Dong Zhongshu helped Wang Mang in the late Western Han Dynasty to represent the Han Dynasty

Mondo History Updated on 2024-03-07

During the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu helped Wang Mang at the end of the Western Han Dynasty to represent the Han Dynasty.

Celestial and human induction originally originated from the "Shangshu Hongfan" to expound a kind of theocratic administrative thought of heavenly and heavenly monarchy, which had a decisive impact on the formation of the dominant political philosophical theory in ancient China and the theory of centralization with royal power as the core. In the period of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty, Dong Zhongshu inducted, refined and modified it into the doctrine of "heaven and man induction".

Heaven is born with the five elements of yin and yang, and people are naturally born with the characteristics of the five elements of yin and yang and communicate with the sky, which is the "number of days of people" (people's appearance and so on are matched with the number of days), because people are born in the sky, and the number of days coincides, so the sky and people can sense each other, and the induction of heaven and man is reflected in the appearance of temperament and the vision of the four voices. For example: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms: The First Master Biography (for the Three Kingdoms game, I am more enthusiastic about and like Shu, Liu Bei is the orthodox continuation of the Han Dynasty, let's use Liu Bei as an example) said that Liu Bei was seven feet five inches long, hanging his hands and knees, and Gu Zi saw his ears. This appearance is extraordinary. He also said: "There is a mulberry tree on the southeast corner of the house that is more than five zhang high, and the child is like a small car cover from a distance, and the passers all blame this tree for being extraordinary, or it is said to be a nobleman." "Liu Bei's mulberry tree is extraordinary, which belongs to the vision.

Dong Zhongshu's doctrine of "heaven and man induction" on the one hand made Confucianism win in the competition with other doctrines (the Taoist doctrine of non-action and recuperation in the early Western Han Dynasty), and laid the foundation for Confucianism to continue to grow in the future. This doctrine also had a place for the centralized rule of the emperor, giving the emperor the power to educate the people. On the other hand, the subjective connection between man and heaven is that the so-called providence cannot be violated, which leads to the flood of the study of prophecy and weft. This also provided a theoretical basis for Wang Mang to represent the Han at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, and Dong's doctrine was mainly to strengthen the centralized power of the emperor and enhance the status of Confucianism, but he did not expect the Western Han Dynasty to be replaced because of this.

For example, the Eastern Jin Dynasty Ganbao's "Sou Shen Ji" also has a record of Wang Mang's words on behalf of the Han Dynasty. Although "Sou Shen Ji" is a collection of curious stories, the stories in it are also collected by the author with time. One of the stories about Wang Mang is as follows:

Wang Mangju photographed, Liu Jing said: "Xin Dang, the pavilion chief of Linzi County, Qi County, counts the dreamers and says: 'I, the angel also. The Emperor took it seriously. That is, if you don't believe me, there should be a new well in this pavilion. The pavilion chief looked up, and there was a new well in the pavilion, and it was a hundred feet into the ground. ”

Liu Jing was a native of the late Western Han Dynasty. The Western Han Dynasty clan, a descendant of King Jing of Sugawa. When Emperor Ping was the Marquis of Guangrao. Wang Mang lived in the palace for three years, he wrote a book to offer "Fu Zhi", falsely claiming that the pavilion chief of a county in Linzi County, Qi County, Xin Dang, counted his dreams all night, and a messenger from heaven came to tell the pavilion chief, saying: "The emperor should be the real emperor", if you don't believe that there will be a well tomorrow. Wang Mang used this to proclaim himself a false emperor on the pretext of obeying the mandate of heaven. In November of the same year, the little emperor Liu Ying was abolished as emperor and the country name was changed to a new one.

At first glance at this story, it is impossible to believe that most of it is also an auspicious thing that this Guangrao Marquis Liu Jing faked in accordance with the times. Before this story, there is another auspicious time. In the fifth year of the first year of the Yuan Dynasty (6 A.D.), Xie Huan reported to Meng Tong, the magistrate of Wugong County, dug out a white stone in the well with a white stone on the top and a circle, and there was a Dan book on it: "Sue An Han Gongmang as the emperor". This time, it was more direct to dig up a stone in the ground where the writing was written, and said that it was a prophecy. Such a blunt and absurd prophecy can't be completely believed, Wang Mang also reported these visions to the Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun (it was this Empress Dowager who smashed a corner of He's Bi), after all, the Empress Dowager has held power for decades, and it is impossible to make this female politician believe in this kind of thing. However, in the last years of Xi'an, social contradictions were prominent, grain production was insufficient, and there was a great famine, the people did not have enough to eat, and the land annexation became increasingly serious. It was in this situation that at that time, Wang Mang relied on his personal charm, and his popularity was rising day by day, and these proverbs were also constantly appearing, the American Ivo. Wech's Law states that even if you already have your own opinion, if you have ten friends who think the opposite of you, it's hard not to waver. At least some people must have known that these so-called proverbs were man-made, but the instability of society at that time made the upper-class elites urgently need a Dinghai god-like figure to turn the tide.

Wang Mang's ability to fight for the Han Dynasty without bloodshed has its background and social background. "Liutao" says: The world is not the world of one person, only the Tao is dealt with. There are only Taoists living in the world, coupled with prophecies and visions, Wang Mang was expected to return at that time, but the reform failed, and the dead head was a wine vessel.

Related Pages