Restrictive factors of ancient imperial power

First of all, from the institutional level, the biggest resistance to the exercise of monarchical power comes from the bureaucratic system. The bureaucracy mentioned here is different from the relative power. The prime minister is only the leader of the whole bureaucracy, and there are a large number of people under him. Monarchical power can be weakened (such as Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty) or even abolished (such as Ming Taizu) at any time, but it cannot destroy the whole bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is an indispensable administrative machine for governing the country. Without it, the monarchy itself cannot play its role. Although the bureaucracy was originally established under the authorization of the monarch, it has become an objective existence since it came into being, and it is no longer completely dependent on the subjective will of the monarch. In the ancient political tradition of China, the relationship between monarch and bureaucrat is a history of constant friction and adjustment. Because Xiangquan is the hub of the whole bureaucratic system, the restriction on imperial power is the most obvious. In Qin and Han dynasties, the system of "three publics and nine ministers" was implemented, and the prime minister was a three-province system in Tang dynasty. Imperial edicts and decrees must be countersigned by China Calligraphy Department. If the imperial edict was not stamped with the seal of "China Calligraphy Department", it was considered illegal at that time and could not be recognized by the following authorities at all levels. Although the relative power of the Song Dynasty was lower than that of the Tang Dynasty, it still retained some restrictive factors of the imperial power in the Tang system, such as the blockade system, that is, refusing to draft and carry out the emperor's will. After the strike in the Ming Dynasty, there were still opinions that could refute what they thought was inappropriate.

In addition, the restriction of the remonstrance system in the bureaucratic system on the imperial power can not be ignored. In ancient China, there was a saying that officials remonstrate with Taiwan. The so-called Taiwan officials, that is, the censorate system, supervise bureaucrats; The so-called admonisher is the person who supervised and advised the emperor, such as the admonisher in Han Dynasty, the gleaning in Tang Dynasty, the mending of the que, and the giving of six subjects in Ming Dynasty. The remonstrance officer's remonstration to the emperor involves various issues such as resisting the emperor's subjective will to interfere in the national law, restraining the emperor's extreme emotions, accusing the emperor of extravagance and indulgence, preventing the emperor from hunting and disturbing the people, and restraining the emperor from favoring close relatives. Of course, the restraining effect of admonition on emperors varies from time to time. The same admonition, if imposed on different emperors, may have completely different effects. A master who makes great efforts is easy to be trained, and a master who is slack and dissolute is easy to refuse to remonstrate. Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty and Emperor Taizong of the Tang Dynasty were both typical Yi ministers. For example, Emperor Wanli, the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, was scolded by courtiers for being rich, dissolute and shameless. Wanli was so angry that he almost vomited blood that he had to defend himself.

It can be seen that bureaucracy is indeed an objective factor that restricts imperial power to some extent. In the process of high school history teaching, students should not be blindly instilled with the concept of "absolute monarchy", giving them the wrong impression that since the Qin Dynasty, the emperor has been free to wield power. In fact, the emperor needs to constantly adjust the bureaucratic system (especially the relative power), which just shows that the bureaucratic system restricts the arbitrary exercise of imperial power, and the emperor wants to make the exercise of his power more free through adjustment.

Secondly, from the ideological level, China's ancient imperial power was actually restricted by some intangible and spiritual restrictions. The most typical is Confucianism. The high school history textbook we use now thinks that Confucianism after the Han Dynasty has adapted to the needs of the ruling class and has become a theoretical tool for maintaining absolute monarchy. But in fact, although Confucianism advocates "respecting the monarch", it does not advocate absolute monarchy. Judging from the history of the development of Confucianism, whether it is pre-Qin Confucianism, Dong Zhongshu's Neo-Confucianism in Han Dynasty or Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, there is still room for criticizing autocratic imperial power ideologically. The pre-Qin Confucian thoughts of "ruling by virtue" and "benevolent governance" regulate the emperor's behavior from the moral level in order to achieve the ideal image of "being sage inside and king outside". The "heaven" of Han Confucianism and the "reason" of Song Confucianism actually show that Confucianism has always wanted to promote a higher power to restrain the monarch. When Dong Zhongshu preached "the divine right of the monarch" and "the monarch is the official program", "jun" seemed to be the projection of "heaven" or the incarnation of "god", which seemed to elevate the monarch to an absolute position, but this was not the case. Dong Zhongshu's Spring and Autumn Stories said: "Those who were born in heaven are not kings, but those who were made in heaven think of the people. Therefore, virtue is enough to comfort the people, and it is a gift; Those who do evil and harm the people will be taken away by heaven ... so there is no way to punish them in summer ... in Qin dynasty, there is no way to punish them. There is no way to cut, this is natural. " On the one hand, this passage does endow the monarchy with sacredness in theory; But at the same time, we can draw the following conclusion from his thinking: the only legitimacy of the monarch's exercise of power lies in taking "blessings" for the people. If he abuses his power to "harm the people" and "there is no way", the legitimacy of his power will disappear and he can wait for "there is a way" to cut it off. His "theory of different disasters" can also explain that "heaven" is always watching the monarch and ready to "harm" the monarch who has no way. Naturally, Dong Shi's Neo-Confucianism still retains the space to criticize autocratic imperial power, so it can't be said to be a pure autocratic theoretical tool in the teaching process.

New changes have taken place in the development of Confucianism in the Song Dynasty, and a new Confucian system with "reason" as the core has been formed. The high school history textbooks convey to us that Neo-Confucianism has adapted to the political needs of the ruling class and effectively safeguarded the feudal autocratic rule. As for the "reason" of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, it also constituted a restriction on the monarch to some extent. It is true that "ceremony" occupies a core position in the ideological system of Confucianism in Song Dynasty, and its direct function lies in providing metaphysical philosophical explanation for the idealized ethical and moral rules advocated by Confucianism, thus giving these rules natural legitimacy. Because of this, "reason" has become a principle that transcends nature and society, and it has universal applicability and dominates everything except kings. While "Li" can restrict the imperial power, the key lies in that the power to understand and explain the knowledge of "Li" is monopolized in the hands of Confucian scholars (scholar-bureaucrat class), so that they also indirectly gain the universal criticism power on culture (including imperial power). As the saying goes, "Truth is the greatest in the world, so it can't be respected thousands of times" ("Zhongxing Erjin Xiang")

Therefore, both Dong Zhongshu's "Heaven" and Song Confucianism's "Reason" represent the intellectual class's restriction on imperial power by using cultural knowledge other than political power. Of course, the restriction of Confucian moral idealism on imperial power mentioned above looks illusory. In what ways can it directly affect the emperor? Specifically, it is roughly as follows: Confucianism shapes emperors through education, and Confucianism permeates all aspects of national political education.

The two points mentioned above are related to the key contents of compulsory history 1 and compulsory history 3 in senior high school. I think teachers should properly emphasize in the teaching process to prevent students from forming a mindset of "autocratic imperial power" and thus affecting problem solving. In addition to these two points, there are other restrictive factors in the exercise of ancient imperial power in China, because it is not the key content of history teaching in senior high schools, but a simple regulation.

The discipline of former emperors and their ancestors. Since the establishment of the unified empire in Qin and Han Dynasties, the monarchical power itself has gradually condensed into a unique tradition, which has certain binding force on the later monarchies. The mistakes of previous emperors should be taken as a warning, but kings who have made achievements in political governance in previous dynasties should also be regarded as teachers. Emperor Taizong once wrote twelve "Emperor Fan" and gave it to the prince, hoping that he would learn from the ancient philosopher Wang Xuexi. As for the "law of ancestors" in one day, it is of greater significance. China was an agricultural society in ancient times, emphasizing experience and seeking the right time, thus forming a social consciousness of respecting heaven and ancestors. No matter how big the imperial power is now, we must always raise our ancestors to a very high level. In the Ming Dynasty, there was Ming Taizu's Instructions, in which Ming Taizu summed up his own experience in governing the country and put forward various systems and other codes of conduct that future generations and the royal family must strictly abide by. The content involves national policies, ancestral temple sacrifices, court vigilance, and the emperor's personal compliance. The emperors of the Qing Dynasty were often Tang Taizong Gao, Tang Taizong Wen and Sai Zu Zhang. We often see on TV that when some ministers oppose some of the emperor's practices, they always call for heaven and land and hit the wall, saying that "the legal system of our ancestors cannot be changed." These behaviors often have some effects. At this time, we feel that the emperor can't do whatever he wants. Of course, from another perspective, this restriction often became the resistance of political reform in various dynasties.

In order to ensure the objectivity and impartiality of history books, historians have considerable independent personality and autonomy in compiling history, and refuse the interference and reading of the current emperors. Only a serious and upright historian can realize his responsibility, dare to resist the emperor's non-interference and affirm the binding effect of history revision on the emperor.

Under the strong pressure of public opinion, there were many "flying words", that is, social rumors, which were the reaction of public opinion and had a great influence on imperial power.

In addition, in some special periods, such as Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the political situation of the gate valve was formed, and the local aristocratic families held the power, which greatly restricted the imperial power. The Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Southern and Northern Dynasties were the period with the lowest monarchical power in China's history. The so-called "king and horse, * * * the world" is also true, and the royal family and the Sima royal family * * * enjoy political power. In addition, some dynasties in China's history (such as Rudong, Tang Dynasty and Ming Dynasty) experienced severe eunuch dictatorship, especially when the political system of the Ming Dynasty was the worst, and Li Si was in charge of power and became a "true prime minister" or even a "true emperor".

Of course, the factors restricting imperial power mentioned above have institutional level, and they play a practical role in restricting imperial power; But it is also spiritual and non-institutional, which only constitutes the possibility of restricting imperial power. This paper aims to show that the ancient emperors were not absolute despots. Although a history of China's ancient political system runs through the struggle between imperial power and anti-imperial power, it actually reflects a kind of restriction and balance between imperial power and bureaucrats and intellectuals of the whole country. Otherwise, it is difficult for us to understand why this imperial power system in ancient China lasted for more than two thousand years. According to Mr. Qian Mu, China was more reasonable and enlightened than imperial autocracy in ancient times, and he was right.