Country and population

Ancient Chinese civilization arose on the basis of the Neolithic cultures that developed in the 5th-3rd millennia BC. e. in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. The Yellow River Basin was the main formation area ethnic community ancient Chinese, one of the centers of the early world civilizations, which for a long time developed in conditions of relative isolation. Only from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. the process of expanding the territory mastered by the ancient Chinese begins. They gradually spread to southbound, first to the Yangtze basin area, and then further south. On the verge of our era, the ancient Chinese state goes far beyond the Huang He basin, although northern border, the ethnic territory of the ancient Chinese remained almost unchanged.

Crossing from north to south a loess plateau lying at a level of 400-1500 m, the Yellow River turns east, flows along the Central China Plain and flows into the Bo-hai Gulf. The channel of the Huang He in its lower reaches has repeatedly moved over the past millennia; changed the configuration coastline Bohai Bay, continuously receding under the influence of river sediments.

Several millennia ago, the entire Huang He Valley was covered with forests, which have been completely destroyed by now. The climate of this region has consistently changed from higher to lower average annual temperatures with a general decrease in moisture levels. In IV-II millennia BC. e. elephants and rhinos, tapirs and bamboo rats were found in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, and there were extensive thickets of bamboo in the floodplains of the rivers. In the epigraphic monuments of the second half of the II millennium BC. e. we find information about heavy precipitation - "long rains" that came intermittently throughout the year.

Soft alluvial soils in the valleys of the Yellow River and its tributaries created very favorable conditions for farming. Therefore, before the 1st millennium BC. h. settlements were located in the immediate vicinity of the riverbed on low loess terraces, and significant areas of the Central China Plain remained undeveloped. Floodplain agriculture tied people to the river, and this was fraught with serious danger. It is no coincidence that in the early written monuments the ancient Chinese word "misfortune" was written with a hieroglyph depicting a spilled water element. Rising water levels in the rivers constantly threatened with destructive floods, which people still did not know how to deal with.

Significant changes occurred only from the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e., when the widespread use of iron tools allowed the ancient Chinese to go beyond the river floodplains. They learned to cultivate hard soils, which created conditions for a more even distribution of the population and the development of the entire territory of modern North China. Paleo-anthropological finds dating back to the Neolithic and Bronze Ages testify that the Eastern Mongoloids predominated in this territory.

We do not have and, presumably, never will have direct data on what languages ​​were spoken by the people who inhabited the Yellow River basin in the Neolithic period; one can only assume that the creators of the Yangshao (5th-4th millennium BC) painted pottery culture were Proto-Sino-Tibetans, who displaced and partially assimilated the older Paleo-Asiatic population. Probably, the Yin ethnic community (2nd millennium BC) arose as a result of the mixing of one of the groups of proto-Sino-Tibetans with tribes of southern origin. Another, more western group of proto-Sino-Tibetans became the basis for the formation of the Zho-us ethnic community. Based on the interaction of the Yin and Zhou people in the 1st millennium BC. e. in the middle reaches of the Huang He, an ancient Chinese ethnic group is being formed. Neighboring ethnic communities also took part in its formation, speaking Paleo-Asiatic (in the north) and Austro-Asiatic (in the southeast) languages.

Chronology and periodization

As in other countries ancient world, in China there was no single system of chronology. Starting from the 1st millennium BC. e. dates were indicated by the years of the reign of the van (supreme ruler), so the establishment of an absolute chronology sometimes encounters significant difficulties. Thus, modern researchers date the Zhou conquest, which led to the fall of the Yin state, in different ways: this coincidence is attributed by some historians to 1122 BC. e., others - by 1066, 1050 or 1027 BC. e. Only from 341 BC. e. in the history of ancient China, a completely reliable chronology begins.

From the 1st century n. e. the ancient Chinese began to use the special characters of the sexagesimal cycle to designate years, which had previously been used to name days. The sixty-year cycle, which has been in continuous use in China since then, has completely eliminated the possibility of any serious errors in dates. To clarify the chronology of an earlier period, new methods for calculating absolute dates are currently being used, in particular records of solar and lunar eclipses, etc.

For traditional Chinese historical science was characterized by periodization ancient history China by dynasty. So, the era of the mythical "five emperors" was followed by the reign of the "three dynasties" (Xia, Shang-Yin and Zhou). According to tradition, the Zhou era is divided into two parts - Western Zhou (XI-VIII centuries BC) and Eastern Zhou (VIII-III centuries, BC), including the periods of Chunqiu and Zhangguo. The Qin Dynasty (3rd century BC) is replaced by the Han Dynasty, whose reign is also divided into Western and Eastern periods. Dynastic periodization cannot fully satisfy the requirements of a modern researcher. Therefore, we use archaeological periodization, dividing the stages of development of society according to the level of productive forces and the main material from which tools were made. Consequently, the era preceding the "Three Dynasties" should be attributed to the Neolithic, while from the Shang-Yin time, ancient Chinese society enters the Bronze Age. At the end of the Chunqiu period (VI-V centuries BC), ancient China received the spread of iron tools - the era of iron begins.

For us, of course, the most significant periodization, the main criterion of which is the socio-economic development of society. We distinguish five main periods in the history of ancient Chinese society: 1. The decomposition of the primitive communal system and the emergence of a class society and the most ancient states (II millennium BC). 2. Ancient China in the VIII-III centuries. BC e. 3. The first centralized state in China is the Qin Empire (221-207 BC). 4. Han Empire (III-I centuries BC). 5. Ancient China in the I-III centuries. n. e.

Sources of ancient Chinese history

The student of Chinese ancient history has at his disposal extremely numerous and, for the most part, quite reliably dated written monuments. These are historical works, very diverse in their content, that have come down to our time in the form of books. They constitute the first and main category of sources for the study of China's ancient history.

Among the written sources great importance have ancient Chinese chronicles, primarily the chronicle "Chunqiu", compiled in the kingdom of Lu and covering the events of the 8th-5th centuries. BC h. Around the text of "Chunqiu", the authorship of which is attributed by tradition to the ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius, a significant commentary literature later arose. One of these commentaries, Zuozhuan, is actually an independent chronicle of events that took place within the same chronological framework. This chronicle differs from Chunqiu in an incomparably greater detail of the narrative.

Closely connected with chronicles is another genre of ancient Chinese historical writings, represented primarily by the book Shanshu (Shujing). This is a recording of the speeches of the rulers and their associates. Only a part of the Shanshu text, which has survived to our time, can be recognized as authentic (some chapters of this work are a later interpolation).

A special place among the sources on the ancient history of China is occupied by the Shits-zing, a set of songs, mostly of folklore origin. Not being a historical work in narrow sense of this word, "Shijing" contains a variety of materials to characterize many important aspects of the life of ancient Chinese society in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e.

In this regard, the works of ancient Chinese philosophers of the 5th-3rd centuries are of great value. BC e., who, in polemics with their ideological opponents, constantly appeal to the events of the historical past.

In the 1st century BC e. in ancient China, a historical work appeared that had a decisive influence on further development historiography not only in China, but also in a number of other countries Far East. "Historical Notes" by Sima Qian (145-90 BC) is a general history of the country from ancient times to the 1st century. BC e. Sima Qian used a new principle of presentation historical events- biographies. "Historical Notes" consists of five sections, three of them are built on this principle: "Basic Records" - narratives about the most important deeds of the rulers of various dynasties; "Histories of hereditary houses" - biographies of the largest representatives of the hereditary aristocracy: "Biographies" - biographies historical figures. Sima Qian also included in his work "Treatises" devoted to certain aspects of social life, culture, science, and "Tables", which deal with the problems of chronology.

Sima Qian's historiographical method was used by Ban Gu (32-92), the author of Han History. However, the composition of Ban Gu is devoted to the history of one dynasty - the Han, more precisely the Western Han (206 BC). Ban Gu, thus, is the founder of a new genre of Chinese historiography, called "dynastic stories". These include, in particular, the "History of the Later Han Dynasty", written at the beginning of the 5th century. and covering the events of the I-III centuries.

At the beginning of the XX century. in Chinese historiography, a hypercritical approach to written ancient Chinese historical sources is gaining ground. Emphasizing the need to identify the authenticity of ancient monuments and later distortions and insertions in them, supporters of this trend considered unreliable, for example, all the information about the Shang-Yin era reported by Sima Qian, and argued that "the history of China begins with the Zhou era. The decisive argument that undermined positions of the hypercritical school, there were results archaeological research started in China in the second decade of the 20th century. In 1921, the Swedish scientist I. G. Anderson discovered traces of a Neolithic culture in the middle reaches of the Huang He, which he named Yangshao. In 1928, "excavations of the capital Shang-Yin near Anyang began, which made it possible to get an idea of ​​the level of productive forces, social organization and material culture of Ancient China in the XIV-XI centuries BC,

A significant step forward in the archaeological study of the territory modern China was made after the victory of the Chinese revolution, especially in the 50-80s. The use of the latest excavation methods (in particular, the opening of ancient settlements over large areas) made it possible to enrich the source study of the ancient history of China with the most valuable data relating to all periods of ancient Chinese society from the Neolithic to the Han era. Among the most important achievements of Chinese archeology in recent years are the excavations of the Early Shan city at Erlitou; finds of a large number of Zhou bronze vessels with inscriptions on them; the discovery near Changsha of rich burials of the 3rd century BC. BC e., in which, due to the specific environmental conditions, a complete set of clothes, utensils, jewelry and works of art, as well as numerous inscriptions on wooden tablets and silk, have been completely preserved.

For the study of ancient Chinese society, the Shan-Yin era, epigraphic sources are of exceptional importance, and among them, first of all, the so-called fortune-telling inscriptions of the XIV-XI centuries. BC e. They were first discovered by Chinese scientists in 1899. During the excavations of the Ntan Ying capital near Anyang, a large number of new inscriptions were found. Studying them, the researchers found in the epigraphic texts references to names and facts known from Sima Qian's Historical Notes. In terms of their content, divinatory inscriptions reflect the social and political history of the Shang-Yin era.

No less valuable information is contained in epigraphic sources of the 10th-7th centuries. BC e. - Zhou inscriptions on ritual bronze vessels. The study of these monuments made it possible to establish the authenticity and reliability of a number of chapters of the Shanshu, the text of which reveals a stylistic similarity with the inscriptions on the vessels.

To III h. BC e.-III c. n. e. include inscriptions that are very diverse in nature and content (mainly on wooden planks), among which are various categories of official documents (household lists, statements, bills of sale, etc.)

Historiography

Traditional Chinese historical science is characterized by two features: first, the idea of ​​the eternal and absolute superiority of Chinese culture over the culture of neighboring peoples; secondly, the identification of myth with historical fact, which resulted in the unjustified antiquity of the origins of statehood in China.

The hypercritical direction of Chinese historiography arose as a reaction to the shortcomings of traditional science, but its vice was the opposite extreme of judgments about the past. Only at the end of the 20s of the 20th century, as Marxist ideas spread in China, the preconditions for the development of a truly scientific research ancient history of China from the standpoint of historical materialism. However, discussions about the nature of ancient Chinese society that took place in China in the 1930s showed that many studies undertaken in those years were characterized by dogmatism in the interpretation of certain provisions of Marxist-Leninist theory. Characteristic in this regard are the early works of Guo Mojo, who absolutized the theses about the unity of the world-historical process and therefore denied any specificity of the ancient Eastern societies.

In the 1940s and 1950s, Chinese scholars successfully worked out the problems of the socio-economic history of ancient China. The events of the "cultural revolution" interrupted these studies. Only at the end of the 70s were discussions about the nature of ancient Chinese society resumed, sources were published, and university courses on ancient Chinese history were created.

The beginning of the study of China by Japanese scientists dates back to the Middle Ages. Over the past decades, all periods of China's ancient history have been equally studied in Japan. One of the most prominent experts in this field, Kaizu-ka Shigeki, is the author of capital studies on the formation and development of the ancient Chinese state. A large group of Japanese historians is working on the study of socio-economic relations in the Han era.

In Europe, a great contribution to the study of the history of ancient China was made by the French Sinological school. At the beginning of our century, E. Chavannes undertook a translation (which, unfortunately, remained incomplete) of Sima Qian's Historical Notes, and also published a corpus of stone bas-reliefs of the Han period, collected and studied by him during his stay in China. It should also be noted the studies of one of the largest French sinologists A. Maspero, whose capital work "Ancient China" had a noticeable impact on modern historiography. G. Billenstein was one of the first to pay serious attention to the problems of demography in Ancient China in the 1950s.

In the United States, the study of ancient China has received significant development only in recent decades, with leading positions being occupied by scientists. Chinese origin residing in the United States. At the end of the 60s, the international "Society for the Study of Ancient China" was created in the USA, which has been publishing its own journal since 1975.

Russian Sinology has a long tradition; its origins were in the first half of the 19th century. such a well-known connoisseur of the ancient history of China as N. Ya. Bichu-rin. Russian researchers were characterized by an interest primarily in the culture and ideology of the ancient Chinese, as well as an excellent knowledge of primary sources.

Three periods can be distinguished in the Soviet historiography of China's ancient history.

The first of these dates back to the late 1920s and early 1930s, when in the course of discussions about the problems of China's social system, materials on ancient Chinese society were widely used. The weak point in these works was the lack of understanding of the primary sources.

The second period (40-50s) can be called essay. He is marked by the creation of the first consolidated works and university courses on the history of ancient China.

During this period, the foundations were laid for the development of the Marxist concept of the history of ancient Chinese society. In particular, L. V. Simonovskaya proposed a periodization of the history of Ancient China, which stimulated further research in this area.

In the 1960s, a qualitatively new stage in the study of ancient Chinese society by Soviet historians began. It is characterized by the appearance of a number of monographic studies devoted to certain periods of the history of Ancient China, as well as an in-depth analysis of specific aspects of the economy, social system, and ideology.

Soviet historians devote much attention to the study and translation into Russian of ancient Chinese written records. Here, first of all, it should be noted the multi-volume translation of Sima Qian's Historical Notes.

Neolithic origins of ancient Chinese civilization

In the V-III millennium BC. e. in the middle reaches of the Huang He developed developed Neolithic cultures, the earliest of which was the Yangshao culture. The Yang-Shao tribes that inhabited the valley of one of the tributaries of the Huang He and then spread to the west and east lived in small settlements in the immediate vicinity of river floodplains. On fertile alluvial soils, the Yang Shao cultivated chumiza. They bred pigs and dogs. The Yang Shao achieved great skill in the technique of making ceramics, which were fired in special ovens and decorated with bright painted geometric or zoomorphic ornaments.

In the second half of the III millennium BC. e. there are noticeable changes in the distribution of Yangshao-type cultures. Painted ceramics are gradually disappearing, their place is taken by gray and black dishes made using a potter's wheel.

Cultures of this type, commonly referred to as Longshan, are characterized by further progress in agriculture. Stone tools are being improved, in particular, more productive types of reaping knives and sickles appear. Changes are also taking place in social relations: for the first time, traces of property differentiation are found in the Longshan burials.

Traditions about the events of the political history of the II millennium BC. e.

According to the legends that have come down to us about the perfect rulers of antiquity, the wise Yao once ruled in the Celestial Empire. Having grown old, he chose the capable and energetic Shun as his successor. Under this ruler, a flood was sent down to the Celestial Empire. Shun announced that he would hand over the reins to whoever could save the people from the flood. The great Yuyu managed to do this: he deepened the riverbeds and the water went into the sea along them. So Yu became the ruler. Yu's place was taken, contrary to tradition, not by some outsider who proved himself by his work for the benefit of people, but by Qi, Yu's son. After that, the supreme power began to be inherited in the Celestial Empire. This legend, presumably, reflects certain historical facts: elected positions are gradually being replaced by hereditary power. Qi, the son of Great Yu, is considered the founder of the first ancient Chinese Xia dynasty. Sima Qian's "Historical Notes" gives the names of the rulers of this dynasty and the sequence in which they took the throne. However, the lack of reliable written sources does not allow us to resolve the issue of what the ancient Chinese society was like at that time.

According to legend, the last ruler of the Xia dynasty was distinguished by unusual cruelty, which turned against him the leaders of subordinate tribes. The leader of one of these tribes, the Shan [named Tang], rebelled against the tyrant, overthrew him and united the Celestial Empire under his rule. [He became known as Cheng Tang ("Tang the Creator").] He was the first representative of the new Shang dynasty, later called Yin (17th century BC). According to Sima Qian, the Shang tribe repeatedly moved across the Central Chinese Plain. The last resettlement of the Shants took place under the ruler Pan Geng in the 14th century. BC e., the area of ​​modern An-yang became the center of the Shan territory. The capital, the Great Shang City, was founded here. From this second period in the history of Shang-Yin, dating from the XIV-XI centuries BC. e., not only archaeological monuments, but also numerous epigraphic sources have come down to us.

The development of productive forces in the II millennium BC. e.

Many traits material culture Shang-yin time indicate its genetic links with the Neolithic tribes that inhabited the Huang He basin in the III millennium BC. e. There are many similarities in Yin and Longshan ceramics. Little has changed over the course of several centuries, the nature of agriculture and agricultural implements. The main digging tool in the second half of the II millennium BC. e. there was a wooden spade - a two-pronged stick with a transverse crossbar. However, at least three major achievements inherent in the Shang-Yin era: the use of bronze, the emergence of cities and the emergence of writing. . The most ancient traces of bronze foundry production are currently traced in settlements of the Erlitou type (the first half of the 2nd millennium BC). In late Yin, methods for enriching copper ore, recipes for copper and tin alloys were known, and high-quality clay molds were used for casting. However, the technological achievements of that time almost did not affect the main sphere of social production - agriculture. Bronze was used in the Yin era mainly in two areas - for the production of weapons and ritual vessels for sacrifices.

In the Yin time, adobe walls began to be erected, which surrounded all large settlements - places of concentration of crafts; they can be considered cities. The city wall of the early Yin capital had a foundation no less than 6 m thick. Such a wall reliably protected the population of the city during hostilities. As the excavations of the June capital near the city of Anyang showed, numerous palace and temple buildings erected on adobe platforms were located on the territory of the city. These buildings were supported by powerful columns, which were installed on stone or bronze foundations. A network of diversion channels served to drain excess moisture in the event of rain or floods. Workshops were located within the city wall - foundries, bone carving, pottery, etc.

Thus, many specialized industries appeared, the craft separated from agriculture.

Finally, by indicating the entry of society into a qualitatively new era is the emergence of writing.

The samples of Yin writing that have come down to us are the oldest inscriptions in East Asia. They are represented by divinatory texts on animal bones and tortoise shells. However, there is no doubt that other materials for writing were also widely used in the Yin time, in particular wooden planks. At the court of the Yin ruler, for example, there was the position of "zuotse" (literally, "manufacturing wooden planks for writing"). Thanks to the deciphering of the inscriptions of the XIV-XI centuries. BC e. one can judge many important aspects of the life of Yin society.

Society and the state in the Yin era

Based on the study of all kinds of sources, a picture emerges of the complex social structure of ancient Chinese society.

On the far-reaching social stratification of society in the XIV-XI centuries. BC e. and the formation of class relations are evidenced by Yin burials. It is possible to distinguish at least four categories of burials: clearly distinguishable by external features: size, nature and quantity of grave goods, etc.

The first category consists of the largest tombs excavated in the Anyang area. In the central burial chamber with an area of ​​400-500 sq. m and a depth of 10 meters or more, an outer coffin was placed, in which another one was enclosed - an inner one. Bronze ritual vessels, jewelry made of gold and jasper, weapons, musical instruments, and vessels made of white kaolin clay were placed in the grave together with the deceased. There are also carts drawn by horses in the tombs. In burials of this category, the bones of people are always found, most likely servants or courtiers, who were forcibly buried with the deceased.

The second category consists of burials with an average size of 20-25 sq. m at a depth of 5-7 m. There are usually no human burials here, however, the inventory is quite rich and varied: bronze vessels, jasper decorations, weapons. The third category is made up of burials in soil pits, barely containing the body of the deceased. In the inventory, as a rule, there are rough clay vessels, sometimes tools. Finally, the fourth category includes burials under the foundations of buildings or around large burials. By the nature of the skeletons and their location, it can be judged that people who died a violent death were buried in the graves of this category: beheaded or buried alive.

The graves of the first category obviously belonged to the Yin rulers or their closest relatives. Having much in common with the royal graves of the Sumerian Ur, these tombs vividly characterize the opposition of the rulers to the main mass of the population. The rich burials of the second category are the graves of representatives of the ruling stratum of the Yin society, who, by their property status, nobility and social weight, occupy a special place in the social structure. The burials, modest in size and inventory, belong to free community members. As for the burials of the last, fourth category, they buried people who did not have equal rights even with commoners, forced laborers, servants or slaves.

According to the ideas prevailing in Ancient China, "the main affairs in the state are sacrifices and wars." Both found quite detailed reflection in the texts of Yin inscriptions on oracle bones.

One of the most important results of any military campaign was the capture of prisoners. The victorious commander returned to the Great City of Shang, leading a crowd of captives. A special fortune teller used to ask the deity a whole series of questions related to future fate captured. He was interested in how many prisoners, when, in what way and which of the deceased ancestors of the ruler should be sacrificed. During religious ceremonies in honor of one or another ancestor, up to several hundred prisoners could be sacrificed at the same time. There were many different ways of sacrificing - chopping off the head, drowning, burning at the stake, etc. This phenomenon was relatively widespread in archaic early class societies that had not learned to fully appreciate slave labor and were afraid to leave male prisoners of war alive. A long study of fortune-telling texts showed that they do not contain any specific terms used to designate slaves.

The ideas of the Yin people about the surrounding world and its population were clearly ethnocentric in nature. They believed that in the center of the Middle Kingdom is the Great City of Shan - the residence of the ruler. Around it stretch the territories that are part of the Yin state. They differ according to the cardinal points: western lands, southern lands, etc. Tribes live outside the lands that do not recognize the authority of the Yin ruler and therefore are hostile to him. However, a clear boundary between the lands and tribes did not actually exist. Any tribe that came out on the side of the Yin ruler automatically became part of the respective lands, and vice versa. The Yin state did not have any other system of territorial division, except for the tribal one. It arose most likely as a union of tribes, one of which rose above the rest and subordinated them to its influence.

The political unity of the Yin people was personified by the ruler - van. There is a distinct tendency to assert the sole power of the sovereign. Speaking of themselves, the Yin Wangs used the solemn formula: “I am the only one among people*. The power of the van was expressed in his right to give orders to any person who was on his lands. Often the van personally led punitive campaigns against hostile tribes. If the tribe recognized the power of the van, he granted his leader a title, indicating that this tribe became a member of the Yin coalition. From now on, it could count on the patronage and protection of the van, who had to take care of all his subordinates. The leader of the tribe, who received a title from the van, was obliged to regularly appear in the Great City of Shan, send tribute there, and, if necessary, put his militias at the disposal of the ruler. If their territory was attacked, the subordinate chiefs would immediately report it to the wang. Wang was also the high priest. Only he could determine the will of the deity from the cracks in the oracle bone.

The Yin state reached its greatest power under Wang Ding, who ruled in the second half of the 13th century. BC e. Under him, new palaces and temples were built in the Great Shang City. Wu Ding greatly expanded Yin's territory. In the memory of his descendants, he remained a powerful conqueror.

After the death of Wu Ding, the house of Yin fell into disrepair. The last ruler of Yin is depicted in written sources as an immoral tyrant who "lecherous and outrageous, not knowing how to restrain." These messages most likely represent an attempt to substantiate and historically justify the events related to the last third of the 11th century. BC e. and included in historiography as the "Zhou conquest".

Rise of the State of Zhou

The first information about the Zhou tribe appears in the Yin epigraphic monuments of the reign of Wu Ding. At this time, the Chou entered the sphere of political influence of Yin as a subordinate territory. The strengthening of the Chou people was marked by the fact that the Yin Wang officially awarded the leader of this tribe and his son the title of "Chou Hou" (dependent ruler). But by this time there are reports of military clashes between Yin and Zhou.

Gradually, a powerful coalition of Western tribes, led by the Chou people, was formed. Having undertaken a campaign to the east, Wu-wang ("Militant ruler") defeated the Yin army (1027 BC). The Chjoz "ssy quickly assimilated the most important technical and cultural achievements of the vanquished, adopting, first of all, the technique of bronze foundry production. Before the conquest, the Zhousi practically did not know bronze. Now, having captured the Yin masters, they attracted them to their service. It is no coincidence that according to appearance weapons, ritual vessels, and metal decorations of the Chou people are difficult to distinguish from Yin items. The Zhou learned from the Yin to make and use war chariots, the main striking force of the army of that time. Light chariots with a drawbar, harnessed by a pair of horses, knew no barriers on the flat loess plains in the basin of the Yellow River and its tributaries. On such a chariot there were usually three warriors: a driver driving horses; an archer who hit the enemy with arrows; a spearman armed with a spear or halberd - a weapon of close and medium combat. Until the invention of crossbows, the ancient Chinese Yin-type chariot remained a powerful means of attacking the enemy.

One of the most important borrowings of the Chou people was the Yin script. There is reason to believe that before the conquest, the Zhou used their own writing system. It, apparently, was imperfect, and the Chou people accepted the Yin letter. Zhou epigraphic monuments of the 11th-9th centuries. BC e. written in Yin hieroglyphs, only partially modified over time.

After the final defeat of the Yin people, the Chou people carried out a number of measures known as "hereditary awards". Their essence was that Wu-wang's relatives and some representatives of the nobility received land ownership along with their population, and, depending on the size of the award, the new hereditary owners were given the appropriate title. In addition, many leaders of the tribes that were previously part of the Yin coalition, but during the conquest of Yin, supported the Chou people, were recognized as such rulers (zhuhou). The population “complained” to this or that zhuhou was calculated by the number of zu, i.e., tribal groups living in the corresponding territory in the Yin time. The total number of newly created or previously existing hereditary possessions recognized by the van was in the 11th century. BC e. at least 200-300.

In general, the Zhou conquest did not cause fundamental changes in the system of administration of the territories subordinated to the Wang.

Socio-economic relations in the X-VIII centuries. BC e.

The social differentiation of the Yin society, which can be traced on the materials of the burials of the XSV--XI centuries. BC e., was fixed after the Zhou conquest in the system of social ranks.

The entire free population of Zhou was divided into five social groups, correlated with each other according to the principle of hierarchy, which in Ancient China was more clearly expressed than in other ancient Eastern societies. The group that occupied the highest rung in the hierarchical ladder was represented by the personality of a despotic ruler, "the only one among people" - this is how, following the tradition, the Zhou Wangs continued to call themselves. The second group is the Zhuhou, the rulers of hereditary possessions, representatives of the highest Zhuo-u aristocracy. The third is the dafu, the heads of those zu (po to tribal groups) which together constituted the population of the Zhuhou hereditary domain. The fourth group is shi, the heads of large families that were part of one or another zu. Finally, the fifth group is the commoners.

Social rank, being an external manifestation of belonging to one of the five social groups, determined the totality of those material benefits that a given person could use. “Clothing depends on rank, and the consumption of wealth depends on the size of the reward corresponding to rank,” we read in. one of the sources of Zhou time. - The amounts of food and drink, the cut of clothes, the number of livestock and slaves are different, there are prohibitions on the use of certain forms of boats, chariots and household utensils. During the life of a person, differences are observed in headdress, clothing, the number of fields and the size of the dwelling; after death - in the size of the inner and outer coffin, shroud and grave pit. The dimensions of the dwelling and its decoration were strictly regulated: “The beams in the palace of the Son of Heaven (wang) are hewn, polished, inlaid with stones: in the Zhuhou palace - hewn, polished; in the house, dafu are simply hewn, ”etc. The same applied to food: it was believed that the wang could eat the meat of an ox, ram and pig, zhuhou - only beef, dafu - pork, shi - fish, and common people did not have any the right to eat meat. Social differences were also reflected in the vocabulary of the ancient Chinese language - to designate one. and the same concept there were various words used depending on the belonging of the speaker to a certain rank.

A person's belonging to the highest social groups was established depending on kinship: who was the person's father, what son in the family he was born. The eldest son inherited the rank of his father, and all other sons descended one step below.

The structure of social ranks was closely linked in Zhou society with the system of land ownership and land use. All lands in the Celestial Empire were considered to belong to the van.

Wang was the supreme owner of the Celestial Empire in the same sense in which all people in the Celestial Empire were his servants. But at the same time, “wang considers zhuhou his servant, zhuhou considers dafu his servant, dafu considers shi his servant”, etc. Therefore, the system of land ownership in Zhou society was as hierarchical as the structure of social ranks. Thus, the supreme owner of all the land in the Celestial Empire, Wang “granted” the highest aristocrats (zhuhou) the right to inherit a part of the lands of the Celestial Empire. The Zhuhou, in turn, recognized Dafu's right to own part of their territory. The Dafu themselves did not cultivate the land, but transferred it to the possession of the shi. Ultimately, the land was cultivated by commoners. Although the despotic ruler, Wang, is considered the supreme owner of the land, in fact, representatives of various social groups had certain rights to it, and private property in the modern sense of the word did not exist in Zhou society.

In the XI-X centuries. BC e. a significant part of the prisoners turned into slaves.

ANCIENT CHINA IN VIII-III cc. BC.

Ethnopolitical situation in the Central Chinese Plain

At the beginning of the 8th century BC e. clashes between the Chou people and the beetle tribes that inhabited the area of ​​the upper reaches of the Yellow River are becoming more frequent. By origin, the Jungs were related to the Chou people, but differed from them in their way of life and forms of economy. Decisive clashes with the semi-nomadic tribes of the Juns occur during the reign of Yu-van (781-771 BC).

In 770 BC. e. the capital had to be moved to the east, to the area of ​​modern Luoyang. Period VIII-III centuries. BC e. therefore called Eastern Zhou.

In the 8th century BC e. consolidated nomadic tribes, referred to in ancient Chinese sources as di; they raid the Zhuhou dominions north of the Yellow River. At the beginning of the 7th century BC e. di moved south, devastating the lands on the left bank of the Yellow River in its middle reaches. The Di force the Huang He and attack the Zhuhou possessions in the immediate vicinity of the Zhou capital.

Even the strongest realms have to reckon with di. Some of the Chinese rulers prefer to ally with the di, others try to use them in the fight against their opponents. So, in 636 BC. e. Zhou Xiang-wang intended to provoke an attack by di on the Zheng kingdom, which refused to obey him. But di took the side of Zheng and defeated the army of the van, who was forced to temporarily leave the capital.

In the relations of the population of Ancient China with neighboring tribes, the discrepancy between political relations and ethnic ones is clearly manifested. If in the Yin and early Zhou times, the opposition “we - they” was based solely on political criteria (one who recognized the power of the van was part of “our” community, and one who did not submit to his authority automatically became a “stranger”), then in the VIII-VII centuries. BC e. there is an idea of ​​the existence of a certain cultural and genetic community of all "barbarians". The ancient Chinese begin to oppose themselves to the "barbarians", designating their commonality with the term huaxia (or zhusia).

According to the ideas of the ancient Chinese, this distinction was based on kinship relations. It was believed that the inhabitants of the kingdoms located in the middle reaches of the Huang He were related to each other by family ties, so even if any of them opposed the Chou Wang, it did not cease to be Hua Xia. Accordingly, the political alliance with the "barbarians" did not mean that they ceased to be such.

After the transfer of the capital to the east, the power of the van noticeably weakened. He still personifies the unity of the Celestial Empire, but almost often does not interfere in the relationship between the Zhuhou, whose possessions are becoming more independent. The territory of the "metropolitan area" - the possession of the Zhou ruler - is sharply reduced. Part of it was given away to neighboring kingdoms - Zheng, Jin, etc., and some areas were captured by the Chu kingdom. Van's treasury is running low. The traditional tribute from the zhuhou began to flow more and more irregularly. There comes a time when, after the death of one of the Chou vans, his heir does not have the means to perform the rituals required by custom, and the funeral is postponed for seven years.

The authority of the ruling house of Zhou was also adversely affected by internal strife, which repeatedly flared up in the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. Wang did not have the opportunity to prevent violations of the order of succession of power consecrated by tradition and was forced to seek help from the Zhuhou dependent on him.

The invasion of nomads into the Central China Plain and changes in the relationship between the van and the rulers dependent on him largely predetermined the essence of the new political situation that arose in the 7th century. BC e. and impossible in the past. One of the largest zhuhou achieves a dominant position and becomes a "hegemon". To achieve this goal, the ascendant ruler used two standard slogans: "make everyone respect the van" and "repel the threat from the barbarians."

Fight for hegemony

The first ancient Chinese kingdom to achieve hegemony in the Central China Plain was Qi, located in the lower reaches of the Yellow River. The ruler of Qi was officially proclaimed hegemon in 650 BC. e. at the congress of rulers (zhuhou).

After his death, the kingdom of Qi lost its hegemon position. It soon becomes another large kingdom - Jin. The years of the highest power of the Jin kingdom were the period of the reign of Wen Gong (636-628 BC).

The fate of Wen Gong is unusual. His mother was a Rong woman. Leaving the borders of his native kingdom due to rivalry with his brothers, young Wen-gong fled to the di nomads, among whom he spent many years. Thus, at the head of the unification of the ancient Chinese kingdoms was a man who, by origin and upbringing, was more of a “barbarian” than a hu-asya. This is how Wen Gong, in essence, remained in the memory of his descendants: he “walked in a shirt made of coarse matter, in a sheepskin coat, tied a sword with a rawhide belt, and nevertheless extended his power to all the lands in the middle of the four seas.”

At the end of the 7th century BC e. there is a split among the nomads di, who captured the middle reaches of the Yellow River. This gave Jin an excuse to intervene. In the spring of 594 BC. e. in an 8-day battle, the main forces of di were defeated. The captured nomads were partly included in the Jin army, partly turned into slaves. The dominance of the "barbarians" in a large area of ​​the Yellow River basin, near the Zhou capital, was put an end to.

The rivalry between Jin and the southern kingdom of Chu formed the main line of political history in the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. Expanding its territory at the expense of small kingdoms between the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, Chu begins to interfere in relations between the main hereditary possessions on the Central Chinese Plain. At the end of the 7th century BC e. the ruler of Chu took the title of wang - this was an open challenge to those kingdoms that fought for hegemony under the slogan of "respect" for the Chou Son of Heaven. Chu van becomes the first hegemon who does not recognize the supreme supremacy of Zhou.

Having defeated Jin, Chu begins to dictate his terms to the ancient Chinese kingdoms. Jin managed to achieve revenge only in 575 BC. e.

At the beginning of the 5th century BC e. the struggle for hegemony between the two kingdoms, which had previously hardly taken part in political events, intensified: the kingdoms of Wu and Yue, occupying lands in the lower reaches of the Yangtze. The bulk of the population here differed significantly from the "Huaxia people". The inhabitants of Wu and Yue had the custom of tattooing the body and cutting their hair short, which differed sharply from the ancient Chinese. Fishing and sea crafts played an important role in their life. In an effort to get an additional chance in the fight against Chu, the Jin made an alliance with Wu and sent his military advisers there. However, even after that, the inhabitants of Wu preferred the tactics of battle on the water to chariots, where they felt more confident than on land.

In 493 BC. e. ruler Wu defeated Yue, after which he undertook a series of campaigns to the north. Having defeated the Qi army and defeated Lu and Song, he in 482 BC. e. achieved recognition of the hegemony of Wu. About ten years later, it was the turn of Yue, who defeated the rival troops and subjugated most of the northern kingdoms. Yue hegemony ends the Chunqiu period; with the division of the kingdom of Jin into three independent states of Zhao, Wei, Han (403 BC), the period of Zhangguo (“Warring States”) begins in the history of ancient Chinese society.

Shifts in the socio-economic structure of society

Zhangguo is an era of violent social upheavals, fundamental changes in many areas of public life in ancient China. The prerequisite for this were important shifts in the development of productive forces: the spread of iron, the appearance of arable implements and draft animals, and the development of irrigation.

The first mention of iron is found in ancient Chinese texts of the late 6th century BC. BC e. In particular, in the annals "Zozhu-an" it is reported that in the kingdom of Jin in 513 BC. e. an iron tripod was cast with the text of the laws.

The draft power of cattle dramatically increased labor productivity. “The animals that served as sacrifices in the temples are now working in the fields” – this is how the author of one of the ancient Chinese writings characterizes this important change in the state of the productive forces. If earlier irrigation works were carried out almost exclusively for the purpose of flood control (traces of drainage channels were preserved in the Yin settlements in Zhengzhou and Wianyang), then with the expansion of cultivated areas, channels are being used on an ever larger scale for artificial irrigation.

Expansion of arable land, increased productivity, and a sharp increase in the total social product predetermined the crisis of the system of land ownership and land use that existed in Chou China in the 11th-6th centuries. BC e. Former forms of land ownership based on a hierarchy of social ranks are gradually becoming obsolete.

In the middle of the first millennium BC. e. issued new system land ownership. The collapse of the former system of land tenure was associated with the emergence of private property based on the right to alienate land through purchase and sale. In this regard, in the VI century. BC e. in a number of ancient Chinese kingdoms, a transition is taking place to a completely new form of alienation of the produced product - to a land tax. According to Sima Qian, the first land tax, calculated depending on the area of ​​cultivated land, was introduced in the kingdom of Lu in 594 BC. e. Then such a tax began to be levied in Chu and in Zheng.

Qualitative changes are undergoing at this time craft and trade. In the social system of Zhou society at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. artisans were equated in status to commoners. The same was the position of the persons involved in the exchange between separate related groups. These professions were hereditary: "The children of artisans become artisans, the children of merchants become merchants, the children of farmers become farmers." The spread of iron tools and the general progress of technology stimulated the individualization of handicraft production, the growth of the well-being of individual artisans. This contributed to the use on a large scale in the craft and trade of slaves as a productive force. As a result, individual artisans and merchants, nominally belonging to the lower stratum of the social hierarchy, could actually turn out to be more wealthy than some members of the nobility. Thus, the basic rule of the traditional social system was violated: whoever is noble is rich; who is ignorant is poor.

Ideological struggle in ancient China in the VI-III centuries. BC e.

What are the ways and methods to govern the Celestial Empire in conditions when “you can be noble, but poor”? This question worried many thinkers of that time. Differences in the approach to solving this problem predetermined the emergence of several philosophical schools. Ancient Chinese philosophers were interested not so much in the laws of nature as a whole, but in socio-political and socio-ethical issues. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the rapid rise of philosophical thought in ancient China is associated with the 6th-3rd centuries. BC e., when changes in the social system urgently demanded an understanding of the most important principles that underlay the relationship between people in society. In the VI-V centuries. BC e. The greatest differences in the approach to solving these problems were found in the teachings of the two philosophical schools - Confucians and Mohists.

The emergence of the Confucian doctrine played an exceptional role in the history of ideology not only in ancient China, but also in many neighboring countries of East Asia.

The central place in the ethical and political doctrine of Confucius (Kun Qiu, 551-479 BC) is occupied by the doctrine of the “noble person” (jun tzu). Confucius was alien to the ideals of the new social stratum of the wealthy, striving for profit and enrichment. Contrasting them with the principles of morality and duty, Confucius refers to the orders of the past idealized by him. This is a deep contradiction in the system of views of the ancient philosopher. The Confucian concepts of humanity (zhen), fidelity (zhong), respect for elders (xiao), respect for the norms of relationships between people (li) are positive universal values ​​expressed through the categories of a historically doomed social order. Not at all striving for personal well-being (“Eat rough food and drink only water;”, sleeping with your elbow under your head is a joy in this! And wealth and nobility obtained dishonestly are like floating clouds for me”), finding satisfaction in the very process of cognition of reality ("Learning and constantly repeating what you have learned - isn't it joyful?"), Confucius at the same time expresses thoughts that are a call for the restoration of a way of life that has gone into the past. differences between the state and the family Applying the model of relationships between family members to the state meant the requirement to preserve inviolability those orders when “the ruler is the ruler, the subject is the subject, the father is the father, the son is the son.”

Another outstanding ancient Chinese thinker, Mo-tzu (Mo Di, turn of the 5th-4th centuries BC), approached the contradictions of contemporary society from a different position. All social ills, in his opinion, come from "separation") Confucians. “Now,” Mo Di wrote, “the rulers of kingdoms know only about love for their kingdom and do not love other kingdoms ... Now, the heads of families know only about love for their family, but do not love other families ... If there is no mutual love between people, mutual hatred is sure to appear. Therefore, Mo Di puts forward the thesis about the need for "universal love", which will allow to restore order in the Celestial Empire.

Speaking against the family-related isolation of members of society, Mo Di sharply criticized the custom of transferring privileges and positions by inheritance. Calling for "honor the wise," Mo Di attacked the hereditary nobility and considered it useful to have such a state of affairs when "initially a low person was exalted and became noble, and initially a beggar would be exalted and become rich."

At the same time, in contrast to the Confucians, who attached great importance to the ritual side of human culture, Mo Di argued that culture is necessary only in order to provide a person with clothing, food and housing. Anything that goes beyond meeting the basic needs of a person is optional and even harmful. Therefore, in particular, Mo Di considered it necessary to abolish music that distracts people from creating material values.

A number of important provisions of the Mohist doctrine was borrowed by philosophers of the 4th - 3rd centuries. BC e., who created the "legist" school. If the Confucians saw a means of appeasing the Celestial Empire in improving the socio-ethical side of relationships between people, then the Legalists considered law to be such a means (hence the name of this philosophical school). Only law, manifested in rewards and punishments, can ensure order and prevent confusion. Law is compared by legalists with a tool with which a craftsman makes a product. The law is necessary, first of all, for the subordination of the people to the power of the ruler. It is no coincidence, the legalists emphasized, that “even before only those who saw their first task in establishing order in their own people could establish order in the Celestial Empire, and those who considered it necessary to defeat their people first defeated powerful enemies.” The legalists saw the ultimate goal of the application of the law in securing the absolute power of the ruler.

If the Confucians advocated a return to the ideal orders of the past, and the coins and legalists advocated the consistent destruction of the old system of social and state structure, then the representatives of the Taoist school took a special and very peculiar position on this issue. Lao Tzu is considered the founder of this philosophical school, but we do not have reliable information about him. The authorship of Laozi, who was allegedly an older contemporary of Confucius, is attributed to the "Treatise on" Tao and Te "(" Daodejing "). Supporters of this doctrine believed that everything in the world is determined by the existence of a certain "path" (tao), acting against the will of people A person is not able to comprehend this path (“Tao that can be expressed in words is not true Tao.”) Therefore, the best way not to make mistakes in governing the state is, from the point of view of Taoists, the “non-action” of the ruler, his refusal to actively intervention in a predetermined course of historical events.

Shang Yang's reforms

In the IV century. BC e. in many ancient Chinese kingdoms, socio-political reforms were carried out aimed at the final demolition of the obsolete system of social relations. The initiators of these reforms were representatives of the Legist school, most of whom sought not only to formulate their point of view on the methods of solving the social problems of our time, but also to put it into practice. Quite a lot of information has been preserved about one of them, Shang Yang, who achieved reforms in the Qin kingdom (mainly from Sima Qian's Historical Notes and the treatise The Book of the Shang Ruler, attributed to Shang Yang).

Qin, the westernmost of all the ancient Chinese kingdoms, did not play a significant role in the struggle for supremacy in the Central China Plain for a long time. Qin was it-. nomically weak kingdom and did not have a strong army. Its ruler accepted Shang Yang's proposal to carry out reforms that were supposed to lead to the strengthening of the state. By 359 BC. e. include the first reform decrees prepared by Shang Yang. They provided for: 1) the introduction of a new territorial division of the population into "heels" and "tens" of families, interconnected by mutual responsibility; 2) the punishment of those who had more than two adult sons who continued to live under the same roof with their parents; 3) promotion of military merit and prohibition of blood feud; 4) encouragement of farming and weaving; 5) the elimination of the privileges of representatives of the hereditary nobility who did not have military merit.

The second series of reforms in Qin dates back to 350 BC. e. Administrative division into counties was introduced; the inhabitants of the kingdom of Qin were allowed to freely sell and buy land; unification of the system of measures and weights was carried out.

The legalization of the purchase and sale of land, the abolition of the privileges of the hereditary aristocracy, the forced fragmentation of large families, the introduction of a single administrative division - all these measures dealt a decisive blow to the traditional system of social hierarchy. To replace it, Shang Yang introduced a system of ranks, which were assigned not on the basis of hereditary law, but for military merit. Later, the acquisition of ranks for money was allowed.

Although Shang Yang himself paid with his life for his activities, his reforms were successfully implemented. They not only contributed to the strengthening of the Qin kingdom, which was gradually moving forward into the ranks of the leading ancient Chinese states, but were essential for the development of the entire ancient Chinese society.

Shang Yang's reforms undoubtedly met the needs of the progressive development of society. Having finally undermined the dominance of the old aristocracy, they opened the way to overcoming the contradiction between nobility and wealth: from now on, any member of society who had wealth had the opportunity to achieve an appropriate social position in society. TV reforms BC e. were a powerful impetus in the development of private property and commodity-money relations. The bulk of the farmers who cultivate the land became, after these reforms, small landowners. At the same time, Shang Yang's reforms stimulated the development of slavery.

THE EMPIRE OF HAN IN THE III CENTURY B.C.E.—I V.N.E.

Domestic policy of the first Han emperors

One of the urgent problems that Gaozu faced was the problem of rebuilding the country's economy. The wars of Qin Shi Huang, the uprisings and punitive expeditions of the Qin authorities, and finally, the five-year devastating war between pretenders to the throne caused tremendous damage to the economy. Irrigation facilities were abandoned, the fertile lands of the country's regions were catastrophically reduced. Hundreds of thousands of people died, even more fled from their homes and hid from the hardships of troubled times in the forests. Passing through the city of Cuyni, Gaozu exclaimed: “This is a county! I crossed the whole Celestial Empire, but only in Luoyang did I see so many people!” Meanwhile, there were no more than 5,000 households in Quyn at that time, although at one time there were 30,000 of them.

Gaozu saw a way out of this situation in the policy of concessions to the lower classes and easing the tax burden. In one of his first rescripts, the new emperor established that the soldiers who came with him to the metropolitan area and wished to stay there received allotments of land and were exempted from labor duties for 12 years. Families with newborns were also exempted from duties. Residents who had previously left their native places were returned to their fields and dwellings. All those who had to sell themselves into slavery during the famine were declared free. The land tax was significantly reduced - now it was "/ is part of the crop. Gaozu's successors continued this policy, the land tax was set at "/ is the crop, and in case of natural disasters, taxes were not levied at all.

Another important problem of the first decades of the 2nd c. BC e. There was a question about the methods of governing the country. Dreaming of seeing himself at the head of a single empire, Gaozu nevertheless could not ignore the real situation in the country, which had just thrown off the yoke of the hated Qin dynasty. Therefore, he did not dare to fully restore the Qin administrative system. The seven largest military leaders who settled on the territory of some former kingdoms were granted the titles of wangs, and after that, more than 130 associates of Gao Zu received hereditary possessions and began to be called hou. Thus, the system of districts and counties created under Qin was restored only in part of the territory of the empire. Having made a compromise, Gaozu managed to mitigate the contradictions between the military leaders of the anti-Qin coalition and achieve the unification of the country.

The result of the conclusion of the "horizontal union" was, in particular, that in 288 BC. e. the rulers of Qin and Qi agreed on a kind of division of spheres of influence: after defeating opponents, the Qin ruler was to take the title of "Western Emperor", and the Qi - "Eastern".

For some time, success accompanied the kingdom of Chu. Having defeated a number of small and medium-sized neighbors (Yue, Lu, etc.), Chu significantly expanded its territory. However, Qin had the last word. In 246 BC. e. thirteen-year-old Ying Zheng ascended the throne. In 238 BC. e. he suppressed a conspiracy against his power and consolidated his position. Soon after, Ying Zheng began active military operations against his neighbors. In 230 BC. e. The kingdom of Qin inflicts a decisive defeat on the Han and seizes all of its territory. In 228-221 years. BC e. other kingdoms were also defeated (Zhao, Wei, Chu, Qi, Yan). By 221 BC. e. completed the process of unification.

Creation of a centralized state. Qin Empire

Assuming the title of Qin Shihuang (“First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty”), Ying Zheng solemnly announced in his royal rescript: “Our descendants will be named according to the order of inheritance - Ershi (“Second”), Sanyni (“Third”), and so on tens of thousands of generations they will inherit endlessly.

The ambitious dreams of Qin Shi Huang were not destined to come true: having existed for only 14 years, the empire he created fell under the blows popular uprising. Nevertheless, a decade and a half of the existence of the Qin empire is an entire era in the history of China. It was at this time that the centralized despotic state was created, which was the prototype of the subsequent Chinese empires of antiquity and the Middle Ages.

The defeat of the six kingdoms and the unification of the country's territory were only the first step towards creating a single state. No less important in this regard were Qin Shihuang's measures aimed at eliminating the consequences of political and economic fragmentation.

The territory of the country was divided into 36 large administrative districts. Their boundaries were drawn in such a way that they did not coincide with the natural geographical boundaries and boundaries of the former kingdoms. Each district consisted of counties, which, in turn, were divided into volosts, which included several communities.

The districts were headed by chiefs appointed directly by the emperor. Under the head of the district, there were district departments, which included officials subordinate to the central departments. The second person in the district was the commander of the troops stationed on the territory of the district. He received the same salary as the head of the district, which indicates his high position. The head of the district appointed the heads of the districts and their deputies.

Administrative power in the lower units of the territorial division of the country belonged to the elected elders. Thus, at this level of the administrative system in the Qin empire, communal self-government continued to exist.

The emperor was the sovereign hereditary ruler of the country. Only he had the right to call himself "We" and declare his will in the highest rescripts.

The emperor's assistants were his two advisers, who were to be directly responsible for the implementation of all imperial decrees. The central departments were subordinate to the advisers.

The military department was headed by the commander of all the armies of the empire. The heads of the district military departments were subordinate to him. There were also judicial and financial departments. Characteristically, in the central apparatus of state power, a special department served the personal needs of the emperor and his family.

Officials of a special department were in charge of the storage of the state archive, and also carried out inspections of the districts.

Thanks to this, the emperor could monitor how conscientiously the representatives of local authorities were performing their duties.

Simultaneously with the reform of the state structure, Qin Shi Huang carried out some other measures to strengthen the empire. Among them is the introduction of unified legislation. The guarantee system was the basis of the criminal legislation of the Qin time. In its most general view it was first carried out by Shang Yang. However, in the Qin Empire, the obligations of guarantees were not assigned to “heels” or “tens”, but to family members: “If one person commits a crime, then his whole family is punished.” Such punishment for the crime of a relative in the Qin Empire was usually turned into state slaves. Under Qin Shi Huang, the guarantee system was limited to commoners.

As for the punishments for crimes, the provisions on them were mainly borrowed from the laws of Shang Yang and were extremely cruel. Various types of death penalty were used: quartering, cutting in half, decapitation, strangulation, burying alive, boiling in a cauldron, punching the crown of the head. The death penalty was relied, for example, for stealing a horse. In addition, lighter punishments were also practiced - cutting out the kneecaps, cutting off the nose, castration, beating on the heels. Finally, a person convicted of a crime could be sent to hard labor.

In the very first years of his reign, Qin Shi Huang carried out the unification of coins, weights and measures, as well as writing. The introduction of a unified system of weights and measures was necessary to establish the taxation of the population. The same goal was served by Qin Shi Huang's monetary reform, as a result of which all coins of non-Qin samples were withdrawn from circulation. These activities of Qin Shi Huang finally broke down the barriers that prevented the establishment of permanent economic ties between individual regions of the country.

Qin Shihuang's foreign policy

At the end of the 5th - beginning of the 4th century. BC e. in the forest-steppe zone on the territory of modern Inner Mongolia, nomadic tribes are consolidated, whom the ancient Chinese called the Xiongnu.

Having completed internal reforms, Qin Shihuak begins military operations against the Xiongnu. In 215 BC. e. An army of 300,000 attacks the Xiongnu and wins an important victory. A year later, the Qi army managed to gain a foothold on the northern bank of the Huang He. The result of the campaigns was the restoration of the former border along the old wall built by the Zhao kingdom. After that, Qin Shi Huang decides to build the Great Wall in order to secure the borders of the empire from nomadic attacks. It resettles the inhabitants of the interior regions of the country to the annexed territories. A total of 44 new counties were created along the Great Wall. Many years later, while traveling through these places, Sima Qian visited the Great Wall. He was struck by the scale of the work carried out by the hands of forced people: “They tore down the mountains, filled up the gorges, laid a direct path. How cheaply they valued the work of the common people.” In the memory of the people, the construction of the Great Wall remained as a memory of a terrible tragedy.

After the successful completion of operations against the Yunnu, the emperor decides to launch an aggressive campaign against the Yue tribe, who inhabited the southeastern coastal regions. The war started in 214 BC. e., demanded a colossal exertion of the forces and resources of the empire. The beginning of the campaign brought defeat to the Qin troops. The Din soldiers were poorly oriented in the tropical forest, suffered from a fever, the locals continuously attacked them, so that "during the three years of the war, the Qin warriors did not take off their armor and did not loosen the string of crossbows."

Qin Shi Huang had to announce additional mobilization. At the cost of enormous efforts, the conquering army crossed the mountain ranges and captured the territory of the Yue state formations - Nanyue (Nam Viet) and Au Lak. New districts were created on their lands. However, the connection of this territory to the Qin empire was only nominal.

The aggravation of socio-political contradictions and the people's war at the end of the 3rd century. before. n. e.


In 227 BC. e., when the future Qin Shi Huang was just starting to implement his plan to defeat the six kingdoms, an assassination attempt was organized on him, and only thanks to a happy coincidence he managed to stay alive. Three years after the unification of the country, in 218 BC. e., an attempt was again made on him, also unsuccessful. There were also attempts on Shihuang's life in 216 BC. e. Apparently, this explains the morbid suspicion of a powerful monarch in last years his life. Starting from 212 BC. e. he did not stay for a long time in any one of his many palaces, he constantly changed residences, without warning even the highest dignitaries about this. In an effort to become the owner of the Taoist elixir of immortality. Shihuang at the same time brutally cracked down on the disaffected. He, in particular, ordered to bury alive more than 400 Confucians suspected of inciting unrest.

Wars with neighbors, grandiose construction works (including the construction of a large number of imperial palaces) required additional revenues to the treasury. Under Qin Shi Huang, the tax on peasants increases sharply; Thus, the land tax at that time was 2/3 of the crop. The birth of a boy ceased to be a joyful event in the life of a peasant family; the future breadwinner had to join the army or to build the Great Wall upon reaching the age of majority. The discontent of the people was used by representatives of the old hereditary nobility, who did not abandon the idea of ​​reviving the orders of the past. Death of Qin Shi Huang in 210 BC e. accelerated the impending crisis of the empire.

The first impetus that shook the Qinye Empire was the uprising of the poor. The rebels, natives of the former kingdom of Chu, put forward the slogan: "Great Chu will be established!" Capturing one city after another, they dealt with the Qin officials. Entire units of government troops began to go over to the side of the rebels. The elders of the local communities elected one of the leaders of the uprising as king. This ended the first stage of the people's war (209-208 BC).

At its second stage, significant changes take place in the social composition of the rebels and their leadership. The rebels are led by those who have joined

uprising representatives of the old nobility, seeking to take advantage of the performance of the masses in order to restore their rights. One of the detachments of the anti-Qin army was headed by a petty official Liu Bang. In 207 BC. e. his detachment captured a key point on the way to the capital of the empire, Xianyang, and then, having defeated the remnants of government troops, captured the capital.

Chu and Han fight

The goal of the anti-Qin uprising was achieved. The territory of the empire was divided among the largest leaders of individual rebel groups. Liu Bang became known as "wang of Han", and the leader of another army became "wang of Chu". Soon, a bitter struggle for power breaks out between the former allies.

At first, Xiang Yu had incomparably greater forces than his main rival. However, then Liu Bang, in an effort to attract the broad masses of the population to his side, invariably showed signs of respect to representatives of the local communal administration, at the same time introducing strict discipline in his army and punishing anyone who was seen in looting or violence. In contrast, his opponent brutally cracked down not only on the captured enemy soldiers, but also on the civilian population of those cities that resisted him.

The gradual advantage of Liu Bang begins to emerge more and more clearly, and many of the commanders of the rebel detachments go over to his side. In January 202, Liu Bang won a decisive victory.

Liu Bang proclaimed the beginning of a new Hak dynasty and assumed the title of Emperor Gaozu. In historiography, the accession of this dynasty is dated in two ways - in some cases, the year 202, when Liu Bang defeated "wang Chu", in others - in 206, when he received the title "wang Han". One way or another, in 202, the short period of fragmentation of the country that followed the fall of the Qin empire was completed. The Han Empire arose in ancient China.

THE FIRST CENTRALIZED STATE IN CHINA - THE QIN EMPIRE (221-207 B.C.)

Prerequisites for the unification of ancient Chinese kingdoms. Development of economic ties

In the IV century. BC e. objective prerequisites for the creation of a single ancient Chinese state are gradually taking shape, and arguments are increasingly being expressed about the need to overcome internecine strife and unite the ancient Chinese states under the rule of one ruler.

One of these prerequisites was the development of commodity-money relations and the establishment of permanent economic ties between individual kingdoms.

In IV-III centuries. BC e. a metal coin was already widespread - an indicator high level development of private property and commodity economy. At the same time, on the territory of several large regions, the boundaries of which did not coincide with the boundaries of individual kingdoms, a spontaneous unification of the coin takes place. So, in the eastern kingdoms, a coin in the form of a knife becomes widespread, in the northern ones - in the form of a spade. However, the presence of customs barriers hindered the development of trade relations between individual kingdoms.

An extremely important prerequisite for overcoming political fragmentation was the further consolidation of the ethnic community of the ancient Chinese.

As a result of the gradual assimilation of the "barbarian" population, which ended up in the 7th-6th centuries. BC e. on the Central China Plain, the ethnic self-consciousness of the Hua Xia is increasingly associated with the idea that the territory inhabited by them is located in the center of the Celestial Empire. Such ethnocentric ideas were widespread among many peoples of antiquity; in ancient China, they led to the concept of the "Middle Kingdoms", around which "barbarians of the four corners of the world" live. At the beginning of the Zhangguo period, such kingdoms as Chu, Qin, Yan were not yet included in the "Middle" ones. Gradually, the process of consolidation of the ethnic community of the ancient Chinese leads to the creation of a cultural stereotype that spread to all the main kingdoms of Ancient China. This was reflected, in particular, in the formation of the general literary ancient Chinese language, although numerous dialects continued to exist along with it.

The unification of the ancient Chinese kingdoms was prepared by the very logic of the political situation of that time. The desire to eliminate the independence of hostile kingdoms and absorb their territory meant in the future a further reduction in the number of independent political entities.

After the death of Gaozu (195 BC), the separatist tendencies of the rulers of hereditary possessions began to manifest themselves more and more noticeably. “The Celestial Empire,” wrote an eyewitness, “now resembles a sick person, whose legs are swollen so that they have become thicker than the waist, and the fingers are like hips. It is impossible to move them, because every movement causes terrible pain ... If you miss the moment and do not treat it, the disease will be launched and then even the famous doctor will not be able to do anything with it.

Among all the wangs, Liu Bi, the ruler of the kingdom of Wu, stood out. He had more than fifty cities in his possessions, he minted his own coin, and he had rich salt mines on the seashore. In an effort to enlist the support of the population, Liu Bn abolished taxes in his kingdom. In 154 BC. e., teaming up with six other hereditary rulers, Liu Bi gathered a 200,000-strong army and moved it to the capital of the empire.

The "mutiny of the seven vans" ended in the complete defeat of the separatists. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the Han emperor deprived the rulers of the kingdoms of the right to appoint officials and forbade them to have their own army. But the most decisive step towards the elimination of duality in the system of government of the country and the strengthening of centralized power was made by Wu-di, whose reign (140-87 BC) was the period of the highest flowering of the Han Empire.

"Golden Age of Wu-di"

In an effort to solve the problem of hereditary possessions once and for all, Wu-di introduced new order inheritance of the status of Vans and Hou. From now on, it was forbidden to transfer one's property to the eldest son and it was prescribed to divide it among all the sons. The results of this reform very quickly affected. A sharp decrease in the size of hereditary possessions led to the fact that the Vanirs practically lost their real power and the existence of their kingdoms no longer posed a threat to the empire.

At the same time, U-di carried out a number of reforms aimed at further centralization of the state apparatus. He restored the department of inspection introduced under Qin Shi Huang and abolished at the beginning of the Han. The task of the inspectors was to directly control the activities of district officials. The system of appointing officials to positions has also undergone significant changes. It was now the duty of district chiefs to systematically recommend candidates for bureaucratic positions from among the most capable young people. An academy was created in the capital, the graduates of which, as a rule, became officials. The changes also affected the competence of senior officials in the state apparatus. The rights of the first adviser were limited. The newly created imperial office allowed Wu-di to personally control the situation on the ground and the activities of various parts of the administrative system in the country.

The general spirit of the measures by which Wu Di achieved the centralization of power in the empire was consistent with an attempt to unify ideology. The purpose of this step was very clearly formulated by the largest representative of the Confucian school of that time, Dong Zhong-shu: “Today, scientists preach in different ways, and people interpret their teachings differently. The methods of the hundred sages are different, the meaning of their teachings is not the same - the emperor has nothing with which he could maintain unity ... Everything that does not correspond to the “six arts” set forth in the teachings of Confucius must be eradicated. Heresy must be destroyed. Only after this will the administration become unified, the laws clear, and the people will know what they must follow.

The adoption of Confucianism as a single state ideology meant a rejection of the policy of the first Han emperors, whose ideological banner was Taoism with its call for the “non-action” of the ruler. But the Confucianism of the Han time differed significantly from that proclaimed by the founder of this doctrine. Tung Chung-shu and his like-minded people borrowed some provisions of legalism, primarily the thesis about the significance of law as a means of governing the country. Nevertheless, on many cardinal issues of the domestic and foreign policy of the empire, the views of Confucians and Legalists still diverged. The Confucians sought to keep Wu from the policy of territorial conquest: they believed that "barbarians" could not be real subjects, and their lands were unsuitable for cultivation. However, these arguments did not convince the emperor. Having achieved stabilization within the country, Wu-di turns his eyes beyond the borders of his state.

Nomads Central Asia and the rise of the Xiongnu state

In the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. in the steppe zone to the north of the main ethnic territory of the ancient Chinese - the basin of the Yellow River - a community is formed, the self-name of which became "Hong-nu", or "Xiongnu". Nomadic cattle breeding, which determined the characteristics of their culture and way of life, lay at the heart of the economic activity of the Xiongnu. The need to constantly move long distances with livestock, "depending on the abundance of grass and water," led to the formation of a kind of material culture of the Xiongnu. The main element of their costume was the pants necessary for riding, but until the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. completely unknown to the ancient Chinese. The Xiongnu's dwelling was a collapsible hut covered with felt. The diet consisted mainly of boiled meat and sour milk. With the development of social inequality and the emergence of nomadic nobility, the Xiongnu begin to feel the need for some items of prestigious consumption that they themselves did not produce. This circumstance was the main reason why the Xiongnu nomadic society turned out to be dependent on exchange with the farmers of the Huang He basin. Sometimes such an exchange was peaceful in nature, more often it took the form of robbery and military raids.

By the 3rd century BC e. the structure of the Xiongnu association gradually takes shape, which grew into a primitive public education. It was headed by a ruler - shanyu, whose power had become hereditary by that time. Shanyu was subject to 24 leaders who owned a certain territory. There was a system of duties, the main among which was the duty of every man to carry military service. The chanyu army consisted almost exclusively of cavalry detachments, which had an advantage over the heavy infantry of the ancient Chinese: evading a decisive battle, the Xiongnu inflicted unexpected blows on it and instantly hid, leading away the prisoners and taking away the booty.

The accession of the Han coincided with the promotion of Shanyu Maodun, who managed to create a powerful nomadic power of the Xiongnu, which, despite the relative small population, becomes a force capable of resisting the ancient Chinese empire. In 200 BC. e. Gaozu tried to attack the Xiongnu, but was surrounded and escaped capture only by a miracle. The Han emperors were forced to conclude a “union of peace and kinship” that was humiliating for them, paying off the raids of nomads with rich gifts and giving girls from noble families as wives to the chanyus.

The foreign policy of the Han Empire in the II-I centuries. BC e„


Having strengthened his position, Wu-di decides to put an end to this situation. He created mobile cavalry units, which became the main force in the fight against the Xiongnu. Against the nomads, they used their own tactics of surprise attacks. Military campaigns 127-119 BC e. brought the first victories to the Han troops. Using the "border districts" as a military foothold, Wu-di launches active operations against the Xiongnu. This is how the nature of the war gradually changes: defensive at the beginning, it becomes for the Han a means of capturing more and more new territories.

The first contacts of the Han with the countries of the "Western Territory" (as the territory of modern Xinjiang and Central Asia).

Preparing for a war with the Xiongnu, Wu-di sent in 139 BC. e. his ambassador Zhang Qian in search of the Massaget tribes, defeated by the Xiongnu and moved to the west. Zhang Qian returned to the capital after 13 years. failing to achieve its main goal. But the consequences of his journey were nonetheless very significant. Thanks to Zhang Qian, the ancient Chinese discovered a hitherto unknown world: for the first time they received reliable information about Bactria, Parthia, Ferghana and other states of Central Asia. After Zhang Qian's second voyage, the Han Empire established relations with many of these states. These ties were not only of political importance. They contributed to the intensive exchange of cultural achievements. It was at this time that some previously unknown agricultural crops (grapes, melons), musical instruments, and utensils penetrated into China from Central Asia. Later Buddhism entered China from India through the "Western Territory".

The wars of the Han Empire with the Yue tribes that inhabited the southeastern coastal regions required a great effort of forces. Using the internal contradictions between the Yue tribes, Wu-di in 111 BC. e. threw his troops against them. The Han Empire managed to defeat the Nanyue and most of their lands were annexed to the empire.

The expansion of Han territory in the southwest was associated with attempts to find a route to India. While traveling in the "Western Territory", Zhang Qian learned about the existence of this large and rich country. From the stories of merchants, he concluded that the state of Hindu is located next to the lands of the "south-western barbarians." So the ancient Chinese called the tribes that inhabited most of modern Yunnan and southern Sichuan. In IV-III centuries. BC e. several large unions of tribes arise here, the most significant among which was the early state union of Dian. In 130 and 111 BC. e. Wu-di twice undertakes campaigns against the "south-western barbarians". And although the path to India was not found, large territories were annexed to the Han Empire.

Finally, during the reign of U-di, the Korean Peninsula becomes another object of Han expansion. In 109 BC. e. The Han strikes at the state of Joseon from two sides: one army moves through Liaodong, the other through the Bahai Bay. Han districts are created on the occupied lands.

So during the second half of the II century. BC e. The Han state significantly expanded its borders. The Han Empire becomes one of the most powerful states of the ancient world along with Parthia and Rome.

The beginning of the crisis of the empire

Long wars with neighbors, especially with the Xiongnu, significantly affected the state of the country's economy. The need for constant replenishment of the army distracted the most active part of the population from employment in the main sphere of social production - in agriculture. The imperial treasury, which was significantly replenished by the end of the 2nd century. BC e., could not compensate for the costs of the war.

In order to receive additional source income, U-di takes in 120 BC. e. a proposal to introduce a state monopoly on the extraction of salt and the production of iron tools. Salt was, along with grain, the most important commodity in the broadest sections of society; the demand for iron continuously increased in connection with the ever wider use of iron tools in agriculture. Therefore, salt mines and metallurgical workshops provided a significant income. After the introduction of a monopoly in most districts of the empire, special departments were created that gave these enterprises at the mercy of wealthy merchants and artisans. The expenses for the extraction and processing of raw materials were borne by the farmer; the state supplied it with the necessary equipment and purchased finished products at fixed prices. This kind of monopoly gave income to the treasury, but had a negative effect on the assortment and quality of iron tools, on which, according to a contemporary, "the life and death of the farmer depended." Therefore, soon after the introduction of the monopoly, many statesmen began to speak out against it. In 81 BC. e. this issue became the subject of fierce debate at court. Its result was the abolition of the monopoly on the production and sale of wine, introduced before, in 98 BC. e.

One of the manifestations of Wu's expansionist policy in the first decades of his reign was the creation of a system of military settlements on the newly annexed lands. The soldiers who were on guard duty at the border had to simultaneously engage in agriculture in order to provide themselves with provisions. Documents unearthed during excavations of one such military settlement [near Juyan (Edzineigol River Basin)] testify to the hardships and hardships the settlers had to face. “It is very hot here, there is sand all around, and in winter it is very cold,” wrote one of them. In the inventories of the state property of the settlers, boilers now and then appear, which have become unsuitable for cooking food, and crossbows, the bowstring of which is constantly torn; the supply of border areas with weapons and equipment was extremely difficult.

In 89 BC. e. a proposal was discussed to organize new military settlements far to the west. The rescript issued on this occasion by U-di represents a kind of summary of all the activities of this emperor for half a century. Rejecting the proposal to withdraw military settlements, Wu-di admits that his policy of conquest did not bring the desired results, but only "tired the Celestial Empire." - well, "deeply repents of past actions."

Thus ended the "golden age of Wu-di", when the Han Empire experienced the apogee of its political and economic power and again found itself in the second half of the 1st century BC. BC e. in a state of deep internal crisis. Assessing the current situation, Sima Qian emphasized that the prosperity of the first years of Wu’s reign, when “barns in the capital and on the periphery were full of grain,” inevitably and inevitably went to its opposite, to decline and disorder: “The country is tired of continuous wars , the people are sad, the stocks are depleted and cannot meet the expenses.” Sima Qian explains this in the spirit of the notions of the cyclical nature of history: "Things, having reached their limit, begin to decline, and their change is inevitable."

Socio-economic relations at the turn of our era

The upper stratum of the ruling class of Han society was the titled nobility. During the Han era, there were a total of 20 ranks of nobility. Holders of the nineteenth and twentieth ranks received a certain number of households for "feeding", from which they had the right to collect tax in their favor. Persons who had the ninth or higher rank of nobility enjoyed a number of privileges (they, in particular, did not serve their duties). The title of nobility could be granted by the emperor for services, it could be bought (in 18 BC, it was established that each subsequent rank of nobility cost 1000 coins; before that, the price of ranks was calculated in kind, in grain).

The most numerous and complex social composition there was a class of free commoners. These included primarily direct producers-farmers, among whom in the III - I centuries. BC. there was a process of social differentiation. Small and medium-sized artisans and merchants were also ranked among commoners.

Slaves occupied a special place in Han society. Along with the private, there were state slaves. If the main source of slaves of the first category were ruined commoners who sold themselves or their children for the sake of debts, then state slaves were replenished mainly at the expense of relatives of persons convicted of crimes. According to Han law, "the wife and children of a criminal are turned into slaves and branded." The children of slaves are considered slaves.

At the same time, in Han society it was relatively easy to move from one social stratum to another. A wealthy commoner had the right, under favorable conditions, to buy the rank of nobility and thereby join the privileged strata of society. Representatives of the nobility, having caused displeasure of the emperor, together with their relatives could be turned into slaves. Finally, the slave could count on returning to the ranks of the free, which, at least in theory, opened up the possibility for him to achieve wealth and nobility. The most revealing example in this respect is the career of the famous Han commander Wei Qing and his sisters. Their mother was a slave. However, Wui Qing received the highest rank of nobility for his military merits; his older sister ended up in the harem of U-di and then became the empress; the second sister of Wei Qing became the mother of a commander who was also awarded the highest rank of nobility; his third sister married one of the dignitaries.

The total number of slaves in ancient China II-I centuries. BC e. it is not known exactly, but the sources speak of slaves quite often. It is reported that under Wu-di several tens of thousands of private slaves were confiscated from large merchants. Some noble dignitaries of that time had several hundred slaves. A certain Zhang An-shih, for example, had 700 slaves, exploiting whom he "could accumulate wealth."

In the 1st century BC e. slave trade was widespread. “Now,” the source says, “there are markets where slaves are traded, placing them in the same pen with cattle.” A transaction for the sale and purchase of slaves was formalized by an official document, similar in form to a bill of sale for real estate. The text of one bill of sale for a slave, dated 59 BC, has been preserved. e.: “In the third year of the reign of Shen-jue, in the first moon, the fifteenth day, Wang Zi-yuan, a man from the Zi-zhong district, bought from a woman Yang Hui from Anzhili, Chengdu district, a slave Bian-liao acquired during the life of her husband . We agreed on a price of 15 thousand coins. The slave is obliged to unquestioningly perform all the following types of work ... In case of disobedience, the slave can be punished with one hundred blows ... "

It should be noted that the prices for slaves at this time were very high. The aged Bian-lyao was sold for 15,000 coins; the young slave cost the same. An adult slave cost 20,000 coins, and an adult slave cost 40,000 (a horse at about the same time could be bought for 4,000, a bull for 1,500–4,000 coins).

In the Han Empire, there were two main taxes - land and poll. The lowering of the land tax at the beginning of the Han played a positive role in the recovery of the country's economy. However, in the 1st c. BC h. the situation has changed. As land ownership became concentrated in the hands of large landowners, the relatively low land tax proved beneficial primarily to wealthy landowners. On the contrary, the poll tax, the main burden of which fell on the average farmer, was continuously raised. Unlike the land tax, the poll tax was paid not in grain, but in money. The poll tax was usually imposed on the entire population of the empire between the ages of 7 and 56 years. However, under U-di, they began to collect it from children from the age of three. For the poorest part of the population, this was an unbearable burden.

Commoners not only paid taxes, but also had to serve military and labor service between the ages of 20 and 56. Officials and the nobility were exempted from duties, it was possible to pay off them. For those who did not have sufficient funds to pay off, serving labor service often led to ruin.

Legalization of the purchase and sale of land in the IV century. BC e. led to the fact that the community turned into the majority of small landowners. In the Han time, the community had already ceased to be a subject of land ownership, although it continued to impose certain restrictions on the free alienation of land. As the Han land purchase deeds show, the seller and the buyer had to obtain consent to the transaction from the members of the community, which was expressed in the custom of “treating” the witnesses.

Property stratification among small landowners led to the dispossession of a significant part of the peasants. Having lost their own land, the peasant was forced to rent it from large landowners on extremely unfavorable terms: in the Han era, the rent was half the harvest. Hired labor is also becoming more widespread. Ruined farmers often fell into slavery. At the same time, there was a process of concentration of landed property in the hands of the big rich. Even Tung Chung-shu, in his report to Emperor Wu-di, strongly advised limiting privately owned lands in order to give them to those who did not have enough land, and thereby prevent the accumulation of land. Similar proposals were repeatedly made later. In 6 BC. e., for example, it was proposed to introduce restrictions on the private ownership of land and slaves. The limiting norm for the area of ​​private land was set at 30 qing per person (1 qing = 4.7 ha); the number of slaves was not to exceed 30 for commoners, 100 for representatives of the nobility, and 200 for the highest aristocracy. This project was not put into practice, as it ran into resistance from large landowners. By the beginning of the 1st century n. e. the growth of large landed property continues to be one of the most burning social problems.

ANCIENT CHINA IN I-III centuries. n, e.

Aggravation of social contradictions and popular uprisings in the 1st century.


At the end of the 1st century BC e. sharply exacerbated social contradictions in the country. For the first time in the entire existence of the Han Empire, peasants began to protest against the ruling class in certain regions of the country. Detachments of robbers numbering up to several thousand people attacked county towns, seized arsenals, and killed local officials.

In the context of the growing internal crisis of the empire, Wang Mang, a female relative of the emperor, captured, in 9 AD. e. throne and announced the beginning of a new dynasty. Following this, he carried out a series of reforms, the main of which was the reform of land and slave ownership.

In an effort to resolve the contradiction between the accumulation of land in the hands of individual owners and the ruin of the poorest peasantry, Wang Mang declared all land in the country the property of the emperor and forbade their sale and purchase. According to Wang Mang's rescript, the system of "well g.ols" was introduced in the empire, which supposedly existed in ancient times: from now on, each family was supposed to own a small allotment of land. The slave trade was prohibited. The sale and purchase of people, the rescript said, is an action that “contradicts heavenly virtue and human morality, violates the decrees of Heaven and Earth, offends human dignity ... Therefore, from now on, slaves will be called private; trade is prohibited."

Wang Mang's reforms, designed, according to their initiator, to solve the pressing problems of contemporary society, were doomed to failure from the very beginning. They were a utopia, completely ignorant of reality. To cross out with the help of one legislative act the entire path traveled by the ancient Chinese society for half a millennium, and return to the orders of the Zhou era idealized by the Han Confucians in the 1st century BC. n. e. was impossible.

Already three years after the start of the reforms, Wang Mang was forced to give in to the rich landowners, who offered him desperate resistance, and allow the sale and purchase of land and slaves. But this could no longer strengthen his shaky position. Wang Mang was opposed by broad sections of the population, embittered by the abuses of officials and the instability of the economic situation in the country.

The situation of the political crisis of the empire was exacerbated by natural disasters that hit the country in 14, first an unprecedented drought, and then locusts that destroyed the remnants of crops. Hunger has begun. In a number of regions of the country, huge crowds of starving people moved along the roads in search of food. Peasant uprisings break out one after another.

In 18, a certain Fan Chong led a group of starving peasants in Shandong (Taishan district), which soon grew into an army of ten thousand, called the "red-browed". Fan Chong introduced strict discipline: the one who killed a person without permission was sentenced to death, and the one who injured someone had to pay the victim. Gradually, the peasant army of Fan Chong becomes the master of the situation in several districts of the country.

In 22, Wang Mang was forced to send a 100,000-strong army to suppress the "red-browed" uprising. But in the decisive battle, the government troops were defeated. After that, the army of the "red-browed" significantly expanded the territory of its operations, capturing a number of areas in the middle reaches of the Yellow River.

At the same time, another hotbed of popular uprising arose in the south of the country. The rebels settled in the Lü-linshan mountains (modern Hubei province), which is why they began to be called the "Lu-lin army", literally "green forest army". In 23, the rebels defeated Wang Mang's troops and moved west. Soon the capital was captured and Wang Mang was killed.

In 24, one of the leaders of the "green forest" uprising, Liu Xuan, declared himself emperor and settled in Chang-an. The army of the "red-browed" at that time was also moving towards the capital. In 25, the "red-browed" captured Chang'an and Liu Xuan committed suicide. Then Liu Xiu, who commanded a detachment of the "Green Forest Army", moved to the capital. The "Red Eyebrows" were forced to leave the capital and return to Shandong. On the way, they were surrounded by Liu Xiu's men and suffered heavy losses. Fan Chong and his companions fell in battle. In the same year 25, Liu Xiu declared himself emperor and moved the capital to the east, to Luoyang. This is how the Late, or Eastern, Han Dynasty arose.

The internal policy of the Eastern Han in the 1st-2nd centuries.

Comparing the nature, driving forces and consequences of the first major peasant wars that shook China on the threshold of the early Middle Ages, it can be found that if they developed successfully, they ended with the overthrow of the existing dynasty and the accession of a new one, and the successors in one way or another returned to the system of oppression that existed under their rule. predecessors. But it would be a mistake to deny the historical significance of these uprisings. Their most important direct impact on the development of ancient Chinese society was that the new rulers, who came to power on the crest of a popular uprising, were forced, at least at first, to make concessions to the people, reducing taxes and lightening the burden of duties. A direct consequence of this was the restoration and development of productive forces in agriculture, which was the basis of the country's economy. The history of the Eastern Han Empire was no exception in this sense. The first emperor of the new dynasty, Liu Xiu, who took the title of Guang Wu-di, began his reign with events very reminiscent of the activities of Gao-zu two centuries before.

During the reign of Guang Wu-di (25-57), old irrigation canals were restored and new irrigation canals began to be built, which led to an increase in productivity and made it possible to develop previously uncultivated lands. In the south of the country, where until recently slash-and-burn agriculture was used, draft arable implements with iron tips are beginning to be used. The intensive development of the areas of the Yangtze basin is one of the important new features in the country's economy in the 1st-1st centuries.

The reign of Guan Wudi was marked by a number of measures aimed at reducing slavery in the empire. In the year 31, Guan Wu-di issued a rescript according to which all those converted into slaves in the period immediately preceding the restoration of the Han were declared free and had the right to stay with the master or leave him at their discretion. If the slave owner prevented this, he was held liable under the "law on the sale of people into slavery." In 37, the release of all who had been sold into slavery during the previous five years was announced.

As is clear from the text of these rescripts, there was at that time a law forbidding the sale of people into slavery. In addition, under Guan Wudi, those slave owners who branded their slaves were brought to justice, and branded slaves were freed and became commoners. In 35, the law was repealed, according to which a slave who wounded a free man was subject to the death penalty.

Even in the II century. BC e. Tung Chung-shu proposed depriving slave owners of the right to kill their slaves at their own will. Apparently, this proposal was accepted. In any case, in 35 Guan Wu-di ordered not to reduce the punishment for the murderer of a slave.

The foreign policy of the empire

The first period of the rule of the Eastern Han dynasty was marked by the restoration of relations with neighboring countries that existed before, but then interrupted. Trade with the "Western Territory", which was of great importance for the country's economy, practically ceased at the beginning of the 1st century, when many states located on the territory of modern Xinjiang again fell under the political influence of the Xiongnu.

In the middle of the 1st c. The Xiongnu are experiencing a serious internal crisis, as a result of which they are divided into two parts. The Southern Xiongnu recognize the authority of the Han Empire; the northern ones continue to oppose it as a significant hostile force.

In 73, the northern Xiongnu were defeated, and thus their influence on the states of the "Western Territory" was weakened. It was to this period that the beginning of military and diplomatic activity in the "Western Territory" of one of the prominent politicians of the Khak era - Ban Chao. Appointed as viceroy of the emperor in areas that recognized dependence on the Han, Ban Chao established ties with many major states of Central Asia. In 98, Ban Chao sent his subordinate with an embassy to Rome. This expedition ended in failure: Parthian merchants, not interested in establishing direct trade relations between the Han and Roman empires, deceived the ambassadors, intimidating them with the difficulties of sailing through the Persian Gulf.

In the I-II centuries. The Han Empire had permanent diplomatic and trade ties with Parthia. Occupying important trade routes, Parthia acted as an intermediary in China's trade with Western countries. Through Parthia, Chinese goods, primarily silk, came to Rome. From the country of Arshak, as the ancient Chinese called Parthia, many merchants constantly came to the capital of the Han Empire, Loyang.

The defeat of the Northern Xiongnu, after which, according to the chronicler, they “disappeared to no one knows where” (in fact, at the end of the 1st century, the Xiongnu moved westward and after some time, having mixed along the way with the Finno-Ugric tribes, reached Europe, where they were known as the Huns), did not bring the desired calm to the Han Empire. The lands of the Xiongnu were captured by the Sakbi tribes. These proto-Mongolian tribes make devastating raids on the frontier regions of the empire. By the middle of the II century. the territory of a number of northern districts became part of the possessions of the Xian-bi ruler. The Xianbei also attacked western borders Han Empire.

In the II century. a new dangerous enemy appears on the northwestern borders of the country - the Qiang tribes, who originally lived between the Yellow River and Lake Kokunor, and then moved to the east. The Qiang attacked a number of Han districts, and in 140 they burned the suburbs of Chang'an. The wars against the Qiang, which continued with varying success for many decades, were very difficult. The turning point in the course of hostilities came only in the 60s of the 2nd century, when large Koyati-ngents of the Qiangs who submitted were resettled in the interior regions of the empire.

Demographic and ethnic processes in the I-II centuries.

As evidenced by the earliest surviving census of the population of the Han Empire, in 2 AD. e. its total number was about 60 million people. The Central Chinese Plain was especially densely populated (the population density here approached the modern one). At the same time, in the territory of Fujian province and in most of Guizhou, there was no ancient Chinese population at all: local tribes lived here, preserving their traditional culture. The population of the empire was distributed on its territory very unevenly, not only in number, but also in composition. The "inner districts", i.e., the lands of the former kingdoms of the Zhangguo era, which corresponded to the territory of the Han Empire before the start of the Wu Di conquests, were inhabited by the ancient Chinese proper. As a result of the creation of "border districts", significant groups of the ancient Chinese population were resettled to the newly annexed lands. Nevertheless, they did not constitute a continuous array here, but were located mainly around the administrative centers. Finally, the Han empire nominally included territories that recognized dependence on it; .they either did not have an ancient Chinese population at all, or it was represented only by soldiers of military units stationed there.

After a sharp decline in the population of the country at the beginning of the 1st century. it reached the level of the end of the Western Han era only in the 2nd century BC. Census data dating back to 140 testify to significant shifts in the demographic structure of the empire. First, the population of the northwestern regions of the country decreased by about 6.5 million people, the northeast by almost 11 million. At the same time, the total population in the Yangtze basin increased by about 9 million people. Over the past century and a half, there has been a significant movement of the population to Sichuan and the northern part of Yunan, where at that time about 2 million ancient Chinese already lived. The density of the ancient Chinese population increased sharply along the routes connecting the modern province of Hunan with Guangdong. However, no increase in the ancient Chinese population has been recorded in the coastal regions in the south of the empire. The territory of Fujian still remained a "blank spot" on the map of the Eastern Han Empire.

The increase in the number of ancient Chinese in the south of the empire was accompanied by an increase in their cultural influence on the local population. At the same time, while developing the southern regions, the ancient Chinese inevitably perceived many features of the culture of local tribes. It is no coincidence that, for example, in the dwellings of the Han population in the south of Guangdong, we can trace features that are completely uncharacteristic of the original ancient Chinese type (for example, piled buildings).

The situation was different in the northern regions of the empire. The policy of the Eastern Han in relation to its northern neighbors was characterized by the migration of certain groups of nomads, who recognized the authority of the Han emperor, to the border regions.

After the southern Xiongnu recognized the power of the Han, large groups of them were resettled in the border districts in order to protect the borders of the empire from outside attacks. In the II century. the Xiongnu already made up the majority of the population in some of these districts.

The increase in the number of Xiongnu and Qiangs, who lived interspersed with the ancient Chinese, resulted in the beginning of the process of "barbarization" of the population of the northern part of the empire. At the end of the III century. even on the territory of the former metropolitan area near Chang'an, out of the total population, which by that time was about 1 million people, there were more than half of the Qiang and Xiongnu. The gradual assimilation of the ancient Chinese who lived in the Huang He basin by former nomads was reflected in the change in the way of life and customs of this part of the population of the Han Empire. So even in the II-III centuries. the soil was prepared for the occupation of the north of the country by the "barbarians", which subsequently led to the division of China into North and South, which lasted almost three centuries.

Social relations in the I-II centuries.

In the I-II centuries. the process of concentration of landed property and the ruin of small landowners is becoming ever larger. The growing differentiation among the free peasantry was fraught with serious social consequences. The state gradually lost control over the peasant, who was the main taxpayer and the basis of the economic strength of the empire: having lost land, yesterday's owner became more and more dependent on large landowners.

Having come to power, Guan Wu-di began with the revision of household lists of taxpayers. This measure was directed against the "strong houses" - powerful clans interested in the fact that the state could not control their tenants.

Lease relations, which became widespread already in the 3rd - 1st centuries. BC e., were originally "free" in nature. The tenant was obliged to pay a high rent to the owner of the land, but this did not affect his legal status: he remained personally free, paid a poll tax to the state and served state duties. But by the end of the 1st c. BC e. and especially in the first centuries of the new era, the situation begins to change. Landowners seek to "shelter" tenants, to prevent them from paying taxes to the treasury. Because of this, the social position of the tenant begins to change: he falls into the fetters of personal dependence on the landlord. The process of formation of relations of personal dependence was closely connected with the preservation of clan organization in Han China. According to tradition, the head of the clan, who in most cases was the head of the richest family, had to protect his relatives. This further increased the dependence of the impoverished clan members on their powerful relatives, from whom they had to rent land.

In this struggle, the “strong houses” are gradually gaining the upper hand: in 280, the state was forced to recognize the right of landowners to peasants dependent on them.

As "strong houses" grow in Han China, a new type of rural settlement- an estate belonging to a large landowner and representing a self-contained economic and, to a certain extent, social unit.

What characterized such an estate can be judged by the example of the wealthy landowner Fan Chong, who was the maternal grandfather of the founder of the Eastern Han dynasty. The Fan family owned three hundred qings of land (about 1500 hectares), and its property was estimated at many hundreds of thousands of coins. The case was set in such a way that all costs paid off in a year. Fan Chong's estate had its own irrigation system. In addition to arable farming, he was engaged in the cultivation of mulberry and lacquer trees, and also bred fish in ponds and kept livestock. Thanks to this, "any desire could be satisfied" at the expense of his own economy. The owner of the estate was at the same time the head of the clan, uniting three generations of relatives. The custom demanded unquestioning obedience from the younger members of the clan, so “children and grandchildren came every morning and evening to express their respect” to the owner of the estate. During the uprising of the "red-eyebrows" the estate of the Fan family was turned into a fortified camp, behind the walls of which the owners waited out the time of troubles.

The daily life of a large estate is described in detail in the work of Cui Shi, an author of the 2nd century BC. The manor, according to him, not only produces grain, but also grows vegetables (onion, wild garlic, garlic, ginger, pumpkin) and fruits. In the spring, all the women are busy picking mulberry leaves and raising silkworms. Then the slaves unwind the cocoons, weave, dye fabrics, and sew clothes. Under the supervision of a cook, slaves make wine, vinegar, spicy coys, and dry fruit. Medicinal herbs are collected in the vicinity of the estate at different times of the year. Draft cattle and tools belong to the owner of the estate, therefore, in late autumn, after the completion of field work, ralas, hoes and sickles are collected and inspected, and the strongest bulls are selected, which can be used for plowing next year. The estate not only provides the owner with everything necessary, but also gives him the opportunity to show favors to younger relatives, which further increases their dependence on the head of the clan. Finally, the estate has its own armed detachment capable of protecting the estate from outside attack. Military training of the guards is regularly held: in the second month they learn to shoot “in case of unforeseen circumstances”, in the third month they repair the outer wall of the estate “so that they do not steal hay in the hungry spring”, in the ninth month they prepare to repel the attacks of the “poor rabble”.

Rise of the Yellow Turbans and the Fall of the Han Empire

With the rise of "strong houses" was associated with a sharp political struggle that broke out at the court in the 2nd century. One of the social groups, called "scholars", criticized the court nobility from the standpoint of Confucianism. The eunuchs close to the emperor opposed the "scientists". In 169 the struggle between the two camps reached its climax. Emperor Lin-di, instigated by the eunuchs, ordered the arrest of the most active "scientists". Repressions hit the students of the capital's academy, which was a stronghold of the Confucians. More than a hundred people were killed, and everyone who somehow turned out to be involved in the group of "scientists" was forbidden to enter the public service. Only in 184, after the start of the "yellow bandages" uprising, Emperor Ling-di announced an amnesty for all repressed "scientists".

In the context of the socio-economic and political crisis experienced by the Han Empire in the 2nd century, Taoist ideas found support among the broad masses of the poorest peasantry. In the I-II centuries. Taoism, which arose as a philosophical doctrine, gradually transformed into a religious and mystical system of views. Secret sects arose in various regions of the country, preaching the inevitability of the speedy implementation of the "path of great prosperity." The leader of the largest of these sects was Zhang Jiao, who received the title of "great wise and kind teacher." Using the means of traditional medicine, Zhang Jiao was engaged in healing, to which he largely owed his popularity among the poor. Zhang Jiao's supporters preached that "the blue sky is already dead, it must be replaced by a yellow sky." In Han times, the chronology was carried out according to sixty-year cycles, and the next cycle was to begin in the 17th year of the reign of Emperor Ling-di (184). By this time, the beginning of the preparations for the uprising was timed.

In the early spring of 184 the uprising broke out simultaneously in different parts of the empire. The rebels tied headscarves yellow color- a symbol of a new era of great prosperity (hence the name of this popular movement "yellow bandages"). An army of forty thousand strong was sent to suppress the uprising, but detachments of large landowners played the main role in defeating the rebels. After the death of Zhang Jiao (autumn 184), the movement lost its unified leadership. In October 184, in Guangzong (modern Hebei province), the rebels were defeated. As a result of the massacre carried out after this, at least 80 thousand people died.

Despite the defeat of the main forces of the rebels, in 185 the uprising broke out with new force. The army of the "black mountain" creates a base on the northern bank of the Yellow River, in close proximity to the capital. However, the inconsistency of the actions of individual groups leads to the fact that government troops manage to break them in parts. In 188-207. in the country, scattered rebellions did not stop, which were suppressed with incredible cruelty. But the Han Empire was never able to recover from the blow inflicted by the uprising.

After the death of Emperor Ling-di in 189, a conspiracy was organized in the capital against the all-powerful clique of eunuchs. Yuan Shao, one of the leaders of the conspiracy, is opposed by Dong Zhuo. He enthrones the infant son of Emperor Ling-di, transfers the capital to Chang'an and seizes power in the country. In 192, Dong Jo was killed. This was followed by a fierce struggle between the military leaders who rose during the suppression of the uprising of the "yellow bandages." Civil strife leads to the collapse of a single empire. Three independent states emerged—Wei, Shu, and Wu.

CULTURE OF ANCIENT CHINA

Mythology and religion


Today we can judge ancient Chinese myths only by the traces that have been preserved in later monuments, mainly from the 6th century BC. BC e. According to their content, these myths are divided into several groups, or cycles.

Among the cosmogonic myths that interpret the emergence of nature and man from the state of initial chaos, two main concepts are presented - division and transformation. According to the first of them, inanimate things and living beings arose as a result of the division of chaos into two primary elements - the light (male) beginning of yang and the dark (female) beginning of yin. The second concept assumes the emergence of all things as a result of transformation. Thus, man was created from clay by a goddess named Nu Wa. According to another version of the same myth, Nu Wa herself turned into objects and creatures that fill the world.

An extensive group is made up of myths about natural disasters and the heroes who saved people from them. The two most common types of disasters are floods and droughts. In some myths, the flood appears as a kind of initial state, in others the flood is sent by Heaven as a punishment to people. The drought is the result of the appearance of ten suns at the same time, incinerating crops and threatening people with death. The Great Yu saved people from the flood, from the drought - the Shooter Yi, who shot down all the extra suns from the bow.

Myths about ancient heroes reflect the desire of the ancient Chinese to find personified "authors" of the most important technical achievements of ancient times. Among them are those who taught people how to make fire by friction; first built a hut from branches; invented ways of hunting and fishing; made the first agricultural tools and taught people to eat cereals; discovered a way to steam grain, etc. It is characteristic that many of these cultural heroes were depicted by the ancient Chinese as half-humans, half-animals: with the body of a snake, with the head of a bull, etc., which is undoubtedly a reflection of ancient totemic ideas.

An independent cycle is made up of myths about the ancestors. All of them were born as a result of an immaculate conception - the progenitor of the Yin people accidentally swallowed the egg of the sacred Purple Bird, the mother of the first Zhou stepped on the footprints of the Giant, etc. knew only the mother and did not know the father” — a surviving reflection in the minds of the people of the original matrilineal filiation.

The ideas of the Yin people about the other world were a mirror image of the legal order that existed on earth. Just as in the Celestial Empire the supreme power belongs to the van, the Yin people believed, so in the sky everything and everything obeys the Supreme Deity<Ди). Ди всемогущ — это он оказывает людям благодеяния или карает их несчастьем, он дарует им урожай, посылает засуху, от него зависит дождь и ветер. Ближайшее окружение Ди. составляют усопшие предки вана, являющиеся его «слугами». Предки вана выполняют различные поручения Ди, они же передают ему просьбы вана о ниспослании благоволения и помощи. Поэтому, принося жертвы своим предкам, ван мог умилостивить их и благодаря этому заручиться поддержкой Верховного божества. Функции вана как верховного жреца как раз и заключались в том, что он мог осуществлять общение со своими предками, являвшимися посредниками между миром людей и миром богов.

In the early Zhou time, this system of religious ideas did not undergo any significant changes. Later, a gradual process of separation in the minds of people of the world of ancestors from the world of gods takes place, which leads to the isolation of the cult of ancestors from the cult of the Supreme Deity. As a result, the functions of the mediator are transferred to the priest or priestess - a person who has the ability to deal with spirits and gods.

The emergence and spread of Confucian teachings contributed, on the one hand, to the strengthening of the cult of ancestors, and on the other hand, the transformation of ideas about Di into the cult of Heaven. After the transformation of Confucianism into the official state ideology, his interpretation of the meaning of these cults became canon.

Along with this, in the Han period, folk beliefs developed, revealing a significant Taoist coloring. In the II-III centuries. Buddhism enters China. According to legend, the first Buddhist sutras were brought to China on a white horse; in memory of this, the Buddhist “White Horse Temple”, which has survived to this day, was built near Luoyang. The translation of the sutras into Chinese and the spread of Buddhism in China date back to the 4th-6th centuries.

Writing

The earliest monuments of ancient Chinese writing are Yin divinatory inscriptions of the 14th-11th centuries. BC e. The emergence of this writing system should be attributed to a much earlier time, since Yin writing appears before us in a fairly developed form. From a typological point of view, there are no fundamental differences between Yin writing and modern hieroglyphics. or other units of the language, mainly from the point of view of their meaning.The vast majority of Yin signs were ideograms - images of objects or combinations of such images that convey more complex concepts.In addition, signs of a different type were already used in Yin writing, which absolutely predominate in modern Chinese hieroglyphics : one element of such a sign indicated reading, the other - an approximate meaning.This category of Yin signs is typologically close to those ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, which, fixing the sound of the word, had an additional semantic determinant.

Yin characters are characterized by three features that distinguish them from modern Chinese characters. Firstly, each elementary sign was an image of the contour of some object, indecomposable into its component parts. Secondly, there was a great variety in the writing of the same sign. Thirdly, the orientation of the sign relative to the direction of the line has not yet stabilized.

Thanks to the borrowing of the Yin script by the Chou people, its development did not stop even in the 1st millennium BC. e. Significant changes occur in it only in the II-I centuries. BC e., when, after the unification of local variants of hieroglyphs, a new handwriting of characters appears. The hieroglyphs of this time have already completely lost touch with their original inscriptions. The writing of the Han period, in principle, almost does not differ from the modern one.

The transformation of writing signs was largely due to the evolution of the materials used for writing. In ancient China, they usually wrote on long and thin wooden or bamboo strips, which were then connected with a cord or belt. They wrote with ink using a brush, and erroneously written characters were cleaned with a metal knife (hence the common name for writing instruments - “knife and brush”). From the middle of the first millennium BC. e. the ancient Chinese also wrote on silk (samples of such “silk” books were found in Han burials). At the turn of the new era, paper was invented and came into use in China. In the first centuries of the new era, paper supplants all the old writing materials.

Literature

Samples of the oldest poetic works have come down to us in the inscriptions on bronze vessels of the 11th-6th centuries BC. The rhymed texts of this time show a certain similarity with the songs included in the Shijing.

Shijing is a true treasure trove of ancient Chinese poetry. This monument includes 305 poetic works grouped into four sections (“Morals of the Kingdoms”, “Small Odes”.

"Great Odes" and "Hymns"). The lyrical folk songs included in the first section of the Shijing amaze with their sincerity and sincerity. Other stylistic features of the works included in the second and third sections. These are mostly author's poems, the main themes of which are serving the ruler, military campaigns, feasts and sacrifices. The fourth section contains samples of solemn temple chants in honor of the ancestors and rulers of the past.

The traditions of "Shijing" were inherited by the authors of poetic works of the 4th century. BC e., which have come down to our time in the form of texts on stone pedestals, shaped like drums, which is why the inscriptions on them received the name “texts on stone drums”.

The era of Zhangguo was a time of rapid rise in ancient Chinese culture. In the IV century. BC e. in the kingdom of Chu lived and worked the outstanding poet Qu Yuan, whose works vividly reflected the contradictions of contemporary society. The figurative power of Qu Yuan's poetic gift, the expressiveness of his verse and the perfection of form put this poet among the bright talents of antiquity.

Folk poetry also nourished the work of Han poets. The works of the most famous of them - Sima Xiang-zhu - were included by Sima Qian in the biography of this poet. Poems attributed to Sima Qian himself have come down to us, although the question of their authorship remains controversial.

Art

Ancient Chinese poetry is inseparable from music. It is no coincidence that, in particular, the name of the poetic genre sun (hymns) goes back to the word "bell". The nature of the accompaniment determined the poetic features of other genres as well. Music, poetry, dance - in the syncretic unity of these three cultural phenomena, Confucians saw the expression of the true norms of relationships between people. “Words can deceive, people can pretend, only music cannot lie” – this is how the ancient Chinese defined the social function of music.

Ancient Chinese musical instruments were divided into three main groups: strings, winds and percussion. This set of musical instruments continued to exist in Han times for the performance of traditional "exquisite" music. Along with him in the I-II centuries. completely new musical instruments, mainly borrowed from neighboring peoples, are also spreading in China. Many of them came to China from Central Asia.

In ancient times, a set of building techniques began to take shape in China, which subsequently gave characteristic features to the palace and temple architecture of the Han era.

The basis of the construction of the ancient Chinese building was not the walls, but the pillars of the frame, which took the main weight of the roof. There can be no building at all without pillars and beams connecting them - this idea is reflected in numerous metaphors and comparisons found in ancient Chinese written monuments (“You are like a beam in the roof for the Zheng kingdom,” says the dignitary of this kingdom to one of the courtiers, “if the beam collapses, then they will fall apart).

Was the building erected on an elevated position? platform, hence the typical ancient Chinese expressions “go up to the palace”, “go down from the palace”, etc. The walls were usually built of rammed clay (brick began to be used in construction from the 2nd - 1st centuries BC). The roof was covered with tiles, and the end decorative tiled discs were fixed along the facade, in the Han time they were decorated with hieroglyphic inscriptions with wishes of happiness, prosperity and wealth.

An example of Han urban planning was the capital of the empire - Chang'an, one of the largest cities in the ancient world. It was surrounded by a wall with twelve gates. The tallest buildings were the imperial palaces. The palace premises were not concentrated in one place, but were located in different parts of the capital. They were connected by covered passages and hanging galleries, through which the emperor and his retinue could move from one palace to another without being afraid of the idle gaze of commoners. Yellow-painted buildings of administrative institutions were placed near the palaces (in the Han time, red was the symbol of the emperor, yellow was the official office). Not only these buildings, but also the houses of many wealthy citizens were two-story.

“It is difficult to depict dogs and horses, because people constantly see and know them well, so that a violation of the similarity can be immediately detected. Spirits are much easier to portray. Spirits do not have a definite form, they cannot be seen, and therefore it is easy to draw, ”said one of the Chinese philosophers. His contemporaries quite often depicted dogs with horses and spirits - this is evidenced by numerous frescoes and bas-reliefs known to us thanks to excavations of burials. These works of fine art belong, however, to a somewhat later time, but are based on the tradition that developed during the Zhangguo period.

Particularly noteworthy is the development of portraiture during the Han period. Among the most significant and currently known works of this genre is a fresco discovered in 1957 in a Han burial near Luoyang. It depicts a dramatic episode of internecine struggle at the end of the 3rd century. BC e, when the future founder of the Han dynasty fell into a trap set up by his rival, and survived thanks to the resourcefulness of his associates. An unknown artist skillfully conveyed the individual features of the participants in the feast. It is interesting to recall what the author of Historical Notes wrote about one of them: “Judging by his actions, I thought that he should be tall and courageous in appearance. What did my eyes see when I saw his image? In appearance and facial features, he looked like a charming woman!”

The fact that in the Han time there was a custom to decorate the palace premises with portrait frescoes is evidenced by numerous sources; the names of some famous artists of their time have also been preserved. It was said about one of them that he mastered the art of portraiture to such an extent that he could convey not only the beauty of the face, but also the age of a person. Once the emperor ordered him to paint portraits of concubines from his harem and honored with his attention only those of them who looked the most attractive under the artist's brush. Many concubines bribed the artist to embellish them a little; only Zhao-jun did not want to deceive, and therefore the emperor never saw her. When it was necessary to send the bride to the Xiongnu Shangyu, the emperor decided to choose Zhao-jun for this. Before the wedding train left, Zhao-jun was received by the emperor, who suddenly discovered that she was in fact the most beautiful of all his concubines. The enraged emperor ordered the execution of the artist, who embellished mediocrity and thereby left true beauty in the shade.

Natural science knowledge

An indicator of the general rise of the culture of Ancient China during the Zhangguo era was also the development of scientific knowledge, primarily mathematics. Progress in this field of science is determined by its applied nature.

Compiled in the II century. BC e. the treatise Mathematics in Nine Books, like Euclid's Elements, contains a compendium of mathematical knowledge accumulated by previous generations of scientists. This treatise fixes the rules of actions with fractions, proportions and progressions, the Pythagorean theorem, the use of the similarity of right triangles, the solution of a system of linear equations, and much more. "Mathematics in Nine Books" was a kind of guide for surveyors, astronomers, officials, etc. For a student of the history of ancient China, this book, in addition to its purely scientific significance, is valuable in that it reflects. the realities of the Han era: prices for various goods, indicators of agricultural crop yields, etc.

Significant achievements of the ancient Chinese in the field of astronomy and calendar were closely connected with the development of mathematics. In Sima Qin's "Historical Notes" one of the chapters of the "Treatises" section is specially devoted to the problems of celestial bodies. A similar chapter is contained in the "Han History" of Ban Gu, where the names of 118 constellations (783 stars) are given. Much attention was paid at that time to observations of the planets. In the 1st century BC e. the ancient Chinese knew that the period of the Tree Star (Jupiter) was 11.92 years. This almost coincides with the results of modern observations.

In 104 BC. e. it was calculated that the length of the year is 365.25 days. The calendar adopted in this year was used until 85 AD. e. According to this calendar, the year consisted of 12 months; an extra month was added in a leap year, which was set once every three years.

The solar-lunar calendar of the ancient Chinese was adapted to the needs of agricultural production. The calendar was given considerable attention in those scientific treatises that summarized the most important achievements of agricultural technology.

Medicine has received a very significant development in ancient China. Ancient Chinese doctors in the IV-III centuries. BC e. began to apply, the method of treatment, which subsequently received widespread use in traditional Chinese medicine, is acupuncture. Extremely interesting are the manuscripts of medical writings recently found in one of the Han burials of the early 2nd century BC. BC e. They include a treatise on dietetics, a manual on remedial gymnastics, a manual on moxibustion treatment and, finally, a collection of various recipes. The latter contains 280 prescriptions for the treatment of 52 diseases (including convulsions, nervous disorders, fever, hernia, helminthic diseases, women's and children's diseases, etc.). Among the recommended remedies, along with medicines containing a total of more than two hundred ingredients, cauterization and acupuncture, some magic tricks are also mentioned. For example, for healing from tumors, it was suggested one day at the end of the month to pass over the tumor seven times with an old broom, and then throw the broom into the well. Attention is drawn to the fact that in the later medical writings of the Han time, magical methods of treatment are practically not mentioned anymore. By the 3rd century the use of local anesthesia by the famous doctor Hua Tuo for abdominal operations.

In the history of among the eastern countries, the Ancient Far East occupies a very important place. The ancient Chinese class society and statehood were formed somewhat later than the various civilizations of Ancient Western Asia, however, after their emergence, they begin to develop at a rapid pace and high forms of economic, political and cultural life are created in Ancient China, which led to the folding of the original socio-political and cultural system.

The history of ancient states that arose on the territory of East Asia in the II-I millennium BC. e., convincingly testifies to the operation of the law on the unity, unity and diversity of the ways of the formation and development of class societies. Having emerged in the Huang He basin during the decomposition of tribal relations, the ancient Chinese class society and state developed over the centuries in conditions of relative isolation from other civilizations of the Ancient East. This determined the significant originality of many specific forms of ancient Chinese society and culture.

An important feature of the socio-economic development of Ancient China is the complex nature of the regulation of the Yellow River, the openness of the borders of the agricultural regions of China to numerous border nomads, the isolation and difference of a number of regions of China, which were the breeding ground for political and cultural separatism. These features made it difficult to form a centralized state and at the same time gave rise to particularly tough forms in the struggle for the creation of state centralization.

The continuity of the development of the ancient Chinese people and culture, the strong continuity of traditions are reflected in the ethnic self-name of the modern Chinese - Han, which goes back to the name of the ancient Chinese empire; many features of modern culture are rooted in early historical eras.

At the same time, it would be a mistake to exaggerate the degree of isolation of Ancient China and other states of East Asia from the centers of ancient Eastern civilizations that existed simultaneously with them. Starting from the last centuries BC, the Han Empire established intensive contacts with the western countries of the Ancient East. Along the Great Silk Road, ancient Chinese silk fabrics, paper, and lacquer products penetrate into Central Asia and the countries of the Middle East. Through Parthian and Syrian merchants, the ancient Chinese became acquainted with glass and glaze. Having adopted Buddhism from India through the countries of Central Asia and East Turkestan, China became an intermediary for its penetration into Korea and Japan.

The original system of writing, rich literature, the subtle and expressive art of Ancient China had a noticeable impact on the cultural development of the neighboring peoples of East Asia. At the same time, the emergence of the ancient Chinese culture itself was unthinkable without various contacts and mutual influences with other states and peoples of the Ancient Far East, from which the ancient Chinese population borrowed and creatively reworked many cultural achievements.

Along with the ancestors of the modern Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese, those ancient peoples of Asia, who had disappeared from the ethnic map of the world by the beginning of our era, also contributed to the development of world culture. These include, in particular, the ancient Xiongnu (Huns), who for centuries were not only an important political force in ancient East Asia, but also had a cultural influence on their neighboring agricultural peoples.

The history of ancient China goes back into the distant past: several thousand years ago, great China was already formed. There were ups and downs as well.

The periodization of Ancient China is due to the change of dynasties, which ultimately create this very history. Let's take a look at it.

Periodization of Ancient China

All these dynasties are also divided into several groups.

Stages of periodization of the history of the state in Ancient China:

1. The first people in the Neolithic era.

2. The period with the first three dynasties, when China was fragmented, there was no empire as such.

3. Traditional China and the empire.

This is where the whole of old China ends, the dynasties as such cease to rule, and the last stage begins, covering only the 20th and 21st centuries.

However, the period before the beginning of the Middle Ages belongs to Ancient China, it ends with the Han Dynasty. The entire period of the existence of Ancient China can be expressed as building the foundation for a great state, for what it is now.

Let us consider below briefly the history of civilization and the periodization of Ancient China, the social and state systems, as well as the philosophy of that time and great inventions.

The beginning of the story

It is known that the first ancestors of the Chinese lived 400 thousand years ago in the Neolithic era. The remains of Sinanthropus were found in a cave near Beijing. The first people already owned coloring and some other skills.

In general, the territory of China is convenient for life, so history recedes into such a distant past. The soil is fertile, and the steppe itself is surrounded by the sea, mountains, which could protect people from attacks by enemies. Such a convenient location attracted the first inhabitants, who were the ancestors of the current Chinese.

Scientists also know that there were two cultures after Sinanthropus: Yangshao and Longshan. There were probably more, but they mixed with each other. Only two have been archaeologically confirmed.

Yangshao culture existed 2-3 thousand years BC. People of that period lived on a vast territory from the province of Gansu and up to the south of Manchuria. It is known that they could make beautiful colored pottery.

Longshan was located mainly in the province of Shandong. In central China, both cultures overlapped each other. People also mastered the skill of processing ceramics, but their main pride was the ability to make various objects from bone. On some of them, which were found by scientists, scraped inscriptions were found. This was the first prerequisite for writing.

Further, it is conditionally possible to single out several stages of periodization of the history and culture of Ancient China. The first three dynasties belong to the stage before the formation, then the many dynasties during the existence of the Empire, and the last stage is the system without dynasties and modern China.

Xia dynasty

The first known dynasty in the chronology and periodization of Ancient China is its founder was Yu, and it existed from 2205 to 1557 BC. According to some theories, the state was located in the entire east of Northern China, or only in the north and in the center of Henan province.

The first rulers coped with their tasks of governing the state quite well. The main asset of the Xia era is the calendar of that time, which Confucius himself later admired.

However, the decline happened, and it was caused by the pressure of the clergy, and the rulers-confessors soon began to neglect their duties as clergy. Calendar dates began to get confused, the periodization of Ancient China went astray, the social and political structure was lame. Emperor Li of the Shang State took advantage of this weakening and started the next dynasty.

Shang-Yin dynasty

The period of government begins in the 18th or 16th century BC. e. according to various theories, and ends in the XII or XI century BC. e.

In total, this dynasty has about 30 rulers. Li Tang (the founder of the dynasty) and his tribe believed in totemism. They adopted the custom of fortune telling from the Longshan culture, and they also used tortoise shells for divination.

During the reign of Shang-Yin, a centralized government policy, led by the emperors of the dynasty, reigned.

The end of the period came when the Zhou tribes overthrew the ruler.

Zhou dynasty

Zhou is the last powerful dynasty of the first stage in the periodization of the history of the state of Ancient China before the formation of the Chinese Empire, which existed from the 9th to the 3rd century BC.

There are two stages: Western and Eastern Zhou. The Western Zhou had its capital, Zongzhou, in the west, and the possessions covered almost the entire basin of the Yellow River. The essence of the policy of that time was that the main emperor ruled in the capital, and his confidants (usually relatives) ruled over many destinies into which the state split. This led to civil strife and a struggle for power. But in the end, stronger possessions enslaved the weaker ones.

China at the same time defended itself from the constant attacks of the barbarians. That is why the ruler moved from the western capital to the eastern capital of Chengzhou in the state of Loi in 770 BC, and the period of ancient Chinese history called Western Zhou began. The move of the ruler meant a conditional renunciation of power and government.

All of China was split into several kingdoms: Yan, Zhao, Song, Zheng, Lu, Qi, Chu, Wei, Han, Qin, and into many small principalities that conquered large kingdoms over time. In fact, some kingdoms were much more powerful in politics than the kingdom where the main ruler Zhou was located. Qi and Qin were considered the most powerful, and it was their rulers who made the greatest contribution to politics and to the fight against the barbarians.

Separately, it is worth highlighting the kingdom of Lu from these kingdoms. Education and writing reigned in it, although Lu was not strong politically. It was here that Confucius, the founder of Confucianism, was born and lived. The end of the Zhou period is usually considered the year of the death of the philosopher in 479 BC. Confucius wrote the history of Western Zhou in the Chunqiu chronicle. Many events of that time are known only thanks to these records. It is also known that Taoism began to penetrate China during this period.

The end of the dynasty was the fact that all the kingdoms fought among themselves for power. The most powerful one won - Qin with the ruler Qin Shi Huang, who after the conquest was able to unite all of China and began a new dynasty. And the ruler of Zhou himself lost the status of a heavenly mandate.

Qin

Since the Qin ruler united all of China, a new stage in the history and periodization of Ancient China began. The era of fragmentation was replaced by the era of imperial rule with the united parts of the entire state.

The era did not last long. Only from 221 to 207 BC, but it is Qin Shi Huang (the first emperor) who makes a special contribution to the culture of Ancient China. During this period, the Great Wall of China was built - a special property of the state, the greatness of which still amazes. The ruler Qin Shi Huang carried out many reforms. For example, monetary and judicial reform, and also the reform of writing. Under him, the construction of a single network of roads began.

Despite all the advantages, historians identify significant disadvantages, which were the reason that the Qin period did not last long. Qin Shi Huang was a supporter of legalism. Legalism is a philosophical school of that period, the essence of which was very harsh measures for people and punishments for any offenses and not only. This influenced such a sharp jump in the form of victories over different tribes and such a rapid construction of the Chinese Wall in order to protect against barbarians and enemy captivity. But it was cruelty that led to the dislike of people and a sharp change in dynasties immediately after the death of Qin Shi Huang.

Han and Xin

The Han Empire lasted from 206 BC to 220 AD. It is divided into two periods: Western Han (from 206 BC to 9 AD) and Late (Eastern) Han (25-220 AD)

The Western Han had to deal with the devastation after the Qin period. Famine and mortality reigned in the empire.

The ruler Liu Bang freed many state slaves who became involuntary under Qin for wrongdoing. He also abolished harsh taxes and harsh punishments.

However, in 140-87 BC. e. the empire returned to despotism, as it had under the Qin ruler. The ruler of the Wudi dynasty again introduced high taxes, which were levied even on children and the elderly (this led to frequent murders in families). The territory of China by this time greatly expanded.

Between the Western and Eastern Han was the gap of the Xin Dynasty, led by the ruler Wang Mang, who managed to overthrow the Eastern Han. He tried to consolidate his power through many positive reforms. For example, a certain territory of land was established for each family. If it was higher than expected, then part was given to the poor or people without land.

But at the same time, lawlessness occurred with officials, because of which the treasury was empty, and taxes had to be greatly increased. This gave rise to people's discontent. Popular uprisings began, and this also served as an advantage for the representatives. Wang Mang was killed during the uprising called "Red Eyebrows".

Liu Xiu was nominated as a candidate for the throne. He wanted to reduce people's hostility to power by lowering taxes and freeing the slaves. The Western Han period began. This time also made a significant contribution to history. It was then that the Great Silk Road was established.

At the end of the second century, unrest broke out among the people again. The uprising of the "yellow bandages" began, which lasted almost 20 years. The dynasty was overthrown, the period of the Three Kingdoms began.

Although the Han period was a period of growth, at the end of the era, after a twenty-year war, a constant struggle began between the generals of the dynasty and other leaders. This entailed another unrest in the empire and mortality.

Jin

The Jin era and subsequent periods can already be attributed to the Middle Ages, but let's look at the very first dynasties in order to understand what the policy of Ancient China led to and how the rulers had to eliminate the consequences.

The population after the Han wars decreased several times. There were also cataclysms. The rivers began to change their courses, thereby causing floods and the decline of the economy. The situation was aggravated by the constant raids of nomads.

Cao Cao, who ended the Yellow Turban Rebellion, unified China's fragmented north in 216. And in 220, his son Cao Pei founded the Wei dynasty. At the same time, the states of Shu and Wu arose. And so the period of the Three Kingdoms began. Constant wars began between them, which aggravated the military-political situation inside China.

In 249, Sima Zhao became the leader of Wei. And his son Sima Yan, when his father died, took the throne and founded the Jin dynasty. First, Wei conquered the state of Shu, and then Wu. The Three Kingdoms period came to an end, the Jin era (265-316) began. Soon the nomads conquered the north, the capital had to be moved from Luoyang to the south of China.

Simia Yan began distributing land to his relatives. In 280, a decree was issued on the allotment system, the essence of which was that each person was entitled to a land plot, but in return people had to pay the treasury. This was necessary to improve relations with ordinary people, replenish the treasury and raise the economy.

However, this did not lead to an improvement in centralization, as was supposed, but rather the opposite. After the death of Sima Yang in 290, a struggle began between the owners of large destinies - relatives of the deceased ruler. It lasted 15 years, from 291 to 306. At the same time, in the north of the state, the positions of the nomads were strengthening. Gradually, they settled along the rivers, began to grow rice and enslave entire human settlements.

During the Jin period, as is known, the religion of Buddhism began to strengthen. Many monks and Buddhist temples appeared.

Sui

Only in 581, after a long period of unrest, Zhou Yang Jiang managed to unite the north, fragmented by nomads. The Sui Dynasty begins. Then he captures the state of Chen in the south and thereby unites all of China. His son Yang Di engaged in wars with some states of Korea and Vietnam, created the Great Canal for the transportation of rice and improved the China Wall. But people were in difficult conditions, because of which a new uprising began, and Yang Di was killed in 618.

chan

Li Yuan founded a dynasty that lasted from 618 to 907. The empire reached its peak during this period. The Li rulers improved economic ties with other states. Cities and population in them began to increase. They began to actively develop agricultural crops (tea, cotton). Especially in this regard, Li Yuan's son, Li Shimin, stood out, whose policy reached a new level. However, in the 8th century, the conflict between the military and the authorities in the center of the empire reached its peak. In 874, the Huang Chao War began, which lasted until 901, because of which the dynasty ended. In 907-960, the Chinese Empire was again fragmented.

State and social systems of ancient China

The periodization of all periods of Ancient China can be considered as stages of history similar to each other in terms of their structure. The social structure is based on collective farming. The main activities of people are cattle breeding and crafts (which were developed to a high level).

At the top of power was the aristocracy, below were the slaves and peasants.

The ancestral heritage was pronounced. During the Shang-Yin period, each of the ruler's relatives was given a special title, depending on how close relatives they were. Each title came with its own privileges.

During the Yin and Western Zhou periods, land was given out only for use and economy, but not as private property. And since the Eastern Zhou period, land has already been distributed for private ownership.

Slaves were first state-owned and later became private. Captives, very poor community members, vagrants and others usually fell into their category.

In the stages of the periodization of Ancient China's social and state structure, it can be distinguished that in the Yin era, the brother of the deceased ruler first of all inherited the throne, and in Zhou the title passed to the son from the father.

Under the ruler, the palace system of government reigned.

It is worth highlighting separately, speaking about the periodization of the history of the state and Ancient China: law already existed, but at the initial stage it was strongly intertwined with religious principles and ordinary ethics. Patriarchy reigned, elders and fathers were revered.

In the V-III centuries BC. e. law was an integral part with cruel punishments, while there was already legalism. And during the Han Dynasty, people again returned to Confucianism and the idea of ​​​​harmonious inequality of people depending on the rank.

The first written sources of law date from about 536 BC.

Philosophy

The philosophy of ancient China is very different from the philosophy of any other European countries. If in Christianity and Islam there is a god and life after death, then in Asian schools there was a principle of "here and now". In China, they also called for kindness during life, but simply for harmony and well-being, and not under fear of punishment after death.

It was based on the trinity: heaven, earth and man himself. People also believed that there is Qi energy, and there should be harmony in everything. They singled out the feminine and masculine: yin and yang, which complemented each other for harmony.

In total, there are several main philosophical schools of that time: Confucianism, Buddhism, Mohism, Legalism, Taoism.

Thus, if we summarize what has been said, we can conclude: already before our era, Ancient China formulated a certain philosophy and adhered to some religions, which are still an integral part of the spiritual life of the population in China. At that time, all the main schools changed and only sometimes overlapped each other, depending on the stage of periodization.

Culture of Ancient China: heritage, crafts and inventions

The Great Wall of China is still considered one of the greatest assets of China to this day. The most amazing thing here is that they were built under the control of the first emperor of ancient China, Qin Shi Huang of the Qin dynasty. It was then that legalism and cruelty towards people who, under fear and pressure, built these truly great structures, reigned.

But the great inventions include gunpowder, paper, printing and the compass.

It is believed that Cai Long invented paper in 105 BC. e. For its manufacture, a special technology was required, which nevertheless resembles the current process of making paper. Before this period, people scraped writing on shells, bones, clay tablets and bamboo bundles. The invention of paper led to the invention of printing in a later period of our era.

The first semblance of a compass arose in ancient China during the Han Dynasty.

But there were countless crafts in ancient China. Several thousand years BC. e. silk began to be mined (the extraction technology of which remained secret for a long time), tea appeared, and clay and bone products were made. A little later, the Great Silk Road appeared, they made drawings on silk, marble sculptures, and paintings on the walls. And also in ancient China, well-known pagodas and acupuncture appeared.

Conclusion

The social and political structure of ancient China (periodized from the Neolithic era up to the Han dynasty) had its drawbacks and advantages. Subsequent dynasties adjusted the way they conducted politics. And the whole history of ancient China can be described as periods of rise and fall, moving in a spiral. Moving upwards, so the "flourishing" each time became more and more improved and better. Periodization of the history of Ancient China is a voluminous and interesting topic, which we examined in the article.

The culture of Ancient China is not only one of the most ancient in the history of mankind, but also one of the most unique and distinctive. For five thousand years, it has developed in its own way, away from other civilizations. The result of such a long continuous process has become a rich cultural heritage, which is of great value to world culture.

The development of the culture of ancient China

The culture of ancient China has a rich past, and the beginning of its formation is considered to be the 3rd century BC. e. It is characterized by a wealth of spiritual values, as well as amazing stamina. Despite the endless wars, rebellions and destruction, this civilization was able to maintain its ideals and core values.

Since the Chinese civilization existed in complete isolation until the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e., its culture acquired a number of unique features, which subsequently only strengthened their positions.

The features of the culture of ancient China include:

• Pragmatism. The values ​​of real earthly life are of the greatest importance.
• Great commitment to tradition.
• Deification and poeticization of nature. The central deity was the Sky, mountains and waters, which the Chinese had worshiped since ancient times, were in high esteem.

Rice. 1. Nature in the art of ancient China.

The worship of the forces of nature was reflected in the art of ancient China. Thus, the landscape direction in painting, architecture, and literature arose and became widespread in the country. Only Chinese culture is characterized by such a deep aesthetic penetration into the natural world.

Writing and literature

The writing of Ancient China can be safely called unique. Unlike the alphabetical system, each character - a hieroglyph - has its own meaning, and the number of hieroglyphs reaches several tens of thousands. In addition, ancient Chinese writing is the most ancient, with the exception of cave paintings.

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Initially, texts were written on wooden boards with thin bamboo sticks. They were replaced by soft brushes and silk fabric, and then paper - the most important invention of Ancient China. Since then, writing has moved to a new stage of development.

Rice. 2. Ancient Chinese writing.

Fiction was held in high esteem, and historical and philosophical works were of the greatest value. The Shijing collection, which includes 305 poetic works, became a real treasury of ancient Chinese poetry.

Architecture and painting

A distinctive feature of architecture in ancient China is the complexity of buildings. While many ancient peoples erected ingenuous one-story buildings, the Chinese already in the 1st millennium BC. e. they knew how to build two- and three-story buildings that required certain mathematical knowledge. The roofs were covered with tiles. Each building was decorated with wooden and metal plaques with symbols of prosperity, health and wealth.

Many ancient architectural structures had a common feature - raised corners of the roof, due to which the roof visually looked like it was bent down.

Much attention in ancient China was paid to the construction of monasteries, carefully carved into the rocks, and multi-tiered towers - pagodas. The most famous is the seven-story Wild Goose Pagoda, which reaches a height of 60 meters.

Rice. 3. Monasteries carved into the rocks.

All the painting of Ancient China, as well as other types of art, is permeated with admiration for the beauty of nature and the harmony of the universe, it is filled with contemplation and symbolism.

In Chinese painting, the genres of "flowers-birds", "people", "mountains-waters" were very popular, which for many years did not lose their relevance. Each depicted object carried a certain meaning. For example, the pine symbolized longevity, the bamboo symbolized resilience, and the stork symbolized loneliness.

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When studying the topic "Culture of Ancient China", we learned what factors influenced the development of an original and unique ancient Chinese culture. Having learned briefly about the culture of Ancient China, we identified the characteristic features of architecture, writing, painting, and literature.

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Three thousand years ago, the first Chinese began to inhabit the Great Chinese Plain between the Huang He and Yangtze rivers. Despite the fact that the first states quickly began to appear on this territory, their inhabitants considered themselves a single people with a single culture and language.

The emergence of Ancient China took place almost the same as in Ancient Egypt, Sumer and Ancient India - on the banks of large rivers. In the Yellow River valley (in Chinese - “Yellow River”), the ancient Chinese civilization was born. The first kingdom arose in the 2nd millennium BC. e. and was called Shang or Yin. Archaeologists have unearthed the capital of this kingdom the Great City Shan and the tombs of the Shan kings - the Vans.

In 1122 BC. e. the militant tribe of Chou, led by Wu-wang, defeated the Shants and established their supremacy, and Shang-Yin enslaved most of the country's population. But in the 8th century BC. e. the state of Zhou collapsed under the blows of the nomads; now one or another kingdom is being put forward for the main role, of which the largest state was the kingdom of Jin (7-5 ​​centuries BC). With the collapse of the Jin state, the period of Zhangguo (“Warring States”) began, when China was divided into two dozen small principalities at war with each other, poorly subordinate to the Zhoukomwan.

6th-5th century BC e. - the time of the appearance of the first philosophical teachings of ancient China. Of all the sages of this time, Confucius was especially revered by the Chinese. His teachings about the “noble person”, about respect for elders, about modesty, about the importance of education, about the attitude towards the ruler as the head of the family, became for a long time in China the ideal of relationships between people - both in the family and in the state.

In 221 BC, the Qin ruler Ying Zheng united large territories into a single empire and took the title of Qin Shi Huang, which means “The First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty. So that people would not grumble, they were kept in constant fear. Qin Shi Huang brutally suppressed any resistance, using the most terrible types of execution, for example, they could boil him alive in a cauldron. For the slightest fault, a person was beaten on the heels with a bamboo stick or his nose was cut off. If a person broke the law, then his whole family was also punished: the relatives of the convict were turned into slaves, who were used in heavy construction work.

Having established his full power in the empire, Qin Shi Huang began a war with the nomadic Huns who attacked his borders from the north. He decided to consolidate his victory forever by building a powerful border wall, called the Great Wall of China. It was erected from blocks of stone and bricks by hundreds of thousands of convicted criminals and ordinary peasants. The wall was as high as a three-story building. Two wagons could pass on top without any difficulty. The towers were guarded. They lived at the bottom of it, and on the upper platform, sentries carefully watched the surroundings and, in case of danger, kindled a fire, smoke, which could be seen far away. At his signal, a large detachment of warriors hurried to this place.

With the fall of the Qin dynasty, one of the leaders of the peasant war, LiuBang, came to power. He lowered taxes and abolished the most cruel laws introduced in China by Emperor Qin Shi Huang. Liu Bang became the founder of the Han Dynasty. In the Han era, the main features of the Chinese state were formed, which were inherent in it until the beginning of the 20th century.

Collecting taxes in a large country required knowledge of geometry and arithmetic from Han officials. To teach the basics of mathematics, special textbooks and collections of problems were used. Ancient Chinese astronomers accurately calculated the length of the solar year and compiled a perfect calendar; they knew hundreds of stars and constellations, they calculated the periods of revolution of the planets. In ancient China, the beginnings of Chinese civilization and its culture - science, literature, art - were laid.

The death of the Han Dynasty was associated with the uprising of the "yellow bandages", which swept the country in 184. Although the uprising was brutally suppressed, it dealt a severe blow to the country. In 220, the Han dynasty fell, and several independent states were formed on its territory. This event is generally considered to be the end of the ancient period in Chinese history.

Living antiquity. Throughout the history of mankind, many peoples, tribes, and states have changed on earth. Gone are the ancient Egyptians, the kingdom of Sumer and Akkad is no more, the ancient Greeks and Romans are gone. And against this background, it is surprising that the Chinese civilization that appeared several thousand years ago on the banks of the Yellow River, almost the same age as the ancient Egyptians, Sumerians and Akkadians, still exists. This is an amazing country with amazing people who, despite all the troubles and trials, managed to preserve their culture for several thousand years.

Nature of China. The nature of China is very diverse. China has mountains and plains, deserts in the north and jungles in the south. Two great rivers flow on the Chinese plain - the Yangtze and the Yellow River. Huang He - translated into Russian means "Yellow River". It was called yellow because its water carries a huge amount of yellow silt. Every year, the Huang He brings into the sea an amount of silt equal to the weight of all the stone blocks that make up the pyramid of Cheops. The banks of this river are composed of loose soil - loess. The Yellow River easily eroded its banks and changed the direction of the current. Then she flooded vast spaces and brought innumerable disasters to the Chinese. In order to cope with the river, the Chinese had to build dams on its banks.

Compared to the valleys of the Nile, Tigris and Euphrates, the climate on the banks of the Yellow River is more severe. Not as warm as in Egypt and Mesopotamia, winter is more severe. There were large forests along the banks of the river.

Ancient settlement and state. Humans appeared in China hundreds of thousands of years ago. In the fifth millennium BC, people in the Yellow River valley learned how to make ceramic vessels, later began to make tools from bronze, learned how to grow millet and rice. The oldest states in China appeared in the 2nd millennium BC. At this time, many features of Chinese culture began to take shape, which still exist. So, hieroglyphic writing, divination rituals on animal bones and tortoise shells, many myths and legends are formed.

Robe of the Ancients
rulers

Qin and Han. For a long time, China was divided into many kingdoms, but by 221 BC. the ruler of one of them united the whole country into a single state. He bore the name of Qin Shi Huangdi - "The First Sovereign of Qin". He was the first ruler of a unified China. Qin Shi Huang ordered the introduction of a unified writing system throughout China, the construction of palaces, new cities and temples. His armies conquered large lands in northern Vietnam, drove the nomads away from the borders of China. By his order, a huge wall was built in northern China to protect against nomads. This wall stretched for thousands of kilometers. Recently, archaeologists have unearthed a huge mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang with thousands of statues of warriors who were supposed to protect their master in the underworld.

All these works demanded huge human sacrifices and efforts from the people. No wonder that after the death of Qin Shi Huang, an uprising began and his empire fell, and the Han empire came to replace it. It existed for a long time, and since then the Chinese call themselves Han.

Great works of art, science and culture were created in China. The Chinese were the first to invent paper, gunpowder, porcelain, a compass, a seismograph, printing and much more. All this has entered the world cultural treasury of mankind. And of course, a huge number of myths and legends were created in China. Some of them are listed below. But before that, it is necessary, at least in general terms, to get acquainted with the religious ideas of the Chinese.

Collection of silk cocoons. Drawings on bronze
vessels of the 5th-3rd centuries. BC.

Religious beliefs of the Chinese. Back in ancient China, religion was a very complex picture. Currently, the three main religions in China are Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, which entered the country from India. But from ancient times and until now, in fact, the main religion is the cult of ancestors, which is not even officially considered a religion.

Each family had its own ancestral temple (miao), in which religious rites were performed at certain times. Each clan also had a temple - zong-miao. Finally, several clans, whose members bore the same surname, had a temple dedicated to a common ancestor - the founder of the surname. Sacrifices and prayers in these temples were performed either by the heads of families or by the elders of the clans. Initially, a doll or statue representing a deceased ancestor was placed in the temple. But during the Han Empire, instead of a doll, they began to fold and tie up in the middle (in the form of a human figure) a long cloth of white silk (hun-bo). Now, instead of hun-bo, a zhu is placed in the temple after the death of a family member - a black wooden tablet with an inscription in red hieroglyphs. The Chinese believe that after performing the appropriate rites, the soul of the deceased is infused into the zhu.

Spirit tablet. After the funeral, a special scribe depicts the inscription on the tablet in hieroglyphs, the whole family kneels and an appeal to the deceased is read: “On such and such a year, month and day, an orphaned son (such and such) dares to address his parent (such and such) with the following words : your body is buried, but let your spirit return to your home temple; the tablet for the spirit is already prepared; may your venerable soul leave the old abode (body), may it follow into the new (miao) and may it remain inseparable.” Further rites take several years, and only then, according to the ideas of the Chinese, both ancient and modern, does the soul of the deceased finally settle in the tablet.

Zhu tablets are stored in special lockers inside the ancestral temple, and during ceremonies they are taken out from there, placed on the table, and food and drinks are placed in front of them. During all holidays and other important events in the life of a family or clan (birth of a child, wedding, funeral, etc.), the souls of the ancestors are sure to “treat” and inform them about what is happening.

Already during the Han dynasty, not everyone was allowed to build ancestral temples (miao): ordinary people could not do this and had to honor their ancestors right in their homes; an official was entitled to one miao, a nobleman to three, a prince to five, and an emperor to seven.

A rich Chinese woman and her
son on holiday
robes. Splint

Sky - Tien. There are a great many gods in China, both local and those who came from other religions. In ancient times, Shang-di was considered the supreme god. [celestial emperor]. Over time, the main deity began to be called simply Tian [Sky]. Only the emperor, who was considered the son of Heaven, could make sacrifices to him. The rest of the people were supposed to worship only minor gods. Of these, the god of wealth Tsai-sheng occupies a prominent place. There were deities - patrons of each profession. According to the Chinese, the most prominent people turned into gods. The peasants revered a host of agricultural deities, including dragons, who are believed to control rain and water sources. But the cult of Lung-wang [Dragon Prince] only the emperor could lead.

Earth deities and local spirits. The state cult in ancient China was the cult of Sheng Nong. [divine farmer] who allegedly invented agriculture and taught it to people. The emperor himself offered sacrifices to him on a special altar. Every spring, on the sacred plot, the emperor made the first furrow with a plow, after which the plot was plowed and sowed by his entourage. As for the Chinese peasants, their main god, to whom sacrifices were made in spring and autumn, was the deity of the land She.

The Chinese also believed in tu-di - local spirits. In their honor, small, sometimes quite tiny, temples were built everywhere. They prayed for rain, for the harvest, for salvation from all sorts of troubles. Each city had its own Cheng Huang - the city's patron god. In addition, throughout China, the god of war, Guan-di, was revered.

According to the Chinese, every locality is under the influence of good or evil forces, depending on whether it is hilly or flat, wet or dry, and so on. Any hill, depending on the shape, affects everything in the neighborhood, not only the living, but also the dead buried nearby. To find out the nature of the area, the priests had to arrange a special divination - feng shui [wind and water]. Sometimes residents of entire cities abandoned their homes and all moved to a new place just because the priests announced: Feng Shui is unfavorable in this place; it happened that for the same reason the Chinese had to transfer the bones of their long-dead relatives from the "unfortunate" grave to another, "happy".

Two souls: qi and lin. According to the Chinese, each person has two souls: qi - life, which dies with the body, and lin - the soul, which after death of a person is separated from the body. If it was an ordinary person, let alone a bad person, his ling turns into a devil - gui. The soul of an outstanding person after his death becomes a deity - shen. Such deities, like the souls of ancestors, were supposed to make sacrifices.