/kloc-what did China intellectuals lose in the 0/8th century? Into a situation where thousands of troops are together?

/kloc-in the 0/8th century, the whole world seems to be developing at an ultra-high speed. Compared with the "stability" and "harmony" that European countries pay attention to, they are in the stage of actively exploring the human world and nature.

However, China society in this period was not eclipsed by this. The whole18th century became a turning point in the historical development of China. /kloc-in the 8th century, China was under the rule of Ming and Qing dynasties. First, a unified dynasty regime was established in the early Qing Dynasty, and then1the famous "Kanggan Prosperity" in the middle of the 8th century. It was not until the end of18th century that the rule of the Qing Dynasty rose in other countries in the world and began to decline.

/kloc-Before the 8th century, intellectuals in China followed the idea that "every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world". However, what did the intellectuals in the 18th century lose, which caused the intellectuals in China to become escapist in the next hundred years?

First of all, the social and economic prosperity in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties weakened intellectuals' sense of social responsibility and mission.

/kloc-In China at the beginning of the 8th century, that is, in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, "the seeds of capitalism" appeared, and the agricultural, commercial and commodity economy reached its peak in the Qing Dynasty, and the development of social economy had a very significant impact on ideology and culture. The most obvious point is that the pursuit divorced from reality has begun to appear in society, which is even more fatal to intellectuals whose life philosophy and goal is "loyalty, righteousness and faith" in Confucianism.

/kloc-Before the 8th century, intellectuals in ancient China were collectively called "scholars". As a relatively basic aristocratic class in society, scholars have a strong sense of social responsibility. They either go into politics, or pursue knowledge and truth, or take Tao as their vision and ambition. Because most of their thoughts are for world unity, national prosperity, social governance and people's happiness, most ancient scholars have a strong sense of social responsibility and historical mission.

However, with the rapid development and prosperity of social economy in the middle of18th century, more and more intellectuals broke away from the original development path and moved from business to art. "Being diligent and lazy, success is also destroyed by thinking" is a true portrayal of ancient literati under the background of economic development. Political stability or turmoil is no longer the focus of their concern, and they no longer take "participating in politics" as their bounden duty. They no longer pursue the goal of joining the WTO and are unwilling to assume social responsibilities.

More and more ideas divorced from reality have become new research targets for scholars, which directly affects their judgment of social situation. As a result, intellectuals no longer think that "ruling the country and leveling the world" is their ideal life, and their sense of mission and responsibility to society and people is not so strong.

Second, the "literary inquisition" in the Qing Dynasty deprived intellectuals of their right to speak freely.

1. The "literary inquisition" implemented in the Qing Dynasty directly blocked the way for intellectuals to explore "reason"

In the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, the political chaos and social unrest in 18 century made intellectuals in this period begin to explore the truth of saving the country and the people. The social ideological criticism in this period was produced under the condition of great changes in the political situation and conformed to the requirements of the development of the times.

Intellectuals in this period witnessed the demise of the Ming Dynasty. In their thoughts, this reality directly echoes Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism. They feel the social turmoil and crisis, criticize the social system, break away from the actual social atmosphere and advocate seeking truth from facts. Many intellectuals advocate more research on practical issues related to the national economy and people's livelihood, so as to "apply what they have learned". The pursuit and ideas of these positive intellectuals were all shattered in the Qing Dynasty.

/kloc-In the middle and late 8th century, in order to stabilize social rule and prevent intellectuals from making untimely and unfavorable resistance to its rule, the rulers of the Qing Dynasty began to "chew words" and often extracted words from their works, and Luo Zhi was convicted. This is the literary prison. Therefore, the way for intellectuals to explore and study social reality and rulers, social systems, and to express and spread their views has been closed. Moreover, after shutting down the way for intellectuals to criticize the social system and rule, the literary inquisition imprisoned the intellectuals' thoughts to a certain extent, making the social ideological level of18th century become the "centralization" of the rulers.

As long as intellectuals show a little dissatisfaction in their works, they may be in danger of being convicted and imprisoned. The rulers of the Qing dynasty could not allow any thoughts and remarks that threatened their rule to spread in the society, even if they were just catching shadows and causing unjust, false and wrong cases. The implementation of the literary inquisition made the decay of feudal system penetrate into the ideological and cultural fields. In the eighteenth century, it was precisely because of the autocratic power of the rulers that the intellectual class was in a state of chaos.

2. The restoration and prevalence of the imperial examination system led to the proliferation of scholars, and the interests of intellectuals became single.

/kloc-In the mid-8th century, it was difficult for the rulers of the Qing Dynasty to stop the resistance of intellectuals in order to maintain and consolidate their rule. Therefore, from the beginning of Emperor Kangxi, the society resumed the implementation of Neo-Confucianism and the imperial examination system with this as the core.

As an official selection system, the imperial examination system was actually a way for the ancient "scholar" class to enter politics, and the direct result of the imperial examination system in the heyday of the Qing Dynasty was the proliferation of intellectuals. Although the examination contents of the imperial examination system in Qing Dynasty generally continued the previous Confucianism, the rulers changed the examination contents in order to consolidate their rule, which made the original rich and varied Confucianism become Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism that bound the intellectuals' thoughts.

The stereotyped writing from the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty made the examination more fair, but it directly deprived intellectuals of a wide variety of hobbies and suppressed the ideas of those intellectuals who could have made greater achievements, which not only hindered their innovation in science and technology, but also hindered the development of social science and technology to a certain extent.

At the same time, the prosperity of the imperial examination system made it easier for intellectuals to gain fame and gain a place in politics, which led to the proliferation of intellectuals to some extent. With the imperial examination system becoming the dominant position in society, the political examination system also appeared in the Qing Dynasty. The direct result of this is the corruption of official culture, the nepotism between teachers and students was frequent, and the phenomenon of officials caring for each other was even more frequent.

The darkness of officialdom is more harmful to intellectuals. Intellectuals who thought that ruling the country and ruling the world began to transform into corrupt official culture, and personal interests gradually replaced the weight of national interests in their ideals and goals. Therefore, in the Qing dynasty, intellectuals' goals and hobbies were only to gain fame and enter the officialdom, and they would never spend their time studying extensively and dabbling in new things and phenomena.

Third, "Neo-Confucianism of Cheng Zhu" has become the "knife in the hand" of the rulers, and intellectuals have lost the weapon of struggle.

"Neo-Confucianism in Zhu Cheng" was the dominant social trend of thought in the Song and Ming Dynasties. However, in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, the rulers did not directly inherit the dominant position of Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism in society. When the rulers of the early Qing dynasty first entered the customs, they implemented policies such as "haircut order" and "escape law" in society, which directly intensified social and ethnic contradictions.

It is in this case that Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism has gradually become a tool for rulers to strengthen their rule. Whether restoring the imperial examination, offering sacrifices to Confucius, giving Zhu honorary status, or re-editing books about Neo-Confucianism, on the one hand, Neo-Confucianism rose to the dominant position in the18th century, and at the same time, it also led to the deterioration of many ideas.

/kloc-In the middle and late 8th century, with the support of Emperor Qianlong, the Imperial Classics of Qianlong and Notes on Thirteen Classics were published and engraved. At the same time, in order to make Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism popular and orthodox in the society, all books that are contrary to Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism can be directly deleted or even destroyed by using political power to force orders.

As a ruler, Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism also entered people's daily life, which of course directly affected the intellectuals in the society. Due to the order of the rulers and the adaptation of Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism, some thoughts and dogmas in Neo-Confucianism can be guided and educated, which makes Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism become the "knife in the hand" for the rulers to consolidate their rule from criticizing the dictatorship of the ruling class and the intellectuals ruled by foreigners.

In the process of cracking down and suppressing, the rulers kept the thoughts and theories that were beneficial to their own rule, and used them to educate intellectuals and people, misleading them in their pursuit of "reason" science, thus losing the weapon of struggle.

Four. conclusion

From the above statement, the general environment of China in the18th century put great pressure on intellectuals. No matter the pressure from the government or the change of official culture, intellectuals have made their own choices or been forced to adapt. Therefore, they are no longer scholars who insist that "every man is responsible for the rise and fall of the world". They are no longer always concerned about the rise and fall of the country and the happiness of the people. The center of their life and study is no longer accompanied by criticism of social systems and rulers, and they can freely express their opinions. What they have lost is not only freedom, but also the ideological change from borderless to fetter.

References:

Spiritual Tradition and Literati Culture of Ancient Scholars in China

How did Zhu Cheng Neo-Confucianism establish its dominant position in Qing Dynasty?

What is the poison of the imperial examination system to scholars?