What were the political and ideological aspects of Han Wu Di's measures of great unification? What was its significance?

The policy of feudal ideological domination by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was to depose all schools of thought and revere only the Confucians.

The abolition of the Book of Laws in the fourth year of Emperor Huidi's reign (191 years before the Han Dynasty) further contributed to the revival of the doctrines of the sons of Zhou, and the six schools of thought, namely, Yin and Yang, Confucianism, Mohammedanism, Nomenclature, Law and Taoism, became more active, with Confucianism and Taoism being the two schools with the greatest influence.

At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the government advocated the rule of inaction in politics and the implementation of light labor in economy. Ideologically, the doctrine of Huang-Lao, which advocated quietness, inaction, and the science of punishment and fame, was emphasized.

When Emperor Wu assumed the throne, it had become an urgent need for the feudal rulers to further strengthen the authoritarian centralized system politically and economically.

The idea of Huang Lao, which advocated tranquility and inaction, could no longer satisfy the above political needs, and was even more contradictory to the Han Emperor Wu Di's good and great achievements; while Confucianism's idea of unification in the Spring and Autumn Period, the idea of benevolence and righteousness, and the ethical concepts of rulers and ministers were obviously compatible with the situation and tasks faced by the Emperor Wu Di. Thus, in the field of thought, Confucianism finally replaced the dominance of Taoism.

After Emperor Wu succeeded to the throne in the first year of the Jianyuan era (140 years ago), the prime minister Wei ò said, "All those who have been selected as wise and good men, or those who have ruled over the words of Shen, Shang, Han Fei, Su Qin, and Zhang Yi, which have disrupted the state administration, please dismiss them all." It was agreed by Emperor Wu.

The lieutenant Dou Ying, the prime minister Tian mole also recommended the Confucian Wang Zang as the order of the Langzhong, Zhao ò as the royal historian, praising Confucianism, denigrating Taoism, encouraging the emperor to carry out political reforms, and even suggested that not to the Empress Dowager Dou to play things. The Empress Dowager Dou was dissatisfied with this and dismissed Wang Zang and Zhao ò in the second year of the reign of Emperor Jian Yuan, and the lieutenant and prime minister were removed from their posts as a result.

In the sixth year of the reign, Empress Dowager Dou died, and Confucianism rose again.

In the first year of Yuanguang (134 BC), Emperor Wu summoned the wise, virtuous, and upright men of literature from all over the world to Chang'an and personally questioned them.

Dong Zhongshu pointed out in his response that the unification of the Spring and Autumn Period was "the common scripture of heaven and earth, and the common friendship of the ancient and modern worlds", but now the teachers were different, the people were different, and the hundred schools of thought had different objectives, which led to inconsistency in the ruling ideology, and the rule of law was changing several times, and the hundred schools of thought had nothing to follow.

He suggested: "all not in the six arts of Confucius of the art, all the way out, do not make and advance."

Dong Zhongshu pointed out the ideological rule policy adapted to political unification, which was appreciated by Emperor Wu.

Confucianism fully became the ruling ideology of the feudal dynasty, while Taoism and other doctrines of the sons were politically deposed.

Impact and influence

As one of the most famous autocratic emperors in Chinese history, Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty was the first in the ideological and cultural world to initiate the policy of "Dismissing the Hundred Schools of Thought and Exclusively Respecting Confucianism", which established Confucianism's orthodoxy and dominance, and made the idea of autocratic "unification" as a mainstream ideology, and the idea of "unification" as a dominant ideology. The idea of "great unity" as a mainstream ideology became stereotypical, and as a mature system also became stereotypical; it was he who completed the basic project of the authoritarian political structure, the so-called "inner saint and outer king", the strong and the soft and the political ideal of a society ruled by man for the first time because of a set of complete system of service to be established; it was he who made it possible for all the people to be established; it was he who made it possible for all the people to be established. The political ideal of a society ruled by men was established for the first time because of a complete system of civil service; it was he who made the way of life of the great clans a firm and stabilizing force in a society, and further extended it to become the foundation of the whole patriarchal state.

However, if we look at it from another angle, the Han Wudi's civil and military achievements certainly had their own progressive significance, but its negative impact on history should not be ignored, such as the idea of authoritarian "unification" can certainly enhance the cohesion between the peoples, but at the same time, it will also be the centralization of the authoritarianism to the highest degree of excellence; Although the way of life of the extended family has become the cornerstone of a super-stable society, it has also made the politics of human rule the stereotype of two thousand years; as for the continuous wars and attacks during the Han Dynasty, it has caused social unrest, and the people are not happy with the bad consequences of their lives, the pros and cons of which are difficult to explain.

Some people say that "an era of authoritarianism is necessarily a harsh era", and the same applies to the era of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty. In fact, in a society ruled by men, the more powerful the king, the more destructive he tends to be, just as the Song Dynasty poet Lian Zhisheng wrote in his own poem: "Han Wu loved the famous horses, and the generals went out on the western expedition. The general went out on a western expedition. A few million bloods were shed, and seventy marquis were killed. The district only got it, and sang a song to the gods." "Turning his hand to the clouds, turning his hand to the rain" is of course the monarch's norm, and "great success, militaristic and murderous" is just an ordinary story for them. For one's own personal desire and make a big fuss, the emperor's personal good and bad actually relates to the lives of millions of people, the so-called "the son of heaven is angry, a million corpses, a thousand miles of blood," that is, on the emperor's personal behavior of the best footnote. As a generation of heroes, Han Wu Di was indeed one of the most effective emperors in ancient China, but the heroes were also mortals. From Han Wu Di's attitude towards the immortals and magical arts, we can see his paranoia and fanaticism, from the "witchcraft disaster", we can see that his later years of cold and cruel, temperamental - human society often appear like Han Wu Di such a "Half a great man". Restricted by physiology, intelligence, age and many other aspects, Han Wudi's personal behavior is just to expose the **** same drawbacks of the man-ruled society.

The negative impact of Confucianism

The Confucian legal thinking, with Confucius as the founder, is based on a family-oriented, ethical-centered, hierarchical legal system and ideology. It advocates the "rule of etiquette" and "rule of virtue", which is also known as "rule of man". The key points of Confucianism's theory of the rule of man lie in the following: the sages determine the rites and laws; if one's body is upright, one's orders will be carried out; the law of the late king will be followed, and one will be obedient to human feelings. Confucianism emphasizes the rule of rites in the relationship between rites and law, the rule of virtue in the relationship between virtue and law, and the rule of man in the relationship between man and law [1]. Since the Han "dismissed the hundred schools, exclusive respect for Confucianism", it has become a pole of ideology, and later generations are just tinkering with it, and it has dominated China for more than 2,000 years. Feudal ideology is essentially Confucianism, which still influences China's politics, economy, culture, education and life in the real world, as well as at all levels, including the law. The opposite is true, without the hundred schools of thought, a single mode of thought, creating a political and legal culture - that is, authoritarianism. History proves that the rule of man and dictatorship are one and the same. To establish a modern concept of justice, this local environment of legal thought of the rule of man, and the emphasis on the rule of law view of the system, the rules to constrain people's behavior is incompatible. Confucianism is the most significant ideological obstacle to the establishment of a modern judicial philosophy. That is, the concept of the rule of law is inherently inadequate.

The impact of deposing the hundred schools and revering only Confucianism on later Chinese culture

"Deposing the hundred schools and revering only Confucianism" was an extremely favorable practice for politics and rule during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.

There were a hundred schools of thought at that time, and everyone had their own theories, and everyone thought they were right. This concept of advocating one's own family against other families was a source of confrontation and conflict during the feudal period. It was politically unfavorable to the rulers! So the only way to do this was to "depose the hundred schools and revere only the Confucians", which was the most favorable way to do things in the country!

But things have two sides, everything has advantages and disadvantages! This set of practices was correct at that time in that period, but it does not mean that it is correct at all times!

It was the political darkness of the late Ming period and the entry of the Manchu Qing dynasty that led to the end of Chinese culture! The Ming and Qing emperors did not really have a thorough understanding of ancient Chinese culture. He only understood the surface, but did not understand the inside! Misinterpretation of the "depose the hundred schools, exclusive respect for Confucianism," the real meaning of the final formation of the eight-legged essay. Han Dynasty to the Ming and Qing dynasties have been over a thousand years, but the Ming and Qing dynasties still follow the Han's political practices of a thousand years ago, do not know how to adapt, can only fail!