Northern Wei influenced the Sui and Tang dynasties? What is the significance of Emperor Xiaowen's relocation of the capital?
The new copy can be: The Sui and Tang Empires after the Qin and Han dynasties were empires with a complete system. The formation of this system is closely related to the accumulation of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
The "Juntian Order" implemented by Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty laid the foundation for the later government military system, which was the key to the Western Wei and Northern Zhou dynasties being able to defeat the Northern Qi in the middle and lower reaches of the fertile Yellow River and unify the north.
In addition, in the process of Sinicizing and moving the capital, Emperor Xiaowen also explored a new path for the integration of foreign and Han people, laying a solid foundation for the empire in later generations. The profound meaning behind all this is that the "Juntian Order" solves the problem of land distribution.
After the Northern Wei Dynasty ruled the Central Plains, the economic system at the bottom quickly transitioned from nomadic herding to farming. The promulgation of the "Juntian Order" was an important historical event to promote the agricultural system of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
Although this process buried the hidden dangers, its impact was far-reaching, laying the foundation for the establishment of the later Sui and Tang Empires.
The portrait of Emperor Xiaowen Tuoba Hong shows that when the Tuoba clan first arrived in the Central Plains, they regarded the Han people as human shields on the battlefield, believing that they were only building "meat fences" on the battlefield.
However, the implementation of the "Juntian Order" changed the Tuoba clan's view of the Han people and began to use them for agricultural production. The system developed by Tuoba Hong required a deep understanding of the prerequisites for agricultural production methods, Han production methods and social relations, as well as land distribution at the time.
The Northern Wei Dynasty's "Juntian Order" stipulated that all the people who were within the household registration of the imperial court had the right to obtain land. Among them, men over the age of 15 can get 40 acres of "open fields" and 20 acres of "mulberry fields"; Women can get 20 acres of "open fields", but there are no "mulberry fields".
The so-called "open field" refers to the right to use the land, but it needs to be returned to the state after the death of the individual; And "Kuwada" is "Yongye Field", which can be bought and sold freely.
Those who acquired the land were responsible for paying the land tax, household surveys, and providing labor for the imperial court.
Although the ancient farming scene looks simple on the surface, the hidden ideas behind it are quite complex. The reason why Emperor Xiaowen was able to implement the "dictation of fields" was because the northern part of the country was vast and sparsely populated, which was inadvertently created by the Tuoba clan after ruling the Central Plains.
During the reign of the Tuoba clan, in order to maintain the same mobility as in Saiwai, they occupied a large amount of farmland for hunting and grazing, while continuing to train war horses. The earlier reason was due to the protracted wars that began in the late Han Dynasty, which led to the death or migration of a large number of people in the north.
The state is able to distribute land only if it has no owner. The far-sighted plan behind the "Juntian Order" was not to implement the practice of "attacking the landlords and dividing the land", but to divide the wasteland.
The crux of this policy is that the Junda Decree does not address the redistribution of land.
The land issue was a major problem in the Northern Wei Dynasty's battle to unify the north, and many regimes in history could not afford the huge impact of land redistribution. When it came to land ownership, the imperial court intervened relatively little.
Wang Mang had attempted to impose "wangtian" in an attempt to limit the distribution of land through imperial power, but this practice sparked a strong revolt that eventually led to the fall of the new dynasty.
However, the implementation of the "Uniform Land Order" avoids the problems caused by land redistribution and is more relaxed in its implementation. According to the "Junda Order", "Kuango" and "Sasago" were treated separately.
In sparsely populated areas, known as "wide townships", those who wish to settle here can be allocated more fields, and in some places they can even double or triple the amount of fields, and farmers can practice fallow and rotation.
On the contrary, the situation of the "narrow township" is the opposite, because there is no large amount of wasteland to be allocated, ** only "open fields" are given, not "mulberry fields".
Although Wang Mang's policy of equalizing land did not touch the existing interests of the wealthy and large landowners, it posed a threat to them, so they were naturally dissatisfied. However, by distributing the land to everyone, the imperial court attracted the tribals and tenants, and turned them into imperial households, rather than slaves for large families.
In order to achieve this goal, the imperial court instituted a policy of "slaves and maids giving land", so that slaves could get open fields, even if they were not free people. In this way, the wealthy families can receive more land as compensation, so the number of wealthy families who oppose the policy of equalizing land will be reduced.
"Establishing three chiefs" is a means to improve the census, but it is not enough to ensure that everything is in order, and supporting measures are needed to ensure it. To this end, the imperial court introduced two supporting measures in the tenth year of Taihe (486), namely "Lisanchang" and "Xinhu Modulation".
Through the establishment of party chiefs, district chiefs, and neighborhood chiefs, communities were reconstructed on the basis of land, and a community management mechanism was established so that the "three chiefs" could recount their household registration. However, the new household adjustment standard has been greatly reduced, so that one household that originally needed to bear five horses of silk and two quintals of millet now only needs to bear two horses of silk and one quintal of millet.
In this way, the burden on the peasants who were dependent on the big landlords could be lightened, and they would be more willing to accept land grants from the state.
At the time of the implementation of the Juntian Decree (485), the number of households in the Northern Wei Dynasty was less than 2 million, however, today, 35 years later, the number of households in the imperial court has exceeded 5 million.
This surge in population was not due to natural growth, but to the implementation of the "Uniform Land Order", which brought farmers back into the management of the peasants who had been out of the sight of the state.
The main purpose of this policy is to master more labor. During these three decades, the number of yeoman farmers increased exponentially, and their contribution to the country increased with it.
This trend changed from quantitative to qualitative, and eventually changed the pattern of Northern Wei society. Originally, the Tuoba regime only used the Han people as a "meat fence" in the war, but now they have realized that only the living Han people can play a greater role.
As a result, more than 5 million peasant households became an important pillar of the state's finances, and the Northern Wei Dynasty's dependence on agricultural production increased day by day. On the basis of these changes, Emperor Xiaowen decided to implement his next important strategy: moving the capital.
Pingcheng, the capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty, was located at the junction of the northern grasslands and agriculture, while Luoyang was located in the hinterland of the Central Plains. The decision to move the capital was certainly based on a number of factors, but whatever the reason, the impact of the Juntian Order and the relocation of the capital on the structure of the Northern Wei regime is indicative of the growing dependence of the Northern Wei on agriculture in the Central Plains.
Shizu failed to defeat Rouran and could only rely on the Great Wall to defend it, which increased Rouran's strength and posed a threat to Pingcheng. With the growth of population and the increase in living expectations, food crises in Pingcheng occurred frequently, and the imperial court spent a lot of material resources every year to transport grain from the south, and the burden on the state increased.
Faced with these problems, Emperor Xiaowen had to think deeply about the possibility of moving the capital.
The new copy is as follows: Emperor Xiaowen once chose to set up the capital in Yecheng, the capital of Cao Wei, because the agricultural production conditions there were better than Luoyang, and the geographical location was also close to Luoyang.
However, despite the fact that Yecheng was built in better conditions than Luoyang from a military and economic point of view, Emperor Xiaowen eventually chose to move the capital to Luoyang. This is because Emperor Xiaowen believed that he was no longer the leader of the Xianbei people, but a Chinese emperor, and he had the determination to rule the north.
By setting up his capital in Luoyang, he hoped to strengthen his integration with Han culture and further consolidate his dominance. Thus, although the relocation of the capital was initially motivated by military and economic considerations, it was culture that ultimately drove this decision.
Tuoba Hong was bent on moving the capital to Luoyang, he knew that this was the residence of the emperors of previous dynasties, but he also knew that many of the Xianbei people were reluctant to go south. So he led a large army south to conquer the Southern Dynasty in order to make everyone think that it was a difficult journey, and the soldiers began to hesitate and persuade Tuoba Hong not to go to the south again.
Tuoba Hong pretended to be reluctant and stopped in Luoyang. Since he was already on the southern expedition, in order to save face, he could not let the army return to Pingcheng, so he decided to stay in Luoyang.
Tuoba Hong knew very well that staying in Pingcheng would be bound by the traditional forces of the Xianbei people, and he also knew that moving the capital to Luoyang would cause great resistance. Therefore, while building Yecheng, he transferred the army from Pingcheng, creating favorable conditions for moving the capital to Luoyang.
After moving the capital to Luoyang, his policy orientation was very clear, and his methods were also very tough. He wanted to quickly sinicize Xianbei and establish contact with the Han people in the newly ruled area. Emperor Xiaowen's sinicization policy has both "forbidden Hu language" and "forbidden Hu clothes".
Not only Xianbei costumes are prohibited, but also other ethnic costumes. From vision to hearing, it is the manifestation of the sinicization of the Northern Wei Dynasty.
There is a close relationship between the change of surname and language of the Northern Wei Dynasty, because the "Hu surname" is too conspicuous and has always been a key factor in distinguishing and discriminating against the Hu people.
If they did not change their surnames, they would not be able to gain the respect of the Han Chinese. "Tuoba" is the pronunciation of the Hu language, so he ordered to change his surname to "Yuan", and changed his imperial name from "Tuoba Hong" to "Yuan Hong", and the name of the country from "Tuoba Wei" to "Yuan Wei".
The edict clearly stated that "if the surname is repeated, it must be changed", which is to eliminate the inconsistency between the compound surname and the Han Chinese custom. In addition, the edict also pointed out that "Wei Zhixian" was the "Yellow Emperor", and regarded the Yellow Emperor of the Central Plains as the ancestor of Xianbei, which was an extremely radical reform, with the aim of completely changing the identity of the Xianbei people.
The reform of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty covered many aspects, from the sinicization of language, clothing, and surnames, to the Western Jin Dynasty of the official system, to the formulation of the law of Wei Law, which profoundly influenced the later Tang Dynasty.
Emperor Xiaowen resolutely abolished the traditional custom of the Xianbei people, "worshipping the sky in the western suburbs", and instead adopted the "Zongmiao" and "Taimiao" of the Han nationality, which is not only the abandonment of the foundation of national beliefs, but also the respect and inheritance of ancestors.
The impact of this reform was of great historical significance to both the Northern Dynasties and the later Sui and Tang dynasties.
Emperor Xiaowen foresaw the controversy surrounding the Xianbei change of serving the pottery maid, but he did not anticipate that his son, the crown prince Yuansui, would become the staunchest opponent of Sinicization.
Yuan Sui took the opportunity of Emperor Xiaowen to go to Songshan to worship, killed Gao Daoyue, who supported Sinicization, and then led his army back to Pingcheng. This surprised Emperor Xiaowen, and the families who did not want to be sinicized fell to the prince one after another, forming a strong opposition force.
Mingtang Park in the Northern Wei Dynasty literally means that the crown prince Yuan Sui gave up the important task given to him by his father, not only went to the old capital in the north, but also betrayed his throne. Therefore, Emperor Xiaowen decreed that the crown prince should be deposed and given to death.
All of this was considered a failed coup d'état, because Mu Tai and Lu Rong wanted to install a new emperor in Pingcheng after the defeat of Yuan Sui, believing that Emperor Xiaowen had essentially become a "foreigner" and that a "foreigner" could not become the leader of the Tuoba clan.
However, Emperor Xiaowen paid a heavy price for this, he lost his crown prince and even almost lost the throne. However, he also paid off from it.
He had the support of the great tribes of the North. Although these big clans are ostensibly harmonious with Emperor Xiaowen, they don't really cooperate in reality. And Emperor Xiaowen succeeded in winning the support of these clans through the means of sinicization.
Yuan Hong, a non-Han person, won the approval of the Han people in Luoyang, which made the attitude of the family towards him change significantly. Yuan Hong and his brothers were all married to the northern clans, such as the Fanyang Lu clan, the Qinghe Cui clan, the Xingyang Zheng clan, the Taiyuan Wang clan, and the Longxi Li clan.
Because the family was afraid of the strength of the Xianbei people, they did not object to marrying with the Northern Wei royal family. In the process of marrying with the family, Yuan Hong imitated the Han family structure and established the Xianbei aristocratic system.
He put forward the requirement of "self-determined surname clan", distinguishing between nobles and poor families, and the "Xianbei Eight Surnames" gave priority to establishing a "surname clan". Talent selection is based on family name. Only the descendants of the "surname clan" can sit in important positions, and those who do not belong to the "surname clan" can only serve in the lower ranks.
Although the Xianbei Eight Surnames are nobles, in the traditional Xianbei society, the gap between them and other families is not large, and they do not have enough power to monopolize the promotion of **.
The Han family, on the other hand, was developed by the family, and when the family was strong enough to a certain extent, for the sake of profit, it would slowly encroach on the power of the imperial court, and even monopolize and exclude others.
The sinicization of Yuan Hong's Xianbei surname: In historical comparison, Yuan Hong's behavior is extremely unique. His"Talent acquisition"The range is strictly limited and only allowed from specific"Family name"selection of talents.
This practice is contrary to"Talent acquisition"'s original intention was to select talents to serve the imperial court, but he paid more attention to his background, and there were only a few"Only"to be recognized.
This seemingly strange practice actually had a positive impact on Northern Wei politics. Since then, the Xianbei people have a clear distinction between the families and can match the Han people's families.
In short, Yuan Hong succeeded in creating the upper class of the Xianbei people in a short period of time, and this society could be compared with the upper class of the Han people"The door is right"to communicate and interact.
Thus, through class integration, a new group was created that transcended national boundaries and was the strongest supporter of the regime.
The relationship between the Mendi and the Han people in the lacquer paintings of the Northern Wei Dynasty is both Xianbei and Han, and the relationship between the Mendi Xianbei and the Mendi Han people surpasses the relationship between the non-Mendi Xianbei. The connection between the Mendi Han people and the Han Han people is far less close than that between the Mendi Han people and the Mendi Xianbei.
The fact that such a large-scale and revolutionary policy must have been strong and implemented shows that there is both a decisive and delicate character in his character, and he shows a rare leadership style.
Judging from the impact of these policies, some people have reservations about Emperor Xiaowen's evaluation, because although he formulated many radical policies, if he had not done so at that time, the Northern Wei rule might have been longer, but in the long run, Emperor Xiaowen enabled the continuation of Han culture in the Central Plains, greatly reduced the impact of foreign invasions on the Han people, created a new model of integration between foreign races and Han people, and established a stable and effective production and resource allocation system for later generations.
Although it laid a hidden danger for the collapse of the Northern Wei Dynasty, it also made a significant contribution to the establishment of the Sui and Tang Empires.