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1. Wei-Jin style and nine-grade Zhongzheng system

"Demeanor" was originally a word used to evaluate characters in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, people's evaluation of characters shifted from their moral demeanor to their appearance, and then to their spiritual temperament. Celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties had a speech and behavior that was different from popular customs, or even different from any historical period. Style is not just about personal cultural quality. For a certain social class, style embodies their outlook on life and world view, and shapes their social image. It is not only a political and cultural phenomenon, but also a profound It profoundly affects people's psychology and behavior, thus forming a unique social phenomenon of this era. The Seven Sons of Jian'an, the Zhengshi Celebrities, the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest, etc., exactly reflect the spirit of the times among the celebrities of the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

The style of Wei and Jin Dynasties is a kind of charming and influential personality beauty pursued by scholars in Wei and Jin Dynasties, or it is the artistic life they pursue. They use their words, deeds, poems, and art to artisticize their own lives. This is Emerging in the context of the metaphysics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the formation of the metaphysics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties changed the life pursuits, lifestyles and values ​​of the scholar-bureaucrats. The conditions that constitute the style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties are: metaphysics, insight, wonderful appreciation, and affection. Its external characteristics It is: enlightenment, broad-mindedness, sincerity, representative figures are: Tao Yuanming, Wang Xizhi, and the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest, etc.

1. The age of confusion

The Three Kingdoms and the Two Jin Dynasties were an era in which unified dynasties disappeared. From the end of the Han Dynasty to the Wei and Jin Dynasties, class conflicts and social contradictions continued to worsen, and the ruling class fought against each other, causing social unrest and unstable political situations. The political corruption in the late Eastern Han Dynasty triggered the Yellow Turban Uprising. Then the warlords separated themselves, and the situation of the Three Kingdoms emerged. In the Western Jin Dynasty, although unification was achieved, the "Eight Kings Rebellion" broke out soon. The northern nomads took the opportunity to invade, and the rule of the Western Jin Dynasty also ended, and the Central Plains became a place where various ethnic groups fought. Battlefield. After the Jin Dynasty moved south, they established the Eastern Jin Dynasty, which was relatively peaceful. However, due to the constant fighting within the ruling group and the rise of peasant uprisings, Liu Yu finally replaced the Sima family and established the Liu Song Dynasty.

These chaotic and painful historical facts made the celebrities at that time unable to think about governance and survive in troubled times, which had a huge impact on culture, thought and social atmosphere. Those who followed the rules and those who were sanctimonious seemed to have become a joke. , the power of tradition disappears invisibly, and more and more famous people choose to rebel in the face of a hopeless tomorrow. Some people pretend to be crazy and avoid the world, wandering in sobriety and intoxication, and getting lost in pain and madness. So there is the so-called The "Wei and Jin style". When reading "Shishuo Xinyu", what you feel is the boldness and uninhibitedness that are incompatible with the entire feudal rule period. The book contains: Liu Lingheng indulged in drinking, or took off his clothes naked in the house, and was ridiculed by others. Then Ling said: "I use the heaven and the earth as my building, and my rooms as my clothing. Why do you, gentlemen, come into my world?" Such dissolute behavior has gradually become a trend. "They are like animals." Among celebrities, there are even men who pursue a feminine appearance, put on makeup, and "dress like women," which is a deformed social phenomenon.

If the Wei and Jin Dynasties are an untouchable ancient myth, then that creative movement that took place on the West Coast of the United States is still so deeply connected to the word "America" ​​40 years later. It is a country that seems to have just dispersed. There seems to be no contradiction between its failure and its continuation. It still permeates the ideological culture of Western society. The anti-war movement, student radical movement, and civil rights movement accompanied the ideals brewed by 400,000 people at Woodstock. Alcohol, accompanied by "hippie" group villages, accompanied by "personal matters are political matters" feminism, accompanied by smoky marijuana, accompanied by the slogans of "love and peace", they can sting the entire system. Moral models, economic machines and political lies. With a certain baby boom, there will be not only those "young people with long hair wandering the streets", but also self-discovery, social vigilance, and the direction of the national military. and suspicion of political leadership.

From today's perspective, these two turbulent and confusing histories are full of deep helplessness, but these stories, whether they happened thousands of years ago or from foreign countries, always bring us a sense of fascination.

2. Peach Blossom Spring

The drunken conversations of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove", Tao Yuanming's pastoral life and the Peach Blossom Land in his dreams, what supports their spiritual world? What leads them on their journey like moths flying into the flame?

Celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties all paid attention to the purity of the spiritual world, ignored fame, fortune and wealth, were broad-minded in heart, and dissolute in behavior. This reflected the challenge of the entire era to traditional ethics and dissatisfaction with decadent culture. The thoughts of Lao and Zhuang are the sharpest weapons.

The most special ideology of the Wei and Jin Dynasties was metaphysics. The thoughts of Lao and Zhuang could allow people to escape from the disputes of reality and return to nature and themselves. However, Confucianism fell into a contradiction: it has been unable to become the norm and mainstream of society in this turbulent era.

But it cannot completely disappear from people's minds, so there is the metaphysics of "supporting Taoism and incorporating Confucianism, and Confucianism and Taoism merge".

"Celebrities in the Wei and Jin Dynasties love Laozi and Zhuangzi. He Yan has "Wuwei Lun", Wang Bi has "Laozi Zhuangzhu", Ruan Ji has "Dazhuang Lun", Guo Xiang has "Zhuangzi Zhuangzhuang", and Ji Kang claims to be 'Laozi, the teacher of Zhuang Zhouwu'.

Ye'" ("Summary of National History")

What truly reflects the spiritual characteristics of the "Wei and Jin style" is the style of words and deeds that is not burdened by external things and is straightforward: Wang Ziyou lives in the shade of a mountain, sleeps heavily in the snow at night, opens a room, and pours wine. Looking around is bright.

However, because I was hesitant, I chanted Zuo Si's "Poem of Zhao Yin". Suddenly I recalled that Dai An was on the way, and he took a small boat to go there at night. He passed by the place and arrived, but he didn't make a door and returned. When people asked him the reason, the king said

: "I originally traveled in a hurry, but when my excitement was exhausted, I came back. Why should I meet Dai!" (Shishuo Xinyu)

Zhuangzi's natural and simple aesthetics shows us a tranquil and simple natural artistic conception. It requires people to get rid of artificiality, advocates returning to nature, and adhering to their own simple nature. In his view, what is in line with natural nature is beautiful.

Nature is beauty. Tao Yuanming described his quiet and simple life, and wrote about the refined and transcendent life, which corresponds to the artistic realm of Taoism: "There is no vulgar charm in young people, and nature loves hills and mountains. By mistake, one falls into the dust net, and one is gone.

Ten years ago. Birds lingered in the forest, and fish in ponds missed their old abyss. They opened up the wilderness in the south, and returned to their fields. The square house was more than ten acres, and there were eight or nine thatched houses. The back eaves were shaded by elms and willows, and the peach and plum blossoms were in front of the hall. The distant village was warm.

There is smoke in the ruins. Dogs bark in the deep alleys. Roosters crow on top of the mulberry trees. The courtyards are dust-free and there are plenty of empty rooms. After being in a cage for a long time, you can return to nature. (Part 1 of "Returning to the Garden and Living in the Fields")"; "Conclusion"

The cottage is in a human environment, and there is no noise of carriages and horses. I ask you what you can do, but my mind is far away. I am picking chrysanthemums under the eastern fence, and I can leisurely see the Nanshan Mountain. The mountain air is getting better day and night, and the birds are flying back and forth. There is a true meaning in this, I want to discern it.

I have forgotten my words. (Part 5 of "Drinking")

This way of escaping from reality is chosen and pursued by many celebrities. It is the best way for them to keep themselves clean: it not only reveals their dissatisfaction with those in power, it is safer, and it is also in line with the values ​​​​of Lao and Zhuang Thought against utilitarianism. They also

Yearning for a utopian "Peach Blossom Land": no king, no ministers, self-cultivation and self-weaving, carefree.

But reality stings the dream: in order to eliminate dissidents, Cao Cao killed famous people such as Kong Rong and Yang Xiu; when the Wei and Jin regimes changed, the Cao family and the Sima family fought desperately, and the victims were He Yan, Ji Kang, and Xia Hou

Xuan and others, in the Jin Dynasty, the political environment continued to deteriorate, so that "there were few celebrities who were complete" (Book of Jin Ruan Ji Biography). They did not dare to comment on politics. In order to fill the spiritual gap, it became popular to talk exclusively about metaphysics.

The content is mainly the "Three Mysteries" of "Zhouyi", "Laozi" and "Zhuangzi", which breaks through the "exclusive respect for Confucianism" and combines Confucianism and Buddhist thought, reaching a philosophical peak.

Pursuing a lifestyle beyond the secular world, with strong cultural suspicion and helplessness to avoid the world, the desire to keep the soul pure and the idea of ​​returning to nature, these are the celebrities of the Wei and Jin Dynasties...

Three, the beauty of personality

The style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, in the eyes of many people, is a true style of celebrities. The so-called true celebrities have their own style, starting from the talented scholars He Yan and Wang Bi in the Zhengshi period to the famous Zhulin celebrities Ji Kang, Ruan Ji, Junxiu Wang Yan and Yue.

As far as Jiangzuo leaders Wang Dao and Xie An are concerned, they are all clear, stern and clear, showing a "smoky and desolate" and "self-admiring" demeanor. They are almost like immortals and are admired by later generations.

The style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties was a personality expression of the ideology of the gentry at that time and became the aesthetic ideal of the time. The style celebrities advocated nature, detached themselves from things, were straightforward and unrestrained, and admired their style. The Jin Dynasty repeatedly invited ministers to invite

He served as an official in the Right Army of the King, but was repeatedly rejected. I think it is precisely because of his transcendent spirit that he "holds a cup to win the victory and sings about Zhuang Lao from afar", "takes lightness as economy", likes drinking, does not care about worldly affairs, and regards seclusion as elegance.

Only a philosophical view of human affairs can create the legendary "Lanting Preface".

However, the reason why the style of the Wei and Jin Dynasties was often demoted in the past dynasties is probably because these celebrities drank too much and lived in a state of intoxication; secondly, they went too far and went against common sense; and thirdly, their talk was harmful to the country. According to the legend of the "Seven Sages in the Bamboo Grove"

One of them, Liu Ling, indulged in drunkenness and indulged in drunkenness. He often carried coffins and drank heavily, and he was naked in the house. Everyone sneered at him, but he retorted: "I use the heaven and the earth as my house, and the house as my clothes. Why do you want to get into it?"

Come into my crotch? These celebrities made elixirs and took medicine in order to seek immortality. They liked to wear wide robes with long sleeves and did not wash them for a long time. Therefore, they were prone to lice. Therefore, "talking about the lice" was a very elegant act at the time.

In fact, the scholar-bureaucrat spirit of the complementary Confucianism and Taoism, which started with the Wei and Jin Dynasty styles, fundamentally laid the foundation of the personality of Chinese intellectuals and had a profound influence. However, the Wei and Jin Dynasty styles also brought disadvantages, and many people followed the fashion.

, the mood is not as heavy as that of Ji Kang and Ruan Ji, but I also learn from their openness. In fact, the love of life, self-discovery and affirmation of young people today are in the same vein as the values ​​​​of the Wei and Jin Dynasties in the late Eastern Han Dynasty.

Nowadays, young people's pursuit of beauty, elegance, and personality complements the aesthetics of the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

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Nine-grade Zhongzheng system

【basic concepts】

The Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System is an important official selection system during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. Also known as the Nine-Rank Officials Law, it is divided into nine levels and is used as the basis for the government to select officials. Zhongzheng: prestigious recommended officials, the level of talents is determined by

They assessed that Emperor Wen of Wei Cao Pi adopted Chen Qun's opinions in order to win over the nobles. On the eve of Cao Pi's usurpation of the Han Dynasty, that is, in the first year of Yankang (220 years), Chen Qun, the official secretary of the Wei Dynasty, formulated it. This system gradually became complete in the Western Jin Dynasty, and was further developed in the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

There have been some changes. This system was founded in the Cao Wei Dynasty, developed and matured in the Jin Dynasty, declined in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, and was abolished in the Sui Dynasty, and then the imperial examination system was formed.

[Edit this paragraph][Setting method]

Taking the system of Wei and Jin as an example, its main contents are:

First, Zhongzheng was set up in each county, and later in each state, Grand Zhongzheng was set up. Zhongzheng in prefectures and counties can only be served by locals, and most of them are concurrently held by current central officials. The person who serves as Zhongzheng is usually the second or highest grade among the nine grades. County Zhongzheng

At the beginning of the Zhongzheng period, he was recommended by the chiefs of each county. In the Jin Dynasty, it was changed to the recommendation of the state Zhongzheng. The appointment power of the Zhongzheng was in the Situ Mansion. Zhongzheng in all prefectures and counties had subordinates, which were called "visitors". Ordinary figures could be evaluated by subordinates, while important figures could be evaluated by Zhongzheng.

Review in person.

The main function of Zhongzheng is to evaluate people. There are three criteria for it: family background, morality, and talent. Family background is also called "book family" and "book world", which refers to the family prestige and father's official rank of the person being evaluated. Zhongzheng only evaluates the character's morality and talent.

Make a general comment, called "Zhuang". For example, during the Cao Wei Dynasty, Zhongzheng Wang Jia "zhuang" Ji Mao was "excellent in virtue and capable". In the Western Jin Dynasty, Zhongzheng Wang Ji "zhuang" Sun Chu was "talented, talented and outstanding."

"Qun". Zhongzheng makes a grade on the characters based on their family background and talents, which is called "grade". Grades are divided into nine grades, namely, top, top, top, middle, top, bottom, top, middle, and middle.

Lower, lower upper, lower middle, lower lower. But there are only two categories, namely upper grade and lower grade. No one can get the first grade, and it is in name only, so the second grade is actually the highest grade. The third grade can still be regarded as high grade (upper grade) in the early Western Jin Dynasty, and later on

Demoted to a lower grade (lower grade).

The results of the Zhongzheng evaluation are submitted to the Situ Mansion for review and approval, and then sent to the Ministry of Personnel as the basis for selecting officials. The character grade evaluated by Zhongzheng is also called "rural character" and is closely related to the official career of the person being evaluated. The official character of the official must match his hometown character.

Accordingly, the starting point for becoming an official (also known as "an official") for those with high rural character is often "upright official", and they are promoted quickly and are respected by others; while the starting point for becoming an official for those with low rural character is often "turbulent official" and they are promoted.

He is also slow and despised by others.

As usual, the evaluation figures of Zhongzheng are adjusted once every three years, but Zhongzheng can also promote or demote the evaluated persons at any time. After a person's local rank rises or falls, his official rank and official position will often change accordingly. Because of the Zhongzheng Ranking

The titles are all written on yellow paper and hidden in Situ's Mansion, which is called "Huang Ji". Therefore, any products that are demoted or duplicated must go to Situ's Mansion to correct the yellow paper. In order to enhance the authority of Zhongzheng, the government also prohibits those reviewed from filing false claims.

However, Zhongzheng's products are illegal, and the government must investigate his responsibility.

[Edit this paragraph][Reason for establishment]

The nine-grade Zhongzheng system is the result of inheriting and reforming the official selection system of the Eastern Han Dynasty. The selection of officials in the Eastern Han Dynasty was mainly based on Confucian moral standards of conduct. The evaluation of the clan and township party became the main way for the government to select officials (the specific methods were inspection, recruitment, and even recruitment).

The only basis. The chaos at the end of the Han Dynasty caused the migration of people, which brought difficulties to the evaluation of villages. It was impossible to review the villages one by one. In the more than 20 years since Cao Cao was in power, the employment of people "depends on the heart" and "each draws his own merits."

There are a lot of situations like this. However, the village evaluation has not been completely abandoned. It is said in history that when Cao Cao pacified Jingzhou, he asked Han Song, a famous local scholar, to "examine the good and bad people of the state and promote them"; it is also known as presiding over the election for Cao Cao.

Cui Yan and Mao Jie "generalized Qi Qing Yi for more than ten years." The so-called "General Qi Qing Yi" is to control and balance the Qing Dynasty in various places. Cao Cao did not generally deny the Xianglv Review, but only opposed the issues arising from the Xianglv Review in the late Han Dynasty.

The first way he corrected it was to advocate "meritism" to oppose hypocritical morals and inconsistency with name and reality; second, to suppress the glitz and private manipulation of elections by cronies, and strive to control the power of elections in the hands of the government. For example, Han Songzhi Tiaopin

The people in Jingzhou are different from the rural evaluations controlled by celebrities in the late Han Dynasty, and are more similar to the situation in which Zhongzheng was appointed by the government and was responsible to the government. Many characteristics of the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng system had already sprouted during Cao Cao's reign. Cao Pi,

Chen Qun further institutionalized it.

[Edit this paragraph][Development History]

At the beginning of the establishment of the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System, the criteria for evaluating characters were family background, morality, and talent. Liang Dynasty historian Shen Yue even said that it was "based on judging the merits of talents, not the superiority or inferiority of worldly elites." But because

In the Wei and Jin Dynasties, those who served as Zhongzheng were usually of the second rank, and the second rank had the right to participate in the election of Zhongzheng. Almost all those who obtained the second rank were from aristocratic families, so the aristocratic families completely controlled the right to select officials. Therefore, in the process of Zhongzheng,

The standard of talent and virtue was gradually ignored, while family background became more and more important, and even became the only criterion. By the Western Jin Dynasty, a situation was finally formed in which "there are no poor families in the upper grades, and no common people in the lower grades." The nine-rank Zhongzheng system not only served to maintain and consolidate the rule of clans

It is an important tool and itself is an important part of the clan system. By the Southern Dynasties, in Zhongzheng's evaluation, even the rank of the father's ancestors was not important. What was valued was only the name of the distant ancestors in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and the distinction between blood and blood was not important.

The family name only needs to be checked in the genealogy, and the Zhongzheng rank becomes an insignificant routine. During the Sixteen Kingdoms and Northern Dynasties, due to the nature of minority rule in each political power, the role of the nine-rank Zhongzheng system cannot be compared with that of the two Jin and Southern Dynasties. Later Zhao was the leader

Shi Le once cleared the ninth rank, and Shi Hu also restored the privilege of exemption from military service to prominent families in the Yong and Qin states, but it seems that the position of Zhongzheng was not set up. In the early and middle periods of the Northern Wei Dynasty, the ninth rank Zhongzheng system was not implemented. Cui Hao once wanted to resume the practice of distinguishing clan names, so he was killed

Emperor Xiaowen restructured the system and established the nine-level Zhongzheng system. However, after the Heyin Revolution, this system became a mere formality. In the Sui Dynasty, with the decline of the clan system, this system was finally abolished.

[Edit this paragraph][Related comments]

At first, this system was dedicated to solving the problem of unifying the selection of officials in the imperial court and the unification of village deliberation. It was a continuation of the tradition of official selection in the Han Dynasty and an inheritance of Cao Cao’s employment policy. However, at the turn of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, due to the large and small middle and high officials being replaced by various states and counties, Monopolized by the "gentry with surnames", they favored gentry figures when assessing grades. The division of nine grades has deviated from the principle of "regardless of family status". In the next three hundred years, there was a saying that "the upper grade has no poor family, the lower grade has no poor family" The powerful gentry had a monopoly on political power, and the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System had always been a bureaucratic selection system to protect the hereditary political privileges of the gentry. Therefore, when the gentry declined, the Nine-Rank Zhongzheng System was completely abolished.


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