Differences in social atmosphere during the Southern and Northern Dynasties

Social ethos and social mentality in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

Xia Lifen, Governor Middle School, Qingshan District, Wuhan

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, social unrest was frequent, and the customs of the North and the South gradually blended, which made some new features appear in the social atmosphere of this period, such as openness, individual pursuit of freedom, cultural diversity, prevalence of drinking and drinking tea, aristocratic family system and so on. Through these phenomena, we can find that the social mentality at that time can be roughly divided into three types: radical, improved and conservative. This paper will analyze the relationship between social atmosphere and social mentality from these three aspects.

Keywords: Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, social atmosphere, social mentality

First, radicals and social atmosphere.

The concept of communication in the Southern and Northern Dynasties has different meanings in different periods of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Generally, it is bounded by the Yangtze River. Therefore, before the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the North-South communication was the communication between the Central Plains and Jiangnan, and after the Yongjia Rebellion, the North-South communication was the communication and integration between Hu and Han. I will mention the latter here.

The northern dynasties paid more attention to the cultural customs of the Han nationality than the southern dynasties paid attention to the northern folk customs. This is because the culture of the northern minorities is far behind the Central Plains. After they entered the Central Plains, they had to quickly absorb China's advanced culture to transform themselves to adapt to the fact that they occupied the Central Plains. As early as before Emperor Xiaowen's reform in the Northern Wei Dynasty, the monarchs of minority regimes attached great importance to China culture. For example, Chair Zhao and Zhang Bin set up a "gentleman's camp" to let Han Confucianism read history for him. Fu Jian used Wang Meng to promote the rule of law in the former Qin Dynasty, and he admired Emperor Wen in his heart. It is very prominent to set up schools extensively and advocate Confucianism; In September of the first year of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty (396), Tuoba GUI of the Northern Wei Dynasty "those who built Taiwan at the beginning set up officials, worshipped generals, generals, secretariat, satrap, and used scholars below, and made friends with the Central Plains for the first time, so as to be at ease. All scholars and scholars introduced gifts and asked Zhou Xi that people had to commit suicide. (1) Emperor Wei Mingyuan succeeded Yongxing for five years (4 13), and wrote, "Those who send envoys to inspect elegance, those whose powerful families are pushed by Zhou Lu, those who have military and cultural talents and can make decisions when in doubt, or even those who are sages, virtuous and beautiful, have excellent academic instruments and can be teachers." (2) Many Han landlords were appointed by the Northern Wei regime, such as Cui Xuanbo and his son. They brought the Han culture into the Northern Dynasties and made it increasingly feudal, which was what the rulers of the Northern Dynasties hoped. Among them, the reform of Emperor Xiaowen in the Northern Wei Dynasty is the most famous. He gave up Xianbei's surname and changed it to Han's. Advocating the intermarriage between fresh people and Han people; It is forbidden to wear Hu clothes and break the northern sound; Attach importance to Chinese studies and follow the path of Confucius and Mencius. These measures are one of the steps he tried to unify the Central Plains and the correct way to narrow the gap between ethnic cultures and unify the whole country.

During the Southern Dynasties, there were also a group of people who understood current events, followed the general trend of historical ethnic integration and made corresponding responses. During the Southern Dynasties, it was generally customary to pursue personal freedom, national openness and multiculturalism. Through these ethos, we can see an optimistic and radical mentality facing the future and the new situation. People in Wei and Jin dynasties, especially scholars, mostly pursued individuality and tried to get rid of the shackles of ethics. To others, their behavior is often difficult to understand. From the end of the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the political chaos and the Confucian concept of governing the country after entering the WTO have been unable to adapt to the changes in the situation. Therefore, many intellectuals have adopted a laissez-faire attitude, not participating in political struggles, acquiesced in the historical trend of reunification between the North and the South, and let nature take its course. Therefore, they should not be regarded as doing nothing and living in a muddle, but as not setting obstacles to politics. It should be the mission of military strategists and politicians to change dynasties and divide and rule them. As intellectuals in the Southern Dynasties, they generally took the overall situation into consideration and stopped fighting back. As the saying goes, "Silence is better than sound" embodies an ideal optimism and an open-minded attitude. For example, Ruan Ji was drunk in front of the matchmaker for more than 60 days because he refused to marry Sima. (3) Confucian ethics were despised by people at this time. For example, Ruan Ji, whose mother was in mourning, asked to bet on Go with her guests, so she drank, ate meat and vomited blood. When asked about his condolences, he looked straight at him drunk. 4 vomiting blood is a sign of sadness, and gambling with others is also a spiritual sustenance. However, according to Confucian etiquette, closing the funeral and hanging things in return are just for others to see and have no real feelings, so they are despised by Wei Jin people.

The unification of the north and the south is the general trend, and an open social atmosphere has emerged in the Southern Dynasties to deal with it. This openness is manifested in geography and ideas. Geographically, it mainly absorbs the culture of ethnic minority areas in an open way, and at the same time, the culture of the Central Plains also spreads to the surrounding areas, so there is no spread restriction in the whole society. The outstanding performance of the open concept is the relaxation of women's bondage, and women enjoy more freedom. For example, female characters at that time could be seen in public to some extent. It is recorded in Zonggu's Chronicle of Jingchu that women can attend parties and have sex with men, and women's hairstyles and costumes can also reflect their rising status. For example, during the Taikang period in the Western Jin Dynasty, women's clogs were changed from round heads to square heads, just like men. There are five soldiers on the woman's head at noon, which shows that the woman is also martial. They can also talk about metaphysics with men. According to "Biography of Women in the Book of Jin", his wife is good at metaphysics and has helped to solve doubts. ⑤ Women in feudal society have always been the most bound class, and their relative freedom and openness are enough to reflect the openness of social atmosphere.

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, a hundred schools of thought contended in culture. The coexistence of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and metaphysics makes the culture at this time very active and vibrant. They influence each other and penetrate each other. Although the dispute between Confucianism and metaphysics was fierce, the metaphysics of Confucian classics and the reconstruction of Confucianism were finally completed in the Southern Dynasties. This contention of a hundred schools of thought is no less than that in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but it has been greatly promoted in cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. From the social point of view, only by being open-minded, having the courage to check their own shortcomings and learning from others' strengths can we make an open move. Radicals are such a group of people who keep pace with the times and have the courage to make progress.

Second, reformists and social atmosphere

During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, political corruption and social extravagance prevailed, and the population suffered heavy losses under the devastation of war. On the contrary, however, there is a revival trend, such as encouraging interviews and promoting early marriage, which is another highlight of this period.

At that time, the wind of drinking tea prevailed and was often used to advocate the wind of official thrift. Xing Wu satrap Luna, when Xie An went to visit him, he only set the tea fruit. However, Lu Na's nephew Lu Shu thought it was too shabby, so he took out the prepared food and entertained the guests privately. As a result, after Xie An left, Liu Na's Forty Bones (6) was turned upside down when Huan Wen was grazing in Yangzhou, "only seven cups of tea fruits were served at each table". ⑦ Emperor Wu of Qi issued a temporary imperial edict: "I should be careful not to sacrifice animals, but only set cakes, fruits, tea, dried rice and preserved wine. The world is expensive, and Wei is the same. " (8) It is also a thrifty idea to stipulate that sacrifices should be replaced by tea and rice.

Secondly, the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties also formed the atmosphere of thin burial. Dayu, Mozi, Zhuangzi in the pre-Qin Dynasty, Wendy in the Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty and others all requested or implemented thin burial, but it did not affect the thick burial of the upper class, and it still belonged to an anti-traditional personal behavior. As the saying goes, "thick burial is virtue, thin burial is contempt." However, the thin burial in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties had a completely different nature, with a wide range of implementation and a long duration. At that time, thin burial had become the national system, the family rules of gentry and the conscious behavior of ordinary people. It is implemented in the form of law to save social wealth, support war and deal with famine. For example, in 478, Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty wrote a letter: "If you bury it thick, the living will suffer from luxury. The holy king knew this well, so he applied with courtesy and prohibited it with law. ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅ ┅. For example, Liu Song and Zhang Shao "died, using apples and reed mats as sacrifices for cars, but actually using philosophers as sacrifices." ⑾ The support of relatives and friends for thin burial is further reflected in their daring to refuse the gifts of the emperors and dignitaries to the titles and funeral expenses of the deceased. At that time, there were many public opinions supporting thin burial, which provided theoretical basis and made it a rare phenomenon in history. For example, Huangfu Mi said in Benedict's Final Theory that "customization of life and death is inevitable. Madam, insatiable people are born. Those who do evil will die. Although greedy, it will not be overdue; Although it is evil, you can't escape. " "The same is true of the combination of resin and soil. "

He believes that the implementation of thick burial is "using the empty space and destroying it." ⑿

Third, the phenomenon of early marriage appeared in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the ancient society with backward productive forces, the population reflected the political and economic strength in a certain historical stage to a certain extent, which marked the massive population growth. The population of the Eastern Han Dynasty was more than 56 million, while that of the Western Jin Dynasty was only160,000, which was only two-seventh of that of the Eastern Han Dynasty. However, the population of the Sui Dynasty was 46 million, which has returned to the level of the Eastern Han Dynasty. It can be seen that this is closely related to the encouragement of early marriage in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. In the first month of the third year of the Northern Zhou Dynasty, Emperor Jiande wrote: "From now on, men are fifteen years old and women are over thirteen years old, and they are widowed. They are military and civilian, so they should get married at the right time, be frugal and don't miss money. " Nanqi once stipulated that "strong men don't marry old women" and "old people don't marry strong wives", and ordered that "those who have children should be transferred to their parents for one year to show their welcome. ⒂ Newly married couples, the husband has served for one year "[13]. At the same time, the general public also supports this system very much. In the situation of social unrest, the hopelessness of a stable and happy future, the fear of one's own life span and the sense of responsibility for carrying on the family line urge people to choose early marriage urgently in order to leave more offspring as soon as possible. For example, Yang Chun of the Northern Wei Dynasty once said, "All brothers have grandchildren, and Chun has great grandchildren. He is fifteen or sixteen. Chun often wants to marry him early and meet his great-grandson. " ⒁

Advocating thrift is to accumulate social material wealth, and advocating early marriage is to multiply population and reserve labor for social material production. They were all improvements at that time, trying to rebuild a stable and prosperous home from the ruins of war and continue the feudal dynasty.

Third, conservatism and social atmosphere.

The gentry was formed in Wei and Jin Dynasties and reached its peak in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. Under the protection of political power, gentry bureaucrats are greedy, unscrupulous and profligate. He Zeng eats a lot of money every day and says he has nowhere to go. His son He Shao eats 20,000 yuan per meal, while Ren Kai spends 1 10,000 yuan per meal. Who is more extravagant than Wang Kai or Shi Chong? Wang Kai used dry rice sugar to cook the pot, and Shi Chong used ash as firewood. Wang Kai bases forty miles on purple silk cloth, and Shi Chong bases fifty miles on brocade. Wang Kai painted the walls with halloysite, and Shi Chong used pepper paste. Minister fu dui said, "luxury is more expensive than natural disasters." ⒂ He asked the Western Jin Emperor Sima Yan to stop the war, but Sima Yan was indifferent. Under the background of war and social unrest at that time, these gentry lived a life of drunkenness and dreaminess, which obviously ran counter to the frugality mentioned above.

Drinking was also very popular in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, which was incomparable in any dynasty. Emperors in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties drank a lot, and many of them lost their political power. Sima, Emperor Xiao of Jin Dynasty, was "addicted to alcohol, almost drinking all night", and was eventually harmed by Zhang Guiren because of drunken jokes. [13] Liu Song Shaodi's style of writing is good wine and lewd, and Yuan Wei Company, Selling in person [13] The wind of drinking prevailed, consuming grain to make wine, so alcohol was banned in all previous dynasties. During the Three Kingdoms, Cao Wei, Emperor An of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Emperor Wen of the Southern Song Dynasty and Emperor Wu of the Qi Dynasty all banned alcohol. Even in the Sixteen Kingdoms period, Schleswig "resumed civil and commercial affairs, and its assets were not abundant, so it was resumed." Ancestral temples in the suburbs have been drinking wine for several years, and no one has brewed it any more. The prohibition of alcohol in Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties had little effect because the emperor took the lead in indulging in alcohol.

This decadent social atmosphere is closely related to the conservative form of the parties who are not enterprising and content with the status quo. Conservatives are social parasites, unmoved by the progressive trend of ethnic integration at that time, and do not make positive contributions to that era. They are immersed in the glory that has passed away and cling to the old and backward atmosphere, which is the end of the road.

Precautions:

(1) (Northern Qi Dynasty) Wei Wei Shou Shu Volume II maoji.

(2) (Northern Qi Dynasty) Wei Shou's Wei Shu (Volume 3) Taizong Ji.

③ ④ (Southern Qi Dynasty) Zang Xurong's Book of Jin (Volume 49) Biography of Ruan Ji.

(5) (Southern Qi Dynasty) Zang's Book of Jin Volume 58 Lienv Volume

⑥ (Southern Qi Dynasty) Zang Xurong's Book of Jin (Volume 77) Attached to Luye Biography.

All landowners (southern qi) warehouse "book of Jin" volume seventy-eight "biography of Huan Wen.

Today (Western Jin Dynasty) Chen Shou's Biography of the Three Kingdoms Wu Shu (Volume 65) and Wei Yaochuan.

Pet-name ruby (Southern Song Dynasty) Ye Fan's Book of the Later Han Dynasty was published under the Book of Emperor Guangwu.

Attending (Northern Qi Dynasty) Wei Shou's Book of Wei (Volume 7) and high-impedance Miracle.

⑾ (Tang) li yanshou's "Southern History" Volume 23 "Biography"

⑿ (Qing) anonymous "Wen" Volume 17 "Biography of Huangfu Mi"

[13] (Nanliang) Xiao Zixian's "South Shu Qi" Volume 6 "Ming Di Ji"

[14] (Northern Qi Dynasty) Wei Shou's Shu Wei Volume 58 Bai Yang Attached to Yang Chunchuan.

⒂ (Southern Qi Dynasty) Zang's Book of Jin (Volume 47) Biography of Fu Xuan with Fu Weichuan.

[14] (Nanqi) Zang's Book of Jin (volume 9) Filial piety to Emperor Wu.

⒄ (Southern Qi) Shen Yue's Book of Songs (Volume 4) Little Emperor.

⒅ (Southern Qi Dynasty) Zang's Book of Jin (volume 105) notes Schleswig.