Cultural characteristics of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

The Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, also known as the Three Kingdoms, the Two Jins and the Sixteen Kingdoms, the Southern and Northern Dynasties, how much do you know about the cultural characteristics of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties? The following is the cultural characteristics of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, welcome to read.

Cultural Characteristics of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

1. Cultural and artistic achievements are diverse and each has its own characteristics

Wang Xizhi of the Eastern Jin Dynasty absorbed the essence of the Han and Wei dynasties and integrated calligraphy Gu Kaizhi's figure paintings of the Eastern Jin Dynasty are graceful, lively and expressive, and full of personality.

2. Outstanding achievements in science and technology

Such as the calculation of pi, "Essentials for Elevating the People", "Shui Jing Zhu", etc.

3. The ideological field is extremely active

After Buddhism was introduced to China, it developed rapidly and played an important role in the political and economic fields in the north and south, as well as in various fields of literature and art. All are marked by the influence of Buddhism.

4. Reflects the characteristics of national integration

Important cultural achievements come from different nationalities and also reflect the styles of different nationalities.

5. Bearing the mark of separatism.

There are obvious differences between the cultures of different periods and regions. In particular, there are great cultural differences between the north and the south, such as the difference in folk song styles between the north and the south, and the gap between foreign Buddhism between the north and the south. (The south emphasizes Buddhism, while the north emphasizes form and traces. Southern Buddhist art is mostly composed of temples, and northern Buddhist art is mostly made by believers, etc.)

The reasons why culture flourished during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

A certain culture is determined by a certain social politics and economy, and also reflects the political and economic conditions at that time.

Politically, although the ethnic conflicts during this period were very intense, people of all ethnic groups gradually moved toward harmonious coexistence, and great ethnic integration occurred. At that time, various ethnic minorities that entered the Central Plains lived together with the Han people, learned from each other, and continued to integrate.

Economically, the northern economy resumed development, and the Jiangnan economy also developed during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

During this period, social thought was also extremely active, and various theories emerged simultaneously. This was another era of ideological emancipation in the history of our country after the Warring States Period and the Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought. The relative freedom and diversity of social thought and academic culture effectively promoted the development of culture in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties.

Basic characteristics of the culture of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties

1. Characteristics of conscious-oriented culture

The Yellow Turban Uprising promoted the collapse of the Eastern Han Dynasty and maintained its feudal autocratic rule The Confucian ethical code has often been greatly impacted. People's thoughts have been freed from the shackles of Confucian famous teachings, so people's independent personality and conscious spirit have been developed to a certain extent. At the same time, from the end of the Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty for about 400 years, the country was basically in an era of long-term division and separatism (the Western Jin Dynasty unified until the Eight Kings Rebellion only lasted for 8 years), frequent wars, and social unrest. At that time, every person, every family, every social and political group, every separatist regime, if they want to survive, be independent and develop, they must give full play to their subjective efforts, or give full play to the advantages of their talents, so as to benefit individual intelligence. A full display of intelligence. Coupled with the disintegration of the unified empire of the Eastern Han Dynasty, people were keen to find theories for reunification and governance. These conditions of the times not only led to the emergence of talents of all kinds, but also prompted the emergence of Confucianism, Xuanxuan, Mohism, Ming Dynasty, Dharma, Zongheng, Buddhism, Taoism and even military strategists in the academic and ideological circles, forming the so-called second era of contention among a hundred schools of thought in the history of our country.

2. Open and integrated cultural characteristics

The open cultural characteristics of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties are due to the great integration of various ethnic groups in the country, frequent cultural exchanges between China and the West, and a conscious cultural mentality. Determined by the conditions of the times. At that time, people's minds were relatively open, and the original closed state was broken. First of all, the Han people showed a positive spirit of tolerance and absorption of foreign cultures. At the same time, outstanding figures among the ethnic minorities were also keen to learn the advanced culture of the Han people. Especially in North China, it is even more obvious. The political system, economic life, etiquette and customs, academic thought, etc. are not all Han-type. Instead, Han culture is the mainstay, and all domestic ethnic minorities and foreign cultures are eclectic and inclusive. Hongfu. As early as the late Eastern Han Dynasty, the culture of the Western Regions was introduced into our country. Historically known as Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, he was good at Hu clothes, Hu tents, Hu beds, Hu seats, Hu rice, Hu Konghou, Hu flutes, and Hu dances, and all the nobles and relatives in the capital did so ("Continued Hanshu Wu Xing Zhi"). After the beginning of the Western Jin Dynasty (265-274), Chinese prime ministers still used hu beds to cook and roast barley for the Qiang people. Nobles and rich people must store these utensils to enjoy good events, and they all regarded them as the first. During the Taikang period (280-289), people generally used the felt cloth produced by the Hu people as their headbands, body belts, and hakama mouth cloths, and they learned from each other ("Book of Jin, Five Elements Chronicles"). After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, the Sixteen Kingdoms were established by the Wuhu in the north and the upper reaches of the Yangtze River. At that time, it was the first stage of ethnic integration; most of the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie, Di and Qiang people preserved their own languages, living customs and etiquette customs. Most of the feudal separatist regimes they established in Han areas had the dual nature of tribal, military and feudal rule. The organizational form of the political power was a mixed system of Hu and Han, and its official system was generally a mix of Hu and Han. The early Northern Wei Dynasty was no exception.

The land equalization system implemented later in the Northern Wei Dynasty, and the government army system implemented in the Western Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties. The former was a combination of the public ownership system of the Xianbei Tuoba clan commune and Confucian ideal politics. It emerged under the specific historical conditions of the vast land and sparsely populated area after the great chaos in the north; the latter It is a combination of Xianbei's eight-level system and the six-army system of "Zhouguan". In the political system of state power, from the Sixteen Kingdoms to the Northern Dynasties, there was always a mixture of national or local Hu and Han systems, which has been well known by historians. This is an open cultural characteristic reflected in the political system.

Language is the main tool for spreading culture. After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, the languages ??in the north became more mixed. During the Sixteen Kingdoms period, minority languages ??were popular in the north. In the early Northern Wei Dynasty, Xianbei language became popular. Although Emperor Xiaowen banned the Xianbei language during the system reform, it was limited to people under 30 years old. Xianbei people over 30 years old were not required to immediately switch to speaking Chinese. What's more, Emperor Xiaowen died only 5 years after the restructuring. After that, the restructuring was actually in a state of abortion. Therefore, the coexistence of Chinese and Xianbei languages ??in the north was inevitable.

Another example is Hu Fu. It goes without saying that during the Sixteen Kingdoms period and the early Northern Wei Dynasty, Hu people mostly wore Hu clothes. In the 19th year of Taihe reign of Emperor Xiaowen (495), the system was reorganized, and the wearing of Hu clothing was banned and Han clothing was changed. Four years later, in the first month of the 23rd year of Taihe (499), Emperor Xiaowen returned to Luoyang from Yecheng. He still saw women wearing hats and small jackets (referring to Xianbei clothing) in the car. Emperor Xiaowen asked Yuancheng, the king of Rencheng who stayed in Luoyang, "Why did Shangshu fail to observe it?" Cheng replied: "The number of writers is still less than that of those who have not written" ("The Biography of King Cheng of Rencheng" in Volume 19 of "Book of Wei"). This shows that there were not a few people wearing Xianbei crowns at that time. Soon after, Emperor Xiaowen died of illness, and the clothing reform was not complete. Hou Jing, a general from Gao Huan's tribe in the Eastern Wei Dynasty, discussed with others whether to cover his clothes on the left or on the right. The minister Jingxian Xie said: Confucius said: "Wei Guan Zhong, I was sent to the left and right." ?In this way, the right fold is correct. ?Wang Hong objected: ?The country's dragon flies over Shuoye and marches majestically in the Central Plains. The five emperors have different rituals and three or five special systems. They cover up their clothes. What's right and wrong? ? (Book of Northern Qi, Volume 25, "Biography of Wang Qi") This debate ended with the conclusion that both left and right clothing can be used, which actually reflects the cultural concept that people at the time believed that both Hu clothing and Han clothing can be used in combination.

About the music used in rituals. During the Sixteen Kingdoms and Northern Dynasties, only part of the traditional Chinese so-called Yayue Zhengyin was retained by the Zhang family regime in Liangzhou, which was acquired by the former Qin Dynasty after the Zhang family was destroyed. After the eleventh year of Taiyuan in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (386), part of it was introduced to the south, and part of it was retained in the Later Qin Dynasty. Yan Zhitui said in the 2nd year of Emperor Kaihuang's reign in the Sui Dynasty (582): "The collapse of rituals and the destruction of music come from a long time ago." Nowadays, elegant music is often played in the Hu tone? In the early Sui Dynasty, Zheng translated Dingyue's "Seven Tune", which was actually the "Seven Tones" of Su Zhipo from Qiuci during the reign of Emperor Wu of Zhou Dynasty (in "Music Chronicles", Volume 14, "Book of Sui"). At the beginning of Emperor Kaihuang's reign, the seven music parts were designated as: "Guo Ji", "Qing Shang Ji", "Korea Ji", "Tianzhu Ji", "Anguo Ji", "Qiuci Ji" and "Wenkang Ji". It is also mixed with Shule, Funan, Kangguo, Baekje, Turkic, Silla, and Japanese countries. In the great cause of Emperor Yangdi (605-618), the nine music groups were designated as "Qingyue", "Xiliang", "Qiuci", "Tianzhu", "Kangguo", "Shule", "Anguo", " Goryeo", "Li Bi", etc. Except for the two music books of "Qing Yue" and "Li Bi" of the above-mentioned nine music genres of the Sui Dynasty, which are from the Han people, the other seven music genres are all from Dongyi, Beidi, Xirong or the Western Regions and Tianzhu during the Sixteen Kingdoms and Northern Dynasties period. Moreover, Sui music had a great influence on Tang music. The openness of cultural concepts such as ritual music after the Wei and Jin Dynasties had a profound impact on the Tang Dynasty.

What best represents the concept of open culture is the huge changes in the daily life of the Han people after the spread of "Hu Bed and Hu Si" in Han people's life. From the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty to the Sui Dynasty, we have seen more information about Hu beds. At that time, Han royal families, nobles and ordinary families used Hu beds in various areas of life. You can only sit on the bed with your legs hanging down. In addition, the influence of lotus sitting (cross-legged sitting) from the east of Buddhism began to change the traditional kneeling sitting method in ancient my country. This was a major change in the daily life customs of the Han people. The sitting utensils of the ancient Han people evolved from seats on the floor to beds and couches, from couches to couches, from couches to cots, and from cots to high chairs. At the same time, the way people sit has also changed from sitting on their knees to sitting with their feet hanging high. This process of change probably started in the Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties and was completed after the middle of the Tang Dynasty (refer to my article "Hu Bed? Small Bed and Chair", see "Literary and Historical Knowledge" Issue 5, 1989). Mr. Li Ji put forward the hypothesis in the article "Kneeling, Squatting and Jiju" that the habit of kneeling and sitting was abandoned in China's daily life, probably due to the import of Hutang and the influence of the lotus lotus posture of Buddhist monks from the east. This hypothesis has been proven by historical facts.

From the perspective of academic thought, the integration of Buddhism and Chinese culture began in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Mr. Tang Yongtong pointed out in Chapter 6 "The Origin of Buddhist Metaphysics" in "The History of Buddhism in Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties" that during the more than 50 years of Wei and Jin Dynasties, a major change occurred among Chinese academic students, that is, the metaphysics of Buddhism. Mou Zi's "Lihuo Lun" was the beginning of the metaphysics of Buddhism. Zhi Qian and others promoted Mahayana Buddhism and Prajna Buddhism, advocated "original" purpose, and discussed with metaphysicians "Lao" and "Zhuang" that all things in the world are based on nothingness. consistent with the core propositions. After the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, metaphysics declined, and the metaphysics of Buddhism became more prosperous. Gu Huan of the Southern Qi Dynasty first wrote "Lun on Yi and Xia", which used the "difference between Yi and Xia" as an excuse to oppose Buddhism, which triggered a major debate between Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. In the debate, the three parties all used Confucian theory to refute each other. The result was not only unreasonable The separation between Yi and Xia devalued Buddhism, which in turn deepened the further integration of Confucianism, Xia and Buddhism. Moreover, the art of stone carving and painting, which is closely related to Buddhism, also produced brilliant results in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

In short, the abandonment of the old concept of "distinction between Yi and Xia" by the ideological circles of the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the absorption and transformation of Buddhism by Confucianism and Metaphysics, best illustrate the spirit of open cultural tolerance manifested at the highest level of ideological theory.