory, the Central Committee was set up in the central government, and the province system was implemented in the localities. This was a new initiative to strengthen centralized power.

The Ming and Qing Dynasties reached its peak (decline): the central government of the Ming Dynasty abolished the prime minister and divided the power into six ministries; the local government abolished the provinces and set up three divisions; set up factories and special services; and implemented the "eight shares" system for the selection of scholars. The Qing dynasty followed the Ming system, set up the Office of military justice, the great jail of words. The authoritarian centralized power system reached

its peak.

Evaluation:

(1) Dual role. Positive effects:①Favorable to the establishment, consolidation and development of the multi-ethnic feudal state, and conducive to the maintenance of the unity and territorial integrity of the motherland. Such as: the Qin Dynasty, the early Qing Dynasty to maintain national unity. ② can effectively organize human, material and financial resources to engage in large-scale production activities and economic construction, conducive to social and economic development. For example, the Qin Dynasty built the Great Wall and the Sui Dynasty opened the Grand Canal. ③ In a unified environment, it is conducive to the integration of various ethnic groups and the economic and cultural exchanges of various places. For example, the integration of nationalities in the Yuan Dynasty. Negative effects:① Dictatorship is prone to tyranny and corruption, and is a factor that hinders the development of history. Such as the Qin Dynasty tyranny. ② Ideological manifestations of a single family, clamped down on the idea, bound the culture. Such as the Han Dynasty, "Dismiss the hundred schools, sole respect for Confucianism", the Qing Dynasty, "word prison". ③ At the end of feudal society, hindering the development of emerging capitalist production relations. Such as the Ming and Qing dynasties.

2. Characteristics:

1, Xia, Shang and Zhou period of China's political system is the main content of the patriarchal system, the development of the political system in this period presents the following characteristics: in the succession to the throne and title of the implementation of hereditary; in the local management of the implementation of the feudal system; in the king's family within the implementation of the patriarchal system of law, characterized by the system of succession of the first-born son.

2. The Qin dynasty was established after the unification of the six states. The Qin Dynasty created a centralized feudal authoritarian system, which in the early period was characterized by the following features: the formation of a ruling body from the central to the local level centered on the emperor; non-hereditary official positions, the implementation of the salary system, appointed and dismissed by the emperor; and a clear division of labor among the official positions, which were both complementary to each other and held each other in check.

3, "Han inherited the Qin system", from the Han to the Yuan authoritarian centralized system of power gradually developed, mainly showing the following characteristics: the imperial power is constantly strengthened, the power of the phase is constantly subject to constraints and weakened; the central power is constantly strengthened, the local power is constantly weakened.

4, the Ming and Qing dynasties, the centralized system of authoritarianism to the peak of the development of the following characteristics: the abolition of the prime minister, the establishment of the Cabinet and the six ministries, the addition of the Office of the Military and Political Affairs; the establishment of the central institutions and the powers and functions of the central government is completely subordinate to the need for authoritarian kingship; abolition of the provinces, the establishment of the three divisions directly under the central government, the central government on the local control is further strengthened; the great rise of the writing prison, the eight shares to get the scholar, the thought of the cultural authoritarianism is constantly strengthened.

The core of the ancient Chinese political system is authoritarian centralization, the continuous development and strengthening of authoritarian centralization has been promoting the development of the ancient Chinese political system, as can be seen from history, every authoritarian centralization, especially the strengthening of the imperial power, marked an important development of the ancient Chinese political system, and ultimately to the establishment of the Qing Dynasty Military and Military Affairs Office as the Chinese The establishment of the Military and Political Office in the Qing Dynasty marked the peak of the development of authoritarian centralization, and the ancient Chinese political system also developed to its own highest point.

Detailed;

I. Primitive Social Political System

Primitive society refers to the period of millions of years from 1.7 million years ago to the 21st century BC. Since human beings are in the evolutionary stage in this period, the main activity is to find food for survival, and very little political activity. The primitive social period is divided into two phases: the period of primitive groups and the period of clan communes.

Primitive group period, the human social organization is composed of blood ties, relatively loose, their main activities are *** with the labor, *** with the defense against beasts and natural disasters, *** with the consumption, life is very simple, no political system can be said.

During the period of clan communes, due to the progress of mankind, due to the needs of production and life, gradually began to produce a political system. In the matrilineal period of the clan commune, the political system is characterized by: women in the commune in a dominant position, descent from the maternal lineage, the implementation of the *** clan *** property system, property inherited by the maternal lineage. History has developed to the period of patriarchal communes, the political system has made great progress: men are in a dominant position in the commune, descent is counted from the father's line, the system of communal ownership of property is practiced, and property is inherited by the father's line. During this period, the famous military democracy and the Zen system appeared. With the development of productive forces, the relations of production also progressed, and the primitive social property **** ownership system began to be destroyed, giving rise to private ownership, thus the Chinese nation entered a higher social period - the period of slave society.

The political system of the slave society period

The Chinese nation developed for about 1,000 years during the slave society period (21st century B.C.-11th century B.C.E.), passing through two dynasties, the Xia and the Shang dynasties, and creating a brilliant material and spiritual civilization. The political system of this period was characterized by the following aspects:

1. Hereditary system of kingship - China started from the Xia Dynasty, when Dayu passed on his throne to his son, which set the tone of China's political system for the past 2,000 years - the hereditary system of kingship (emperors). The establishment of the hereditary system of kingship was a great event in China's ancient history, marking the disintegration of the clan-commune system and the emergence of a state apparatus to protect the private ownership system and the exploiting classes.

2. Distinctive forms of government organization--Since the Xia Dynasty changed from a system of cession to a system of hereditary succession, the state arose, and so did the class, and in order to safeguard the interests of the class, the state apparatus was bound to arise. The state organizations of the Xia and Shang dynasties had both similarities and characteristics. The king was called the Son of Heaven, and there were a hundred officials under the king. There were also laws and penalties for suppressing the rebellious behavior of slaves. They differed in the names of the hundred officials and the kinds of penal laws.

3. A political system built on the same economic foundation - They had the same economic foundation, that is, private ownership of land, and slave owners ruled and exploited slaves. When slavery seriously hampered the development of the productive forces of society, the Zhou Dynasty, which represented the advanced productive forces, extinguished the slaveholding Shang Dynasty, bringing Chinese history into the era of feudal society.

Third, the political system in the era of feudal society

Feudal society starting from the Zhou Dynasty lasted for more than 3,000 years in China, which created both brilliant achievements and, due to its strong conservative forces, seriously hindered the process of China's development, and ultimately lagged behind the world, leading to a century of humiliation. During these thousands of years, the political system has been more or less the same. Summarized in one sentence: the legalist political rule of the Qin Shi Huang style - a highly authoritarian centralized system; the ideological rule of the Duke of Zhou, Confucius and Mencius in the way of benevolence and righteousness - Confucianism of the Three Principles of the King, the Minister, the Father and the Son. Its general characteristics and changes are discussed as follows:

1, the supreme emperor system. Although the son of heaven in the Zhou dynasty called himself king, he was actually the emperor, and imperial power was supreme. The king of Zhou was the supreme ruler, who was both the head of the centralized institutions and the lord of the vassal ****. He ruled the world through a combination of the patriarchal and political systems of "dividing the land into feudal lords". For two thousand years after the unification of China by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the Son of Heaven, known as the Emperor, was still the supreme ruler of the country, possessing the greatest power, and was both the head of the country and the head of the clan. "There is no place under Pu Tian that is not the king's land, and there is no place in the rate of land that is not the king's subject."

2. The feudal system of vassals. Since King Wu of Zhou destroyed the Shang Dynasty, the national territory was divided into brothers, children and grandchildren and merit to the Qing Dynasty Opium War until the successive emperors in order to make their own family unity for all time, will be divided into their uncle, brothers, sisters, children and grandchildren. Because of the division of vassals led to a lot of internal wars, and ultimately made from a party with the right to rule the vassals were weakened to only enjoy the right to food, clothing and taxes of the empty title!

3. The centralized institutional system of the three dukes and nine ministers - three provinces and six ministries. For thousands of years, China's centralized institutions generally followed the model of Qin Shi Huang's three dukes and nine ministers system. Even the three-province-six-ministry system from the Sui and Tang dynasties and beyond followed the same pattern. There were only slight variations in accordance with the needs of the respective periods of rule.

The three ministers of Qin Shi Huang were: the prime minister, who was the head of all officials; the lieutenant, who was in charge of military affairs; and the imperial historian, who was in charge of supervision. Nine Ministers: in charge of the temple rituals of the Feng Chang; in charge of the palace guards of the Langzhong order; in charge of the palace door of the guards of the Weiwei; in charge of the imperial carriage of the Imperial servant; in charge of the criminal law of the court; in charge of the foreign affairs and nationalities of the Dengkai; in charge of the royal family, the clan genealogy of the name of the Zongzheng; in charge of the financial management of the corn Nei Shi; in charge of the mountains and seas, ponds and lakes of tax revenue of the Shaofu. "The Han Dynasty did not change the Qin system much. Later, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty reformed and set up the Middle (Inner) Dynasty, which further strengthened the centralization of power. Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty made major changes to the system of the Three Ministers and Nine Ministers, and established the Shangshutai, which made the Three Ministers not live up to their name, and there was a situation of "although the Three Ministers were set up, the affairs were returned to the cabinet". Thereafter, after the Wei and Jin dynasties and the North and South Dynasties, the three ministers and nine ministers system gradually to the three provinces and six departments system transition, and finally in the Sui Dynasty, the formation of the three provinces and six departments system, and has been continued until the Qing Dynasty. Although there are small changes, but the essence of the same, not the same.

Three provinces: Shangshu, Zhongshu, and Menxia, each of which was headed by the prime minister. The six ministries are: the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of the Household, the Ministry of Rites, the Ministry of War, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Labor, the Ministry of Ministers, the Minister of the Shangshu, the Deputy Minister for the Ministers. The officials of the three provinces and six ministries were in charge of all the powers of the country, just like the three ministers and nine secretaries.

4. County system. County system began in the Qin Dynasty, is the results of Shang Yang change of law, is the product of historical development, is to strengthen the centralization of the need! From the beginning of Qin Shi Huang to implement the county system, two thousand years, the various dynasties have complied with. Although there have been several changes, from the county system - state county system, - provincial county system, but this is the same lineage. County system began in Qin Shi Huang, ended in the North and South Dynasties of the Northern Zhou. The state-county system began in the Sui Dynasty and lasted until the end of the Qing Dynasty. The provincial, prefectural (state), county system began in the Yuan Dynasty, continued to the end of the Qing Dynasty.

To this day, we are still continuing the above system.

, the performance is not outstanding, so it is not involved.

Third, the combination of political system and ethics, Confucian academic thought has long influenced the ancient political system. This part of the relevant knowledge, in the "History 3 (Compulsory)" has a special discussion, this lesson will not be expanded.

IV. Aristocratic Privilege and Bureaucracy