The so-called hereditary system of national knowledge

Introduction: Hereditary or hereditary system refers to a social concept in which a certain monopoly is kept in a certain blood family from generation to generation. Which can be divided into two categories: political hereditary and economic hereditary. Ancient China was a large agricultural country. Agricultural production enabled the society to form solid blood families. The concept of hereditary system was easily accepted by the general public in this social state.

Early human societies around the world have had ruling regimes with hereditary systems, most of which were feudal hereditary systems. It is an ancient system of inheritance of titles and official positions. In the pre-Qin era, China practiced the system of hereditary titles and official positions, which were inherited from father to son, from the Son of Heaven and the feudal ruler, down to the ministers of state, the great doctors, and the scholars. The number of such hereditary titles was theoretically unlimited, until a change of dynasty or the defeat of the family occupying the title or official position in a political struggle. Since the Han Dynasty, official positions were not allowed to be hereditary. Although in reality the granting of official positions was concentrated in the existing scholar-bureaucratic families, and there were some traces of hereditary succession, the legal system of having a family hold a particular position for generations was abolished. From the Wei and Jin dynasties onwards, hereditary was further distinguished into hereditary recklessness and hereditary succession. The former meant that the number of hereditary succession was unlimited and the hereditary inherited the original title of the inherited person; the latter meant that the number of hereditary succession was limited and every time the hereditary inherited, the hereditary could only inherit a title one level lower than the original title of the inherited person. From the Song Dynasty onwards, the phenomenon that titles could not be hereditary appeared, similar to the British life peerage. In the Ming Dynasty, all the royal titles were hereditary, and there were also hereditary titles of public, marquis and uncle. The Qing dynasty hereditary title is mainly for the Iron Hat King, the rest of the title from the hereditary descent, that is, every inheritance to be reduced by one level, but a number of times (Prince down to Zhenkuo Gong, County King down to the Auxiliary State Gong, Baylor down to the town of Zhenkuo Gong not into the octet, the son of the shellfish down to not into the octet of the auxiliary State Gong, Zhenkuo Gong down to Auxiliary General, Auxiliary General down to Auxiliary General) will no longer be reduced, so Jennifer passes on the world.

Hereditary system - advantages

① conducive to the unity of the country, the initial laying of the boundaries and the formation of the Chinese nation, have played an important role;

② conducive to the development of the feudal economy;

③ the establishment of the landowning class of the majority of the working people's autocratic rule.

Hereditary System - Disadvantages

The traditional principle of succession to the throne in Chinese history could not absolutely guarantee the optimization and exaltation of the emperor's quality because of the selection of the successor within a narrow hereditary range. The chosen emperor was a toddler, an idiot, a prodigal son, and a mediocre man, whose woes were inevitable. Liu Zen, the later lord of Shu Han, was not happy with his successor. The story of Liu Zen is well known. s story is well known. Western Jin Dynasty emperor Sima Zhong's confusion is hilarious, "Jin Book" has recorded, there are frogs singing in the Hualin Garden, Emperor Hui asked the left and right said:? Is it official? For private? The attendant Jia Yun said:? In the official place for the official, in the private place for private? According to statistics, China's history under the age of ten doll emperor as many as 30. The earliest was Emperor Zhao of the Western Han Dynasty, and the latest was Emperor Xuantong of the Qing Dynasty. The youngest for the Eastern Han Dynasty Zhendi, born just over 100 days on the emperor; Eastern Han Dynasty Chongdi and Eastern Jin Dynasty Mu Di 2 years old as emperor; Northern Wei Dynasty Xiaowen Emperor and Qing Dynasty Xuantong Emperor 3 years old as emperor; Qing Dynasty Guangxu 4 years old as emperor; 5 years old Eastern Jin Dynasty Chengdi, Northern Wei Dynasty Xiaomingshi Emperor, Southern Song Dynasty Gongdi; 6 years old Qing Dynasty Tongzhi and Shunzhi Emperor; 7 years old Yuan Ning Emperor; 8 years old Western Han Dynasty Zhaodi, Eastern Han Dynasty Qidi Emperor, Qing Dynasty Kangxi Emperor; 9 years old Western Han Dynasty Pingdi, Ming Yingzong Emperor. 10 years of age and above is not to the adult teenage emperor is also a lot.

According to the above can be seen, in the imperial power is greater than everything, all-inclusive feudal society, the emperor's successor is only based on the family lineage relationship of this factor to choose out, really smart and strong few. This with the power of the emperor and its ability to exercise this power between the existence of a great contradiction and gap, this contradiction and gap to the country caused by the harm and disaster large and boundless, either political disorder, social unrest, is a disaster to the country and the people, until the end of a dynasty.