In China's long history, dozens of dynasties have risen and fallen like a tide, such as the Xia Dynasty, the Shang Dynasty, the Qin and Han dynasties, the Tang and Song dynasties...However, there is a seemingly mysterious law that has been used throughout history, and that is that almost no dynasty has been able to surpass the 300-year mark. In the historical epic, we have found many thought-provoking phenomena and problems.
First, we have to focus on the Great Qin Empire, which was founded by Qin Shi Huang. Since the Xia Dynasty laid the foundation stone of the dynasty, neither the Tang Dynasty nor the Qing Dynasty has been able to break through this seemingly mysterious 300-year time limit. Why is this happening?
Historians generally believe that this phenomenon is related to the system and distribution of power in ancient China. Since Qin Shi Huang, the centralized system has been gradually established, and the supremacy of imperial power has become a characteristic of the ancient Chinese political system. However, this also led to the unsmooth inheritance of imperial power. From Qin Shi Huang to later dynasties, the succession to the throne was often accompanied by internal power struggles, such as seizure of succession and abolition. This unstable transfer of power has made it easy for the DPRK and China to fall into turmoil, and "once a son of heaven and a courtier" has become the political norm.
In ancient imperial states, whether it was the Queen of England or the Emperor of Japan, there was a longer continuation than the Chinese dynasty. The reason for this lies mainly in the intensity of centralization. In China, the emperor has supreme power, and "everything in the world is decided by the top", and it is difficult for any person or institution to oppose the imperial power. This totalitarian model is prone to extremes, leading to political instability and internal power struggles.
When a dynasty is first established, the ruler is usually expected and supportive, with reform ambitions. However, as the dynasty became stable and prosperous, later leaders may gradually lose their understanding of the people's livelihood, and their concern for the poor people may be weakened, and even extravagance may be fostered. This alienation can lead to poor governance, spark social discontent, and sow the seeds of demise.
Another key factor is the issue of population. In ancient times, people were mainly engaged in agriculture and there was limited land that could be cultivated. Population growth has not kept pace with food production, resulting in a decline in arable land per capita. When the population is saturated and food is in short supply, any disaster can trigger a peasant uprising. Historically, rebellions such as the Green Forest Army, the Yellow Turban Army, and the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement were the voices of the poor peasants in rebellion.
What is even more thought-provoking is that the inflection point of the decline of every dynasty is almost always the moment when the population reaches its peak. The population of the Tang Dynasty reached 800 million, while the Ming Dynasty also reached 4300 million. The explosive growth of the population has made the shortage of land resources and food insufficient, and once a disaster occurs, social turmoil is inevitable. This has been confirmed in the decline and fall of dynasties such as the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty.
In addition, corruption was also an important cause of the decline and fall of dynasties. The heyday of the dynasty was often accompanied by the emergence of some huge greed, such as Zhao Gao of the Qin Dynasty and Liu Jin of the Ming Dynasty. These people surrounded the emperor and helped the emperor achieve their own goals, but they often became corrupt and degenerate, becoming the weakness of the dynasty. The centralized system made power too centralized, and once corruption occurred, it became extremely difficult to clean up the already corrupted places, which led to the spread of corruption throughout the dynasty.
To sum up, there are many reasons for the change of dynasty, but the shortcomings of the centralized system are the root cause. This distribution of power led to problems such as power instability, demographic pressure, and corruption, which ultimately hindered the long-term existence of the dynasty. The precipitation of history tells us that the cycle of the rise and fall of dynasties is not only the law of history, but also a profound reflection on the human political system.