Similarities: they are all for unifying thoughts and consolidating imperial power.
Difference: the former is more violent, while the latter is more peaceful in order to repeat the same mistakes.
The following is a long speech:
]: "burning books to bury Confucianism", "exclusive respect for Confucianism" and "unified culture"
In the thousands of years of human history, political dictatorship and cultural dictatorship are closely related. For an autocratic ruler, he not only rules the body of his subjects, but also rules the soul of his subjects, so as long as a dictator appears, cultural thoughts will be affected. This is found all over the world, and China is no exception. As early as the Qin and Han dynasties, there were two famous cultural movements: "burning books to bury Confucianism" and "respecting Confucianism alone". Although the processes and methods of these two major cultural movements are very different, their purposes are basically the same.
First, the social background of "burning books to bury Confucianism"
With the alternation of the old and new landlord regimes in the Qin Dynasty, great changes have taken place in cultural thought. The most important thing is Confucianism, which was destroyed with the collapse of the old aristocratic regime. Legalism rose with the establishment of the Qin regime.
In 22 1 year BC, the Qin dynasty destroyed six countries, unified the Chinese nation and established an unprecedented unified empire. In order to realize the inheritance of the first emperor, Qin learned the lesson from the demise of the Zhou Dynasty, abolished the original feudal system and implemented a more centralized county system. However, the county system in Qin dynasty was far from the political system of vassal enfeoffment advocated by Confucianism, which was strongly resisted by the Fu Zhou school represented by Confucianism and also impacted by the ideological influence of the old aristocratic forces. Many old aristocrats are still obsessed with the old system and theory, thinking that the old ones are all good. Therefore, whenever some new policies of the Qin Dynasty are introduced, they will criticize them behind the scenes, which is very unfavorable to the new Qin regime. In order to consolidate the new regime and the existence of the county system, Qin Shihuang was forced to carry out a political move of unifying cultural thoughts, "burning books to bury Confucianism."
On the surface, Qin Shihuang launched a unified cultural movement of "burning books and burying Confucianism" for long-term stability, but from a deeper level, it was a unified ideological movement. In the early years of Qin dynasty, the contention of a hundred schools of thought was not over yet, and people were still in extreme confusion in the ideological field. During the Warring States period, the ruling thoughts of various vassal States were different. Even in a vassal state, among the ruling classes, various ideas and theories intersect with each other, making it difficult to form unity. Therefore, although there is no unified thought among the vassal States, they can still achieve roughly the same thought in the same vassal state. Therefore, even if the Qin dynasty destroyed the social and economic foundation on which the original ideology and culture depended, it would not disappear immediately, because the body could be destroyed, but the mind could not. Therefore, the original ideological system formed by the six countries is still in a residual form and plays a reactionary role. These residual thoughts can also be easily used by the old nobles of the former six countries to summon the old people back to China. After Qin unified the six countries, the old saying that poems, books and a hundred schools of thought contend continued to be popular, all of which were factors of social instability. Therefore, in order to help unify the long-term rule of the country, it is also necessary for rulers to carry out ideological and moral construction in order to unify values and achieve long-term stability. However, at that time, the current social situation was that cultural thoughts were in chaos, and it was necessary to unify the existing cultural thoughts. Confucianism and Legalism were the most influential schools of thought in the whole society at that time. Confucianism is a school that respects the ancient times, and its emphasis on self-denial and courtesy is to restore the etiquette of the Zhou Dynasty, that is, the political system of enfeoffment. This is in conflict with the county system implemented after the reunification of Qin Dynasty. Legalism is the dominant ideology of the ruling class of Qin State, because on the road of rejuvenating the country, Qin State relies on a series of reforms led by Legalism, the most famous of which is the reform led by Shang Yang. Therefore, before Qin unified the six countries, the dominant thought of Qin was legalism, so since Shang Yang's political reform, most officials of Qin came from the education of legalism. Therefore, after Qin unified the six countries, the thought of ruling the Central Plains must be dominated by Legalism. Chairman Mao said, "Political power comes from the barrel of a gun." Although the social trend of thought at that time tended to be Confucianism as a whole, most people who really mastered the ruling class supported the Legalists, who believed that human nature was evil, and beginning of life cut off its profits. Therefore, when Confucianism, represented by the rule of virtue, thinks that human nature is good and human nature is benevolent, it conflicts with Legalism. The rulers of the Qin dynasty still stood on the side of legalists, and then implemented the policy of "burning books to bury Confucianism"
Second, the social background of "exclusive respect for Confucianism"
The purpose of Qin Shihuang's "burning books to bury Confucianism" is for his long-term rule from generation to generation, but it is contrary to the original work. Before the book-burning fire was put out, in 209 BC, the peasant uprising in osawa Township led by Chen Sheng lit the fire to destroy Qin. It was not until 206 BC that Liu Bang led an army into Xianyang City, and the once famous Qin Dynasty was quickly overthrown by peasant rebels. In just 15 years, Daqin, which unified China, perished. This historical fact is like a nightmare of the rulers of the Western Han Dynasty. The downfall of the Qin Dynasty meant that the way of ruling the country by legalists failed. What kind of thoughts should be taken as the guidance and what kind of policies should be implemented to unify thoughts in order to avoid the old road of Qin's rapid death? This is an extremely serious problem. Western Han thinkers summarized the gains and losses of rulers in history from different angles, especially the lessons of Su Qin's death, and made suggestions for the rulers of the Western Han Dynasty. During the Hui, Wen and Jing dynasties, Huang Lao's skill was once advocated, and he advocated inaction, but practical experience proved that Huang Lao's thought was ineffective in strengthening centralization. So, in the first year of Yuanxing, that is, BC 134, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty summoned sages from all over the country to Chang 'an and personally asked him: "Today, my husband waited for more than 100 people, or did he have a bad life on earth?" The difference between today and ancient times is difficult to test, but it is not because of the Ministry of Education, not because of success. " Dong Zhongshu said: "Today, teachers are different, people are different, and hundreds of schools are different, each with its own meaning. It is because the above can't be unified, the legal system has changed, and I don't know what to keep, so I am stupid. I don't think they are among the six arts. Confucius' artists can't make progress, and then they can learn from each other, but the statutes can be unified. " (The Biography of Dong Zhongshu in Hanshu) Hearing this, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty greatly appreciated his opinions, and then, according to his proposition, he "ousted a hundred schools of thought and respected Confucianism alone" and ruled the world with Confucianism. Since then, Confucianism has become the dominant position, and Confucianism has become the orthodox ideology of the feudal rulers in China, thus dominating politics.
1. Why can Dong Zhongshu's suggestion stand out among the words of a hundred schools of thought?
(1) is mainly because Confucianism contains all kinds of experiences of exploiting class rule. In the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, Confucianism was more active except for Huang Lao's thought. Confucianism seized the fait accompli of Qin's sudden death and constantly criticized the legalist thought, proving that law is not enough to govern the country, which is illustrated in Jia Yi's On Qin. At the same time, Confucianism constantly develops and perfects itself and absorbs other theories that are conducive to strengthening and consolidating the dictatorship of the landlord class. The main line of Confucianism in the pre-Qin period was to support the original feudal theory, which was embodied in supporting the enfeoffment system. In the Han Dynasty, it became supporting the county system. Another example is the great unification thought of Confucianism in pre-Qin dynasty, which is to oppose the separatist regime of Zhou by vassal States and advocate the meaning of "respecting Zhou and disturbing foreign land" By the time of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it became "universal classics of heaven and earth, universal meanings of ancient and modern times". In feudal relations, the feudal hierarchy supported by primitive Confucianism was that serfs, merchants and landlords were ruled by the hierarchy at that time, while in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it was interpreted that all subjects in the feudal era were ruled by feudal monarchs.
Dong Zhongshu's series of propositions were formulated to consolidate feudal order and imperial power, so it is not surprising that his thoughts were pushed to orthodoxy by feudal rulers, which is not only the choice of rulers, but also the necessity of historical development.
(2) During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the centralized political system was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. With the rise of the national strength of the Western Han Dynasty, the war of opening up the territory was also launched. At that time, the rulers also needed a unified theory of "respecting the king and rushing to foreigners" to support their political and military actions. Compared with Confucius and Mencius in the pre-Qin period, the Confucianism proposed by Dong Zhongshu to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty has been greatly reformed, and the reformed Confucianism has absorbed some contents of Legalism, Taoism and Yin-Yang and Five Elements. This view just caters to the needs of rulers in order to strengthen the centralization of monarchy and unify the whole country.
Confucianism in this period put the emperor in a sacred position, and it is natural for the emperor to be unified. He demonstrated from a theological point of view that imperial power and feudal order were sacred and inviolable, and this theory of maintaining feudal system was certainly welcomed by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty.
3. The influence of the two cultural movements of "burning books to bury Confucianism" and "respecting Confucianism alone" on later generations.
1. The influence of "burning books to bury Confucianism":
In some current viewpoints, there are many remarks about the great contribution of "burning books to bury Confucianism". In the understanding of these people, it was Qin Shihuang's "burning books to bury Confucianism" that created the unified pattern of the Chinese nation. They thought that in the history of China for thousands of years, such a large territory could be completely unified because of Qin Shihuang's "burning books to bury Confucianism". Also in Europe, there are dozens of countries in Europe today, but there was a unified empire thousands of years ago, the Roman Empire. Hundreds of years after the collapse of the Roman Empire, there were not any empires, but many independent countries. Today, there is only one loose organization, the European Union. Look at China. The Qin dynasty only ruled for 15 years, but it was replaced by the unified and powerful Han dynasty after the demise of the Qin dynasty. The reason for this is very complicated, but there is a big factor because there was no idea of unifying Europe during the Roman Empire. When our descendants cursed Qin Shihuang's fatuity, I have to say that "burning books to bury Confucianism" burned the numerous books of the ancients, which is indeed a great loss in history. But from a longer historical perspective, "burning books to bury Confucianism" is not just an impulse in the mind of the first emperor, but has his great ambitions and conspiracy. Now we look up ancient books. From the Historical Records written by Sima Qian in Han Dynasty, the twenty-four histories can be studied. Before the Qin Dynasty, there were only a few textbooks, The Book of Songs, The Analects of Confucius and The Spring and Autumn Annals, all of which were ordered by the first emperor. What's more, they can only be oral myths, such as the Battle of the Yellow Emperor Chiyou, Zhou Wang da ji, Wang Wen Yijing and so on. For hundreds of years in the Zhou Dynasty, the title of the son of heaven was not clear. Wooden slips, silk books, etc. Unearthed in the pre-Qin period should be read like a password. During this period, the historical data of the vassal States before Qin Dynasty were destroyed together with the original clan-based ruling relationship. In people's consciousness, the boundary between Yue, Lu and Zhao is not so obvious, so it is difficult to see the phenomenon of six countries unifying the country in the turbulent years at the end of Qin Dynasty, let alone the separatist regime of many countries.
Although "burning books to bury Confucianism" achieved the goal of Qin Shihuang's unification of the whole country, it failed to maintain the rule of Qin Shihuang's family over China for a long time. The fundamental reason for this is that Qin's guiding ideology failed to govern the country by legalism, which laid the foundation for the later Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty to respect Confucianism.
2. The influence of "Confucianism alone":
(1) At present, many people in China have a bad view of Confucianism. They think that Confucianism is a great evil in ancient China. I think it is mainly because the rulers reject Confucianism, because once one cultural thought is rejected, other cultural thoughts cannot develop normally. Since Dong Zhongshu's suggestion was adopted, all the cultural thoughts regenerated in the Han Dynasty had to stand before the Confucian court for trial to judge whether they were alive or dead, or whether they were reformed. Confucian philosophy became the highest political principle of feudal system and the standard measure of cultural thought. All doctrines that conflict with this principle, even if they contain more truth than Confucianism, will be destroyed from beginning to end.
(2) Because of the "exclusive respect" for Confucianism, the central government only attaches importance to Confucian scholars, and only selects officials among them, so that only Confucian scholars have the opportunity to actually display them. In ancient times, the purpose of people's study was how to realize this great ambition, and they had to go into politics. Therefore, many scholars put Confucianism as an official school. There is a record in "Biography of Han Scholars": "It has been more than a hundred years since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty established a doctor of the Five Classics, opened a disciple, and advised him to be an official. At the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty, practitioners were immersed in it. Once you say more than one million words, there will be more than a thousand masters, and the road to benefit will be covered. " Even if some people die after hundreds of poverty, they have to find a chapter to find a sentence for their official career in order to get ahead.
(3) The more people read Confucianism, the fewer scholars of other theories, so even those who don't talk about fame and fortune will give up their pursuit because of the attitude that society doesn't recognize. Therefore, the exclusive admiration of Confucianism has brought excellent opportunities for its development, but it has closed the door to the development of other theories. This may also be the root of China's feudal rule over China for two thousand years. In China's feudal thoughts for two thousand years, the thought of attaching importance to agriculture and restraining commerce has always been dominant. This is largely caused by the Confucian concept of good nature. Economics has not been developed in the long river of China culture, so although capitalism sprouted in China as early as the Ming Dynasty, it was not until the late Qing Dynasty that the root of development was found.
(4) The rejection of Confucianism made Confucius the Pope of the East. Whoever criticizes Confucianism is a sinner and a cultural rebel, which makes Confucianism only praised and not criticized, thus leading to the cessation of its inclusive and good development style, and even to the final "once said, there are more than one million words", which has caused the academic stagnation in China.
(5) In fact, Confucianism is not a theory of governing the country. Confucianism is more a truth of being a man, and its main object is people rather than the country. Therefore, Confucianism emphasizes all aspects of monarchical behavior, but it overemphasizes the omnipotence of monarchical power, leading to the prosperity of China for thousands of years, which is caused by the Confucian idea of ruling by man, which still affects the process of rule of law in China until now.
(6) Confucianism is extremely strict with the ethics of monarch and minister, father and son, husband and wife, and men and women, requiring people to perform their duties and get their places. Although it is not very reasonable, it is extremely beneficial to ideological and moral ethics, which is also the essence of the feudal system in China for more than two thousand years. It has laid a good foundation for today's ideological and moral construction.
Both the Qin Dynasty's "burning books to bury Confucianism" and the Western Han Dynasty's "ousting a hundred schools of thought and respecting Confucianism alone" all want to achieve political unity through ideological unity. But the influence is different: the Qin dynasty stifled ideas and destroyed culture; In the end, the loss outweighed the gain, which accelerated the demise of the Qin Dynasty. Although the Western Han Dynasty also had the bad influence of restraining thoughts, it expanded Confucianism and made Confucianism the dominant thought in feudal society. It also promotes the development of education.
In the final analysis, no matter how a dynasty treats culture, it is to better serve its rulers. If Confucianism was more suitable for the development of the Qin dynasty at that time, then there would be no "burning books to bury Confucianism" in the Qin dynasty, or "burial" would be "law" or "Tao". If Confucianism did not cater to the needs of the Western Han dynasty, then "respecting independence" would not be Confucianism. When culture adapts to society, then culture promotes the development of society, on the contrary, it will accelerate the demise of the dynasty.
Therefore, history is the foundation of history and culture. Without history, there is no history and culture. History and culture reveal the objective laws of historical development in a wider field. Everything changes with the change of the environment, and certain events will happen under certain circumstances. The emergence of "burning books to bury Confucianism" and "exclusive respect for Confucianism" are determined by their specific environment and are both means used by the ruling class to rule the people.