The Tang Dynasty's secluded fashion had two dimensions: historical and realistic.
During the pre-Qin, Han and Wei and Jin dynasties, the hermit culture developed differently and achieved one glory after anotherThe imperial court pursued a policy of seeking seclusionIt met the needs of the royal family to recognize the ancestors and respect the Tao and the sacred monarchy, and met the needs of the imperial court to eliminate differences and strive for talents, so that the popularity of the hidden fashion in the Tang Dynasty had the necessity of the times.
So what impact did the hidden innovation of the Tang Dynasty have?
The Tang Dynasty hermit style inherited the traditional hermit culture, and at the same time had its own unique style in the hermit history.
Different from other civilizations, the idea of respecting hermit has long been deeply rooted in all strata of Chinese society, creating a large number of hermit people from ancient times to the present, and promoting the formation of hermit culture. Whether it was for the purpose of staying away from the temples or for peace of mind, if the scholar class was keen on seclusion, it was bound to lead the social trend of pursuing seclusion in their time.
The pre-Qin and Wei and Jin dynasties were the two peak eras of the wind of seclusion, and the culture of seclusion flourished and was fully developed. The Tang Dynasty's hermit fashion made new progress on the basis of the glorious hermit culture of the previous generation, and due to the various needs of the Li and Tang courts to maintain their rule, it gained the impetus for continued transformation and development in the new stage.
In the tenacious stage of Chinese history, the hermit culture experienced a long period of germination and gestation, and the Qin princes contended and ushered in a thick accumulation.
In the face of disorderly and chaotic times, the scholar group explored the path of seclusion, and two mainstream modes of seclusion were developed by Confucianism and Taoism.
The phenomenon of seclusion mainly occurs among the scholars, and its occurrence has its historical inevitability. Before the Spring and Autumn Period, the problem of electing officials was basically solved by the hereditary system dominated by blood, with little mobility between classes, a stable power order, and a social environment that was not enough to nurture a real hidden fashion.
The systematization and theorization of hidden behavior should start from the collapse of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The situation in the late Warring States period was turbulent, and the custom of scholars hiding and waiting for the time was quite popular, so that they were severely criticized by Legalists, to the point of capturing and condemning the hermits.
The Qin Dynasty was short-lived, and there were a large number of hermits in society, which Xu Fuyun believes was due to the fact that "scholars around the Qin period were not interested in the world, so they hid and waited for the time."
There are many of these hermits. After the Yue Qin, in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, the situation changed again. The changes in the political situation brought about by the unification have a profound impact on the scholars, in addition to the first court, theoretically the scholars can still choose to go to the princely kingdom to take office, but unlike the Warring States, the official position of the Western Han Dynasty is higher than that of the princely state.
The range of work options for scholars has been greatly reduced. As the political situation became increasingly chaotic, Mingjiao could no longer maintain people's hearts, the influence of Confucianism tended to weaken, and the influence of Taoism increased day by day.
Since the Cao Wei Dynasty, the cultivation and guidance in the Taoist health preservation technique, such as the cultivation and guidance, tuna, and bigu, have been very popular among the scholars.
The frequent dynastic iterations that followed further stimulated the development of metaphysics. Although the Han and Tang dynasties were both prosperous and unified dynasties, unlike the relatively low atmosphere of seclusion before the middle and late Western Han Dynasty, the secluded fashion was very popular throughout the Tang Dynasty and was officially affirmed.
The Tang Dynasty inherited the tolerant attitude of the rulers since the Han Dynasty and the Han Dynasty, and continued to deepen the relationship between the narrative of hermit and the legitimacy of the dynasty's royal power since the Wei and Jin dynasties.
For the Li and Tang regimes, respecting and recruiting hermits was not only a necessary derivative measure for the ruler to demonstrate the legitimacy of Laozi's descendants, but also a necessary part of the implementation of dynastic talent policies such as the imperial examination system.
There was the Tang Dynasty, and the phased characteristics of Yinyi were closely related to the changes in the policies and political situation of the Tang Dynasty. In the late Tang Dynasty, the town of the Domain was divided into the country and was in turmoil, and in addition to playing the role of seeking officials, Yinyi partially restored its traditional purpose of avoiding disasters.
In the early years of the Tang Dynasty, the seclusion was relatively low, and the seclusion in the mountains and forests was still considered to be the authentic in the seclusion, and was widely respected by the scholar community.
However, at the time of the founding of the country, the social atmosphere was positive and enterprising, and the monarchs such as Tang Gaozu attached great importance to the scholars, and were thirsty for talents.
After the establishment of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Ji was under the edict of the former official, but he did not get the actual position, this time he came for wine, and returned a few years later due to wind illness.
Wang Ji is not a natural hermit, looking at his three retreats, it can be found that although Wang Ji has been out of line when he was an official in the Sui Dynasty, he has not yet betrayed the life trajectory of the children of the family, and he cannot be regarded as a hermit.
During the period of Gaozong, Empress Wu and Xuanzong, the imperial court advocated Taoism, and the wind of seclusion was blazing. During this period, seclusion diverged between different social classes.
In general, during the Tang Dynasty, the wind of seclusion not only did not turn sluggish, but became more and more intense, and in addition to the pure seclusion of the mountains and forests, it developed the benefits of seeking officials, reconciling work, and physical and mental use.
Due to the rich rewards given to hermits by the imperial court, as well as the popularity of Taoism and Buddhism in the whole society, the integration of hermit and official career in opposition has become an effective preparation for scholars before entering the office.
The appearance of Yiguan and Yinyi marked the maturity of the Tang Dynasty, and the scholars were hidden in other professions, holidays, and leisure, which made the Tang Dynasty Yinyi officially different from the previous generations, and got rid of the suspicion of betraying the world, and became an important part of political and social life.
After the Anshi Rebellion, the society of the Tang Dynasty faced a great turning point, and people of insight were able to gain insight into the shortcomings of the state apparatus exposed by the state apparatus, but it was difficult to turn the tide with their own strength.
Compared with the previous generation, the late Tang Dynasty lacked new characteristics, and more showed the inheritance of the hermit fashion of the predecessors. During this period, there were two main types of scholars.
The first is inherited from the Tang Dynasty, that is, the scholars choose seclusion before the release, and use seclusion as a means of preparation before entering the office. The style of seclusion in the late Tang Dynasty was limited to the turbulence of the times, with the primary purpose of avoiding disasters and the whole body, lacking the spirit of resistance to pursue personal independence, implying the appearance of decline.
Except for some scholars who followed the old practice of studying in seclusion, most of the rest of the hermits were limited by the turmoil of the current situation and passively retreated. The blazing brilliance of the hidden wind in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties period has gone downhill after three hundred years of changes in the Tang Dynasty.
There is the Tang generation, and there are countless hermits, and the hermit atmosphere is all over the government and the opposition. The style of seclusion prevailed among the scholars, up to the Dan Majesty court, down to the streets and alleys, thus influencing all aspects of the political, cultural and social life of the Tang Dynasty.
Seclusion evolved from an act of expressing the hermit's political views and life value orientation to a secular social fashion in the Tang Dynasty, and spread for a long time.
Specifically, it is manifested in:Ideologically, the people of the Tang Dynasty gradually ceased to think that only noble hermits who were secluded in the mountains, forests and pastorals were qualified to practice seclusion, and the Tang people's concept of seclusion was constantly de-serious, popularized, and routine.
Due to the change of concepts, the group of people who tried to hide gradually spread from a few scholars who loved Jiayun to Shilin, and even the entire middle and upper classes.
Even some of the royal children and official women were willing to be vassals and elegant, and promoted a group of special hermits, among which the priests and hermit women were typicalThe sinking of the act of seclusion led to the increasing interpretation of seclusion as a life guide and aesthetic orientation, as a concept of life that reconciles the body and mind with material servitude, which influenced the social life of the middle and upper classes in the Tang Dynasty.
After a long period of evolution, after the end of the early Tang Dynasty, the society as a whole still recognized the seclusion of the mountains and forests as a serious and noble gesture of will, and the hermits were a group of high-ranking people who disdained fame and fortune and official positions, and were transcendent and extraordinary.
Influenced by the secularization of Buddhism, the originally born hermit culture inevitably entered the world, and the emergence of Buddhism in the Tang Dynasty was characterized by "the objects of faith covering all social strata, the diversification of belief content, and the simplification of belief methods."
Mr. Sun Changwu believes that the concept of Taoism and immortals in the Tang Dynasty showed an overall tendency to secularization: "At the same time that Taoism tends to be secularized, the concept of immortals is gradually secularizing without shedding its sacred and transcendent nature. ”
The royal family attaches great importance to Buddhism and worships the Buddha, frequently worships the monks, and people from all walks of life have also devoted themselves to the belief and worship of Buddhism and Taoism, as a hidden culture that is deeply bound with Buddhism and Taoism and belongs to the same birth culture.
The concept of seclusion is developing in the direction of de-seriousness and utilitarianism, and the number of people who try to hide has further increased, and the number of seclusion has been rising.
Due to the strong respect for hermits in policy and employment, the concept of hermit is becoming more and more utilitarian and daily, and the number of groups who are willing to try hermit has increased, and hermit has begun to "fly into the homes of ordinary people". In addition to the scholars who had the experience of eunuchs, among the hermit groups in the Tang Dynasty, the group of priests and hermits is worth noting.
The reason why the priest chose seclusion is more similar to choosing a socially conforming and relatively decent way of life, and the color of political rebellion is very light.
Women actively choose seclusion in order to pursue personal freedom through seclusion, away from the secular family. With the generalization of seclusion, the main body of seclusion in the Tang Dynasty was further expanded, and various groups of the middle and upper classes took practical actions to pursue the pleasure of seclusion to varying degrees.
Within the ruling class, there are members of the ruling class such as Yuzhen, Jin Xian and other princesses who are monks and try to hide themselvesThere is no need to repeat the imitation of seclusion by the scholar group, hoping that seclusion has become a trend in the officialdom of the Tang Dynasty, and the civilian class is contaminated by the upper class, and the children of the Shu people are also willing to live in the mountains and forests and temples to seek seclusion.
With the expansion of the main body and the increase in the number of people, Yinyi gradually transformed from a manifestation of political resistance to a lifestyle and aesthetic tendency favored by the scholar class, and participated in the shaping and development of daily life in the Tang Dynasty.
The seclusion fashion of the Tang Dynasty generally showed a secularization tendency, and was affected by the current situation, and had the characteristics of stageization. In the early Tang Dynasty, the hermit was more inherited from the Wei and Jin dynasties, and the hermit took independence away from politics and protecting personality as the fundamental pursuit, which was also the original intention of the scholars of the past dynasties to choose seclusion.
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