The consolidation of the ancient Chinese people took place in the era. Ancient world

Second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. in society Ancient China It was called Zhangguo - the Fighting Kingdoms. It was an era of constant wars between small principalities and kingdoms, formed on the ruins of the once powerful state of Zhou. Over time, seven of the strongest stood out among them, who subjugated weak neighbors to their power and continued to fight for the inheritance of the Zhou dynasty: realms of Chu, Qin, Wei, Zhao, Han, Qi and Yan. But it was also an era of changes in all areas of life, production and public relations. Cities grew, crafts improved, and agriculture developed, iron replaced bronze. Scientists and writers created wonderful interpretations in the field of natural science, philosophy, history, romance and poetry that continue to excite the reader to this day. Suffice it to say that it was at this time that Confucius and Lao Tzu lived, the founders of two philosophical and religious schools - Confucianism and Taoism, the adherents of which even now consider themselves to be the majority of the Chinese.

Despite the borders, it was a single world, one civilization, it created all the conditions not only for unification, but also for going beyond its geographical limits. Such unification within the framework of a single empire took place at the end of the 3rd century. BC e. under the rule of the dynasty of one of the "seven strongest" - Qin kingdoms. The dynasty ruled unified China for only one generation, only 11 years (from 221 to 210 BC). But what a decade it was! The reforms affected all aspects of Chinese society.

Map of ancient China during the Qin and Han era

It has been replaced by a new dynasty - Han, which not only did not cross out everything done first emperor Qin Shi Huang, but preserved, multiplied its achievements and extended them to the surrounding peoples, from the Gobi wasteland in the north to the South China Sea in the south and from the Liaodong Peninsula in the east to the Pamir mountains in the west. The empire of ancient China, which took shape by the end of the 3rd century. BC e., lasted until the end of the II century. n. e., when new, even more significant changes brought her to crisis and collapse.

In the further history of the civilization of ancient China, many more dynasties, both local and alien, changed. Epochs of power have more than once been replaced by periods of decline. But China emerged from each crisis invariably retaining its originality and multiplying its cultural wealth. Witnesses of another rise of Chinese civilization we are with you now. And the beginning of this amazing constancy and originality was laid in that distant era when the Celestial Empire of China was born.

Street of a Chinese city of the Eastern Zhou era

The emergence of the civilization of ancient China

Kingdom of Qin among other large formations of Ancient China, it was not the strongest and most enlightened. It was located in the north of the country, had heavy soils and coexisted with numerous nomadic tribes. But protected by natural boundaries - the Yellow River and mountain ranges - the kingdom of Qin was more or less protected from enemy invasions and at the same time occupied convenient strategic positions for attacking neighboring powers and tribes. The lands of the kingdom, lying in the basins of the Weihe, Jinghe and Luohe rivers, are very fertile. In the middle of the III century. BC e. Simultaneously with the creation of the Zheng Guo canal, work was carried out here to drain the marshes, which significantly increased the yield. Important trade routes passed through the territory of the Qin kingdom, and trade with neighboring tribes became one of the sources of its enrichment. Of particular importance for the state was trade with the northern tribes - intermediaries in the trade of the ancient Chinese kingdoms with the countries of Central Asia. From Qin, mainly iron and products from it, salt and silk were exported. From the pastoral tribes of the north and northwest, the inhabitants of the Qin kingdom received wool, skins and slaves. In the southwest, the Qin kingdom traded with the inhabitants of the Mu and Ba regions. The fertile lands and mountain riches of these areas, which also lay at the junction of trade routes that led far to the southwest as far as ancient India, became the reason for the expansion of the Qin kingdom.

From the reign of Xiao Gong (361-338 BC), the rise of Qin began. And it was not only the success of the economy and conquests. The same thing happened in other kingdoms of ancient China.

In the middle of the IV century. BC e. in the Qin kingdom were carried out important reforms contributed to its comprehensive strengthening. They were conducted by the dignitary Shang Yang, one of the most prominent representatives and zealous followers of the Fajia teachings. The first was land reform, which dealt a decisive blow to communal land tenure. According to Shang Yang's regulations, land began to be bought and sold freely. In order to centralize the state, Shang Yang introduced a new administrative division according to the territorial principle, which violated the previous borders established by the old tribal division. The whole kingdom was divided into counties (xiang). The counties were divided into smaller formations, each headed by state officials. Associations of five and ten families bound by mutual responsibility became the smallest administrative units. Second reform was tax. Instead of the former land tax, which was 1/10 of the crop, Shang Yang introduced a new tax corresponding to the amount of cultivated land. This provided the state with an annual permanent income independent of the harvest. Droughts, floods, and crop failures now weighed heavily on the farmers. The new taxation system provided the huge funds needed by the rulers of the Qin kingdom to wage wars.

According to military reform Shang Yang, the Qin army was rearmed and reorganized. It included cavalry. War chariots, which formed the basis of the military power of the former hereditary aristocracy, were excluded from the army. Bronze weapons were replaced by new ones made of iron. The long outer clothing of the warriors was replaced by a short, like that of barbarian nomads, a jacket, comfortable in campaign and battle. The army was divided into fives and dozens, connected by a system of mutual responsibility. Soldiers who did not show due courage were severely punished. After the military reform of Shang Yang, the Qin army became one of the most combat-ready armies of the ancient Chinese kingdoms. Shang Yang created 18 degrees of nobility for military merit. For each captured and killed enemy, one degree was relied. “Benevolent houses that do not have military merit can no longer be on the lists of the nobility,” the decree said. The result of the reforms carried out by Shang Yang was the appearance on the spot of a previously amorphous formation - the kingdom of Qin - a strong centralized state. Since the reign of Xiao Gong, the struggle of the Qin kingdom for the unification of the entire territory of Ancient China under its hegemony began. The Qin kingdom had no equal in strength and power. Further conquests of the kingdom, culminating in the formation of an empire, are associated with the name of Ying Zheng (246-221 BC). As a result of many years of struggle, he subjugated one after another all the kingdoms of Ancient China: in 230 BC. e. - the kingdom of Han, in 228 BC. e. - the kingdom of Zhao, in 225 BC. e. - Kingdom of Wei. In 222 BC. e. the kingdom of Chu was finally conquered. In the same year, the kingdom of Yan also surrendered. The last - in 221 BC. e. - Kingdom of Qi conquered. The chariot, charioteer and horses are made with extraordinary precision, conveying all the details of the prototypes. Having become the head of a huge state, Ying Zheng chose a new title for himself and his descendants - huangdi (emperor). Later sources usually refer to him as Qin Shi Huang, which literally means "the first emperor of the Qin Empire". Almost immediately after the completion of the conquests of the ancient Chinese kingdoms, Qin Shi Huang undertook successful campaigns against the Huns in the north and the Yue kingdom in the south. The Chinese state has gone beyond the boundaries of national education. From this moment begins the countdown of the history of the imperial period.

Sericulture. Silk in ancient China

Sources testify to the veneration of the silk worm and silk weaving by the ancient Chinese. Mulberry is a sacred tree, the personification of the Sun and a symbol of fertility. Old Chinese texts mention sacred mulberry groves or isolated mulberry trees as sites of rituals associated with the cult of the Mother Ancestor. According to legend, the baby Yin, who became the founder of the first dynasty of China, was found in the hollow of a mulberry tree. The deity of the silkworm was considered a woman who kneels by a tree and weaves a silk thread.

Money in ancient China

In the VI century. BC e., as well as at the other end of the civilized world in Western Asia and, in Jin kingdom coinage first appeared. Soon they began to be cast in other powers of Ancient China. in different kingdoms money was different: in Chu - the shape of a square, and in Qi and Yan - the shape of knives or swords, in Zhao, Han and Wei - the shape of shovels, in Qin there were large money with square holes in the middle.

Writing

For writing before the invention of paper in China, bamboo or wooden plates and silk were used. Bamboo plates were stitched into a kind of "notebooks". Silk "books" were stored in rolls.

Improved writing technology ancient China. The Chinese split bamboo trunks into thin boards and wrote hieroglyphs on them with black ink from top to bottom. Then, folded in a row, they were fastened with leather straps along the upper and lower edges - a long bamboo panel was obtained, easily rolled up into a roll. Such was an ancient Chinese book, usually written on several scrolls - juan; rolled up, they were placed in an earthen vessel, kept in stone chests of imperial libraries, in wicker boxes of scribes.

Politics of ancient China

Chinese society, at least the most enlightened minds of that time, well understood the past and future changes. This awareness gave rise to numerous ideological currents, some of which defended antiquity, others accepted all innovations as a given, and still others were looking for ways to further progress. It can be said that politics entered the home of every Chinese, and passionate disputes between supporters of various doctrines flared up in the squares and in taverns, at the courts of nobles and dignitaries. The most famous teachings of that era were Taoism, Confucianism and Fajia, conventionally called the school of lawyers - legalists. The political platforms put forward by representatives of these trends expressed the interests of different segments of the population. The creators and preachers of these teachings were both representatives of the high society, and people of the humble and poor. Some of them came from the lowest levels of society, even from among the slaves. The founder of Taoism is considered a semi-legendary sage Lao Tzu who lived, according to legend, in the VI-V centuries. BC e. He wrote a philosophical treatise known as the Tao Te Ching (The Book of Tao and Te). The doctrine set forth in this book has become, to a certain extent, an expression of the community's passive protest against increased tax oppression and ruin. Condemning wealth, luxury and nobility, Lao Tzu spoke out against the arbitrariness and cruelty of the rulers, against violence and wars. The social ideal of ancient Taoism was a return to the primitive community. However, along with a passionate denunciation of injustice and violence, Lao Tzu preached the renunciation of the struggle, putting forward the theory of "non-doing", according to which a person must dutifully follow the Tao - the natural course of life. This theory was the main principle of the socio-ethical concept of Taoism.

Confucianism arose as an ethical and political doctrine at the turn of the 6th-5th centuries. BC e. and subsequently became very widespread. Its founder is considered to be a preacher from the kingdom of Lu - Kung-tzu (Confucius, as he is called in the European world; about 551-479 BC). Confucians were the ideologists of the old aristocracy, justified the order of things that had developed since ancient times, had a negative attitude towards the enrichment and exaltation of ignoble people. According to the teachings of Confucius, each person in society must occupy a strictly defined place. “The sovereign must be the sovereign, the subject must be the subject, the father must be the father, the son must be the son,” said Confucius. Its adherents insisted on the inviolability of patriarchal relations and attached great importance to the cult of ancestors.

Representatives of the third direction - fajia expressed the interests of the new nobility. They advocated the establishment of private ownership of land, the cessation of internecine wars between the kingdoms, and insisted on reforms that would meet the requirements of the time. This trend of social thought flourished in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e. The most prominent representatives of the Fajia were Shang Yang, who lived in the 4th century. BC e. and Han Fei (3rd century BC). Legists created their own theory of political and state structure. In their works, for the first time in the history of China, idea of ​​"legal law" as instruments of government. In contrast to the Confucians, who were guided by ancient traditions and customs, the Legalists believed that the government of the state should be based on strict and binding laws (fa) that meet the needs of modernity. They were supporters of the creation of a strong bureaucratic state. In the struggle for the unification of ancient China, it was the one who followed this teaching that won. He was elected by the rulers of the outlying and least enlightened kingdom of Qin, who readily accepted the idea of ​​a “strong kingdom and a weak people”, absolute power over the entire Celestial Empire.

Craft

About the level development of ancient Chinese crafts says a list of professions. Ancient writers report of craftsmen of various trades: skillful casters, carpenters, jewelers, gunsmiths, wagon makers, pottery makers, weavers, even builders of dams and dams. Each region and city was famous for its craftsmen: the kingdom of Qi - for the production of silk and linen fabrics, and its capital Linzi was the largest center of weaving at that time. Here, thanks to the convenient location, salt and fishing industries have received special development. The city of Linqiong in the Shu region (Sichuan), rich in ore deposits, has become one of the most significant centers for the extraction and processing of iron. The largest centers of iron production at that time were Nanyang in the kingdom of Han and Handan, the capital of the kingdom of Zhao. In the Chu kingdom, the city of Hofei was famous for the production of leather products, Changsha - for jewelry. Coastal cities are known for building ships. The well-preserved wooden model 1b-rowing boat(see below), which was discovered by archaeologists during excavations of ancient graves. Already in this distant era, the Chinese invented a primitive compass; it was originally used for overland travel, and then Chinese navigators began to use it. The growth of cities and handicraft production, the expansion of the land and water road network gave impetus to the development of trade.

At this time, ties were established not only within the kingdoms, but also between various areas ancient China and neighboring tribes. Slaves, horses, cattle, sheep, leather and wool were bought from the northern and western tribes of the Chinese; the tribes that lived in the south - ivory, dyes, gold, silver, pearls. During this period, the kingdom was considered stronger and richer, where there were a significant number of large merchants. And their influence on political life so intensified that more and more often they began to occupy the highest government positions at court. So, in the kingdom of Wei in the IV century. BC e. trader Bai Tui became a major dignitary. In the kingdom of Qin in the III century. BC e. the famous horse trader Lü Buwei served as the first councillor. The Tian family rose in the Qi realm.

China is the oldest civilization in existence today. Its experience in this regard requires special consideration in terms of historical viability. One of the discovered traditional bonds of the Chinese state is the national idea.

It is China, along with its other world inventions, that holds the lead in discovering the phenomenon of general civic ideology. Confucianism, Legalism and, with certain reservations, Taoism can be considered the oldest ideological doctrines in the history of mankind. Their identification as national ideas refutes the widespread point of view about ideology as an exclusive product of the modern era (industrialism, bourgeois society). Accordingly, the completion of the modernist phase of development does not mean the objectivity of de-ideologization.

The specificity of the structure of Chinese society lies in the special significance of the institution of clans (clan associations). If for Western countries the clan system is considered most often as an obstacle to social development, then for China it is a natural form of civilizational existence. To this day, clans play a structure-forming role for Chinese society. Understanding their fundamental importance as a factor in the viability of the social organism, the communist authorities of China never put forward the task of destroying the clan system. For comparison, in the USSR there was an active struggle against such traditionalist institutions, classified as a relic of pre-capitalist formations.

Clans in China act as carriers of the value traditions of the Chinese people. They are the link between the state and the individual. In this sense, the clan system provides the integration potential of the Chinese state, being one of the most important civilizational bonds of China.

The entry into the era of modernity put forward before China, as well as before other states, the task of self-determination of a civil nation. First of all, this was expressed in the policy of consolidation of the state-forming Han people. Today it makes up 92% of the Chinese population. However, a century ago, a single Han ethnic group did not actually exist. It united very different ethnic groups by the political will of the state. Significant differences between the dialects of dozens of groups united as Han are still manifest even at the level of vocabulary and grammar. And today, in everyday life, the Chinese communicate mainly in dialectical dialects.

Ethnically, the Chinese people were much more heterogeneous than the Russians. However

the Chinese managed to achieve ethnic cohesion in the twentieth century, while at the same time the Russian ethnos was finally split into Great Russians, Belarusians and Ukrainians.

One of the main instruments of Chinese consolidation was a deliberate policy of supporting the generally accepted version of the official language - Putonghua [ Reshetov A.M. The Chinese (Han) in the light of the theory of ethnos // XXVIII Scientific Conference "Society and State in China". M., 1998. S. 265-270.].

The idea of ​​China's nation-state was first theoretically formulated by the founder of the Kuomintang Party, Sun Yat-sen. Evaluation of him as "Confucius in Realpolitik" reflects the ideological succession in relation to the Confucian national tradition of the new doctrine formulated by him. Being a Congregationalist Protestant by religion, he brought categories and concepts characteristic of Western modernity into the traditional Chinese value arsenal. The "Three People's Principles" doctrine developed by Sun Yat-sen is the state ideology of the Republic of Taiwan to this day. It also includes the appeal in the preamble to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. The three principles of the people: nationalism, democracy and people's well-being correlate, respectively, with the factors of national sovereignty, bottom-up state-political management and economic development based on socialist egalitarianism (culture, politics, economics) [ Sun Yatsen. Three folk principles ("San min zhong"). M., 1928; Senin I.G. Social - political and philosophical views of Sun Yat-Sen. M., 1956; Kuzmin I.D. Confucianism and the evolution of the ideology of the Kuomintang. L., 1975; Matveeva G.S. Father of the Republic: The Tale of Sun Yat-Sen. M., 1975; Sun Yatsen. Selected works. M., 1985.].

The consolidation of the Han was the first stage in the project to form a unified Chinese nation. At the second stage, the task of uniting other ethnic groups located on the periphery of the state around the state-forming people was realized. The Third Congress of the Kuomintang officially declared the program of rallying "400 million people into one state nation." To designate this format of consolidation, the concept of "zhonghua minzu" or "nation of China" was used. Today, its content is being modified in the direction of distribution not only to citizens of the PRC, but also to ethnic Chinese living outside their homeland (huaqiao). Their activities in the political, economic and cultural spheres are now largely coordinated from Beijing. The direct coordinators are the Committees for Overseas Chinese Affairs under the State Council of the People's Republic of China and the Overseas Chinese Association. Since 1991, the World Congress of Chinese Entrepreneurs has been held, positioned as the Chinese analogue of the forums in Davos. In parallel, such events as the World Forum of Chinese-speaking media representatives are organized.

Russian programs of interaction with compatriots abroad cannot be compared in this respect.

Overseas Chinese communities are officially considered in the PRC as a factor in the implementation of China's new world mission. If you call a spade a spade, then they constitute an external army in the strategy of the Chinese geopolitical offensive [ Gelbras V.G. People's Republic of China: the revival of the national idea // National idea: history, ideology, myth. M., 2004. S. 256-258.].

Recently, the point of view of China's cultural introversion has become widespread. According to it, being focused exclusively on itself, it does not carry, like the United States, the threat of global external expansion. However, only one component of Chinese civilization, culture, is characterized by introversion. In all other aspects of civilizational existence - ideology, economics, geopolitics - China is developing towards achieving the status of a world superpower.

In accordance with the Confucian tradition, China presents itself as the Celestial Empire or the Middle Empire. Through these names, the idea of ​​Chinese national superiority is emphasized. The mental trauma to the imperial self-consciousness of the Chinese was inflicted in the 19th century. the transformation of the Celestial Empire into a semi-colony of Western states. A derivative of it at the level of people's memory was the intention to exterminate the "white barbarians" ("Boxer Rebellion")[ Myshlaevsky A.Z. Military operations in China. 1900-1901 Part 1. St. Petersburg, 1905.].

The memory of ethnocide is of fundamental importance for national identity. The tragedies of the peoples of Armenians and Jews are known. The motives of the psychological trauma of ethnocide are also kept in the memory of other peoples. This kind of trauma is present in national self-reflection in China as well. For the Chinese, this is the memory of the Opium Wars. The summer residence of the Qing emperors Yuanshinyuan, located on the territory of modern Beijing, which is still in a ruined state, is a symbol of European atrocities. The Chinese authorities deliberately do not restore it, keeping it as evidence of the cultural xenophobia of the West [ Selishchev A.S., Selishchev N.A. Chinese economy in the XXI century. SPb., 2004. S. 8-9.].

Reflection on the colonial past is reflected in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. To this day, according to researchers, China's development strategy is largely implicitly motivated by the idea of ​​"revenge for almost 100 years of humiliation by imperialist states, including Russia" [ Gelbras V.G. People's Republic of China: the revival of the national idea // National idea: history, ideology, myth. M., 2004. S. 256.].

Under Mao Zedong, the ideology of Chinese expansionism was presented in an undisguised form. It was expressed in the concept of a "paper tiger", according to which victory in the coming world war will be on the side of the PRC as a power that has a numerical superiority over its opponents. The United States and the USSR appeared to be "paper tigers", whose nuclear power, in the opinion of the Chinese leadership, was greatly exaggerated. Being absurd in military-strategic terms, this ideologeme had a high mobilization potential, instilling in the minds of the population of the PRC a sense of confidence in the ability to resist any opponent [ Burlatsky F.M. Mao Zedong: "our signature number is war, dictatorship." Moscow: International relations, 1976.].

In modern China, the idea of ​​external expansion is presented to a greater extent in the form of an economic offensive. From the official rostrum, they speak of a "new great campaign." Specific gross indicators and dates of the PRC's conquest of a leading position in the world economy are known. China's foreign economic offensive has been described by President Jiang Zemin as "the main battlefield." The attitude of "going out" has become the new motto of Chinese politics. So that

the idea of ​​China's introversion does not correspond to either the ideological or political realities of its historical and contemporary development.

Meanwhile, the territorial claims put forward in various Chinese-language media against Russia vary on a scale from 1.5 million to 5.88 million square kilometers [ Gelbras V.G. People's Republic of China: the revival of the national idea // National idea: history, ideology, myth. M., 2004. S. 254-256, 259.].

The state ideology of the People's Republic of China is enshrined in the Constitution. In modern China, the doctrine of socialism with national Chinese characteristics has been adopted. The idea of ​​the specificity of the socialist model in the PRC was substantiated even within the framework of Maoism. However, under Mao, the emphasis was more on socialism than on national specifics. Maoism was an ultra-left ideology, the banner of radical left forces in various countries of the world. The Maoist "cultural revolution" is a fundamental break with the country's national traditions. Confucian and Taoist accumulations of culture were subject to categorical eradication. From the historical past of China, only the ideology of legalism and the policy of the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, implemented on its basis, turned out to be value-acceptable for the Maoists [ Rumyantsev A. Maoism, Origins and evolution of the "ideas of Mao Zedong" (On the anti-Marxist essence of Maoism). M., 1972; Burlatsky F.M. Mao Zedong: "our signature number is war, dictatorship." Moscow: International relations, 1976.].

Today in the PRC, the main slogan is not the building of a communist society, but "the great revival of the nation of China." In the ideologeme of socialism with Chinese national characteristics that remains relevant, there has been a reorientation to the second component of the ideological construction. Socialism is no longer perceived as a goal, but as a means of ensuring the greatness of the nation.

Chapter from the book: V.E. Baghdasaryan, S.S. Sulakshin. "The Highest Values ​​of the Russian State". Series "Political Axiology". Scientific monograph. M.: Scientific expert, 2012. - 624 p. - S. 297-302.

7. Civilization of the Han Dynasty

The era of the Han Dynasty in the history of Chinese civilization is divided into two stages: Western Han (Older or Early Han: 206 BC-8 AD) and Eastern Han (Younger or Later Han: 25-220 AD) .). The Han Dynasty founded by Liu Bang got its name from the area where he defeated his opponents in the struggle for the imperial throne. In the Western Han period, the city of Chang'an (today's Xi'an, Shanxi province) became the capital of the emerging Han empire, with a population of up to half a million people. In the era of the Younger Han, its rulers moved the capital to the city of Luoyang. In the 1st century AD in China, a census was conducted, which showed that the Han Empire was approaching the Roman Empire in terms of population and had about 60 million people.

When at the end of 207 the last emperor of the Qin dynasty surrendered to one of the leaders of the rebels Liu Bang, the future founder of the Han dynasty, China was experiencing a deep crisis in the country chaos, the administrative system was falling apart, the fields were deserted, famine reduced the population. Nevertheless, China persevered, while organically developing traditions of their civilization. For the era of the Han Dynasty, its specificity can be defined in three key words reforms,Confucianism as the dominant religion and foreign policy expansion .

It was not without difficulty that Liu Bang, the former headman of a small village, who became the Emperor of the Blue Sky, as the Han was called, managed to restore order in an exhausted country of many millions. Acting flexibly and cautiously, with a series of decrees, he abolished the Qin laws with their barracks discipline and cruel punishments, announced an amnesty, and reduced the tax on the peasants. However, the Qin administrative-bureaucratic system and basic economic institutions continued to exist. And although officials were still sharply distinguished by their status and place in society, Liu Bang relied on landowners, proclaiming agriculture the basis of the empire's economy and the most respected occupation. The heads of families received full citizenship with the assignment of the lowest of the 18 estate ranks to them.

Many rebel leaders who helped Liu Bang come to power were granted hereditary possessions. Part of the land, as a manifestation of the highest favor of the emperor, was given to some representatives of the nobility. This practice of granting allotments created a threat separatism, with whom Liu Bang's successors fought, including Wu-di (140-87 BC).

The years of Wu-di's reign were the heyday of the Chinese civilization of the Han era. The central government managed to finally subjugate the new local aristocracy, improve the country's economy and raise public welfare. The number of cities with a population of up to 50,000 increased, and the slave trade reached unprecedented proportions. Monopoly on salt, iron and wine brought income to the empire. Foreign trade has received exceptionally great development. The northern trade route connecting China with Western countries was called the Great Silk Road.

Since the reign of Wu Di, the Han Empire has become a strong centralized state. The central government, which consisted of various departments, was subordinate to the regions (83), which, in turn, included districts, then counties and volosts. The country was ruled by an army of officials, whose number exceeded 130 thousand. Officials, or scientists, were divided into 9 ranks, depending on the degree awarded to them after passing the exams. A system of examinations for selecting the worthy and conferring on them the title of polymath of the corresponding degree was introduced in 136 BC.

Once every three years, the winners of the provincial tours gathered in the capital and took exams for the emperor himself. During the exams, they had to write an essay on a given topic. Applicants for the rank in the exams had to show knowledge of the books that formed the basis Confucian canon of the Pentateuch, which included Shujing (Book of Historical Documents), Shijing (Book of Songs), I Ching (Book of Changes), Li Ji (Records of Rites). The state copy of the Pentateuch was carved on stone. Those who passed the test were awarded academic degrees, which opened up the possibility of obtaining appointment to a position in central and local authorities.

The official's destination changed every 5 years. For their service, they received a salary or land allotment. An official could not inherit either his rank and rank or land. However, they had more opportunities than commoners to give their children an education that would allow them to pass the exam and get a position. The Chinese civilization is also obliged to these learned officials, the mandarins, in terms of the consolidation of the ancient Chinese nationalities(Han Chinese is the ethnic self-designation of the Chinese), and in terms of the formation of a special model of state administration, a special Chinese class hierarchy.

In the II century. BC. The Han Empire recognized Confucianism and in his person it acquired an official ideology with a distinct religious tinge. Violation Confucian commandments was punishable by death as the most serious crime. Based Confucianism an all-encompassing system of lifestyle and management organization was developed. The emperor in his reign had to be based on the principles of philanthropy and justice, and learned officials were supposed to help him pursue the right policy. Relations in society were to be regulated on the basis of rituals which defined the duties and rights of each group of the population. All people were to build relationships in the family on the basis of the principles of filial piety and brotherly love. It meant. That every person had to unquestioningly fulfill the will of his father. Obey older brothers, take care of your parents in old age. From the era of the Elder Han, Chinese society became class-based not only in the state, but also in Confucian the moral sense of this concept. The obedience of juniors to seniors, inferiors to superiors, and all together to the emperor, is the basis for the development of Chinese civilization with its universal strict regulation of life down to the smallest detail.

The increased strength of Chinese civilization was also manifested in its foreign policy. expansion, in the fight against an external enemy, primarily with the unification of nomadic tribesXiongnu, who lived on a vast territory near the northern borders of China. The rulers of the Han Empire sought to expand its territory by seizing foreign lands, take control of international trade routes and expand foreign markets for their goods.

One of the most important features of the civilization of Han China is continuous intensive interaction with the outside world, with the barbarian periphery inhabited by steppe nomads. The northern neighbors of the Han Chinese constantly threatened the security of the empire, whose troops mostly successfully held back their onslaught, gradually pushing them away from the Great Wall of China. But when the Han were unable to protect their borders from raids, the nomads not only invaded their lands, devastating cities and villages and taking away the loot to their headquarters, but also seized the ancestral lands of the Han Empire. The nomads often outnumbered the Han militarily, but always lagged behind culturally. They had to use the experience and laws of the Han people, adopt their language, traditions, religion.

After the reconnaissance expedition of the traveler Zhang Qian to Central Asia (138-125 BC), the Han people headed for the conquest of the Western Territory (East Turkestan). Having forced out the Xiongnu, subjugated a number of city-states and established contacts with Central Asia, they took control of the Great Silk Road linking China with the West. The establishment of regular trade significantly affected the cultural interaction of the two great civilizations of the ancient world, Chinese and Roman. Chinese silks, lacquerware, precious metals, iron and nickel penetrated far to the west through Western and Central Asia, along the trade routes of the Roman East, reaching Rome. China imported glassware from the Mediterranean, jade from Khotan, horses and furs from nomads. The market as a meeting place of civilizations opened to China such crops as grapes, pomegranates, nuts, beans, saffron, alfalfa, supplied from Central Asia.

The Great Silk Road is a zone of contacts between different civilizations. Here, for centuries, not only goods were distributed, but innovative technologies, new religious ideas and art samples. Along this most famous transit trade route in the ancient world, separate peoples that determined the processes ethnogenesis.

Almost simultaneously, the Han Empire deployed expansion to the southwest and east. Ancient Korean was conquered state Joseon. Active conquests were carried out south of China and in Southeast Asia with the capture of the ancient Vietnamese states of Au Pak and Nam Vien.

expansionist the aspirations of the Han Empire led to the depletion of state resources, the growth of taxes, extortions and forced labor, the deterioration of the situation of people embraced by sadness. At court, the influence of the eunuchs and relatives of the emperor's wives increased. Waves of uprisings of the poor strata of the population rolled one after another across the weary country. Interests clashed rural houses and educated servant estates. Concluding the era of the Elder Han Dynasty, the brief interim reign of Wang Mang (AD 9-23), a relative of the wife of one of the emperors, led to the restoration of the Younger Han Dynasty. Having come to power, Wang Mang set about reforms in order to restore the happy order of antiquity. The reforms, reasonable in their direction, represented an attempt to use state power to control the economic life of the country: the transfer of land into ownership states, the prohibition of the trade in land and slaves, the abolition of private slavery, monopoly for wine, salt, iron. However, the failure of the reforms, too rapid and vigorous implementation, led to an aggravation of social contradictions. Red Eyebrow Rebellion in 18 AD (the rebels painted their eyebrows red), a civil war in the country and an ecological disaster (in 11 AD, a large-scale spill of a river that changed its course Huanghe led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people) sealed the end of Wang Mang's reign.

In 25 AD a representative of the imperial family Guang Wu Di (25-57 AD) seized power and restored the Han dynasty. Desperate efforts were made to overcome the crisis in the country. Managed to re-establish influence in Westfall. As never before, the Han people developed foreign trade. The estates of powerful houses were widely spread, which gradually turned into economically closed farms, thereby reducing the level of state revenues. In the III century. officially abolished monetary circulation, using silk and grain as money. The population has decreased, and the number of cities has halved. This, along with the continuous struggle of cliques at court, led to the weakening of the central government, social destabilization (the Yellow Turbans in 184) and the fall of the dynasty. In 220, the Han Empire broke up into three kingdoms, thus ceasing to exist. Having existed thanks to a centralized system of government for more than four centuries, the Han Empire became a model for subsequent eras.

Question 2. The era of the Elder (Western) Han

The forces led by Wang Chu and Wang Han, who defeated the Qin Empire, soon entered into confrontation with each other.

At first, Xiang Yu had more opportunities than his main rival. However, then Liu Bang, in an effort to win over 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 rival 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 Han 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 the “wang Chu”, in others, the year 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 era of the Han dynasty in the history of Chinese civilization is divided into two stages: Western Han (Older or Early Han: 206 BC - 8 AD) and Eastern Han (Younger or Late Han: 25-220 AD) . e.).

The Han Dynasty founded by Liu Bang got its name from the area where he defeated his opponents in the struggle for the imperial throne. In the Western Han period, the city of Chang'an (now Xi'an, Shaanxi Province) became the capital of the newly created Han Empire, where up to half a million people lived.

In the era of the Younger Han, its rulers moved the capital to the city of Luoyang. In the 1st century n. e. in China, a census was conducted, which showed that the Han Empire was approaching the Roman Empire in terms of population and had about 60 million people. China of the Han era, Rome and Parthia are the largest powers of antiquity.

For the era of the Han Dynasty, its specificity can be defined in three key words: reforms, Confucianism as the dominant religion, and foreign policy expansion.

Rice. 48

Reforms. When, at the end of 207, the last emperor of the Qin dynasty surrendered to one of the leaders of the rebels, Liu Bang, the future founder of the Han dynasty, China was in deep crisis; political chaos reigned in the country; Nevertheless, China survived, organically developing the traditions of its civilization.

It was not without difficulty that Liu Bang, the former headman of a small village, who became the Emperor of the Blue Sky, as the Han was called, managed to restore order in an exhausted country of many millions.

Already in 202 BC. e. on the occasion of the inauguration, Liu Bang proclaimed a broad amnesty, calling on all the fugitives and exiles to return home and receive their lands and dwellings. He abolished the harsh punishments of the Qin era and placed emphasis on the lower level of administration, on the village elders - sanlao, among whom there were ancient traditions.

Having retained the Legist system of administrative ranks, the lowest, eight of them, he ordered to continue to assign common people, including Sanlao.

Liu Bang relied on the landowners, proclaiming agriculture the basis of the empire's economy and the most respected occupation. The heads of families received full citizenship with the assignment of the lowest of the 18 estate ranks to them.

However, the main weakness of Han power continued to be the lack of a reliable centralized administrative system. To create it instead of the collapsed Qin was not an easy task and required a lot of time. The emperor's actions were contradictory.

Gaozu rewarded his followers. The method of remuneration known from ancient Chinese history was the same - to distribute titles, ranks and corresponding land awards to deserved people, for the most part with noticeable immunity rights, which turned all of them into powerful specific rulers. This practice of granting allotments created the threat of separatism.

In the Celestial Empire, 143 inheritances were created. On average, these were destinies of 1-2 thousand households, sometimes smaller, but sometimes much larger, up to 10-12 thousand households. Each of the owners of the appanage and only he had the title of hou, which was inherited along with the appanage.

Over time, many representatives of the specific nobility became so entrenched in their possessions that the closest of them, in terms of kinship with the emperor, began to be called the title of van. The Vans and Hou felt secure in their domains and sometimes started rebellions against the legitimate ruler of the Celestial Empire.

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 thighs. 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 Bi 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 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.

A few words should be said about the rulers before U-di.

Since the lion's share of the territory and subjects of the ruler of the Middle Kingdom remained under the rule of the center, perhaps the most important task was to create a reliable system of centralized administration on which the empire could rely. This was the main goal of the activities of several of Liu Bang's closest successors, up to his great great-grandson Wu Di, who finally solved the problem of managing the empire.

From 195 to 188 BC e. the country was ruled by one of the sons of Liu Bang - Hui-di. After him, power passed into the hands of Liu Bang's widow, Empress Lu, who surrounded herself with relatives from her Lu clan. The ruler died in 180 BC. e. from a mysterious illness, which the historian Sima Qian was inclined to consider heavenly punishment for her crimes. In the historical tradition of China, the attitude towards Empress Luihou is purely negative. She is condemned for cruelty towards rivals, for the murders of statesmen, the deposition of legitimate heirs, the elevation of relatives from the Lu clan, and much more.

But court intrigues and bloody showdowns around the throne did not really affect the state of affairs in the country. The reforms initiated by Liu Bang and continued by his successors gradually yielded positive results. In the state, there was a reduction in taxes from landowners, the imposition of heavy taxes on wealthy merchants, irrigation work was carried out, care was taken to maintain the status of ordinary officials. The administration included active Confucians. Experts in Confucianism were able to restore from memory the texts of the books destroyed by Qin Shi Huang.

For the revival of Confucian traditions and the prosperity of Han China, one of the sons of Liu Bang, Wen-di, who ruled in 179-157, did a lot. BC e. Wen-di abandoned the cruel practice of punishing the relatives of the criminal for the crimes. At the same time, he referred to the Confucian thesis that officials are obliged to educate the people, and not harm them with unjust laws.

On the day of the solar eclipse in 178 BC. e. Wen-di made a repentant appeal to the people, grieving over his imperfection and offering ancient custom to nominate the wise and worthy, ready to serve for the benefit of the people. In the same year, he personally made a furrow in the temple field and announced the right of everyone to speak critically of the highest authorities. In 177 BC. e. Wen-di concluded an agreement on brotherhood with the northern neighbors of the Xiongnu. He allowed part of the Xiongnu to settle in the Ordos region, that is, on the lands of the Celestial Empire south of the wall, where nomads lived from ancient times and farming was a risky business.

In the lean year 159 BC. e. Wen-di greatly reduced the prestigious expenses of the court, opened state-owned barns for distribution to the starving and allowed the sale of ranks, as well as poor peasants with ranks to cede their more prosperous neighbors. Things got to the point that at the end of his life, Wen-di demanded that his family dress in simple clothes, not wear expensive jewelry, and bequeathed after his death not to spend too much money on expensive mourning rites.

Wen-di died in 157 BC. e. Subsequently, he was very much appreciated by his descendants, who praised his virtues. It is worth noting that the virtues of Wendi fit well into the traditional ideas of a wise and virtuous ruler, and it was he who was the first of the Han emperors, who can be considered exemplary from the point of view of Confucianism.

The years of reign of Wen-di's son and Liu Bang's grandson Emperor Jing-di (156-141 BC) were marked by amnesties that showed mercy to the fallen.

It is important to note that during the years of his reign, a systematic attack began on the rights of specific princes, whose lands were cut, which sometimes served as a pretext for rebellions.

Jing-di's successor was his son and great-grandson Liu Bang Wu-di (140-87 BC). It was during the years of his reign, which was one of the longest and most fruitful in the history of China, that Confucianism not only finally came to the fore and became the basis of the Chinese way of life, but also turned out to be the foundation of the entire mature Chinese civilization.

Wu Di's measures dealt a blow to the specific system and contributed to the creation of a system of centralized government.

In order to strengthen the centralization of power in 121 BC. e. a decree was issued that actually eliminated the system of appanages - each owner of an appanage was legally ordered to divide his property among all his numerous heirs, which was designed to finally eliminate the influential layer of hereditary nobility, which at times gave rise to rebellions and general instability in the empire.

The country was divided into regions headed by governors responsible to the center. An important role, as in Qin, was played by the system of daily control in the person of censors-prosecutors vested with the highest powers.

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 number of officials exceeded 130 thousand. Officials, or scientists, were divided into 9 ranks depending on the degree awarded to them after passing the exams. A system of examinations for selecting the worthy and conferring on them the title of polymath of the corresponding degree was introduced in 136 BC. e.

Once every three years, the winners of the provincial tours gathered in the capital and took exams for the emperor himself. During the exams, they had to write an essay on a given topic. Applicants for the rank in the exams had to show knowledge of the books that formed the basis of the Confucian canon of the Pentateuch, which included Shujing (Book of Historical Documents), Shijing (Book of Songs), I Ching (Book of Changes), Li Ji (Records of Rites). The state copy of the Pentateuch was carved on stone. Those who passed the test were awarded academic degrees, which opened up the possibility of obtaining appointment to a position in central and local authorities.

The official's destination changed every 5 years. For their service, they received a salary or land allotment. An official could not inherit either his rank and rank or land. However, they had more opportunities than commoners to give their children an education that would allow them to pass the exam and get a position. These learned officials tangerines

Chinese civilization is obliged both in terms of the consolidation of the ancient Chinese people (Han Chinese is the ethnic self-name of the Chinese), and in terms of the formation of a special model of state administration, a special Chinese class hierarchy.

The changes also affected the competence of higher 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.

Since the reign of Wu Di, the Han Empire has become a strong centralized state. The central government, which consisted of various departments, was subordinate to 83 regions, which, in turn, included districts, then counties and volosts.

Wu-di restored the state monopoly on salt, iron, coin casting and wine production, established back in the time of Qin Shi Huang, and the mechanism for implementing this monopoly, which was very beneficial for the treasury, was the system of farming out.

In the cities, there were also state-owned enterprises, where the best artisans of the country worked (most often in the order of working off, that is, labor service). They made the most exquisite products for the prestigious consumption of the upper classes, as well as weapons and equipment for the army, and much more. All this contributed to the development of the economy and an increase in the number of private owners.

The process of development of private property in agriculture was ambiguous.

On the one hand, there was the ruin of farmers, who actually lost half of their crops in the course of paying taxes, the dispossession of peasants.

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 e. the situation has changed. As land ownership became concentrated in the hands of large landowners, the relatively low land tax proved to be advantageous primarily to wealthy owners.

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 at the age of 20 to 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.

Ruined, people fell into debt slavery. The number of slaves in the Han era increased many times, and this became one of the problems of the country.

Attempts by pressure from above to curb usury and prevent the ruin of farmers - the main taxable contingent of the empire - were made by the government more than once, but did not give results.

Contemporaries wrote: “How can ordinary people stand up for themselves when the rich are increasing the number of their slaves, expanding fields, accumulating wealth?”; “The farmers work tirelessly for a whole year, and when the time comes for monetary requisitions, the poor sell grain at half price, and the poor take on debt, obliged to return twice as much, therefore, for debts, many sell their fields and homes, sell their children and grandchildren.”

Self-selling into slavery for debt becomes an important source of private slavery. The very act of sale into slavery, carried out with the help of merchants, made it legal to enslave a free man even if he was sold against his will. Cases of forcible capture and sale into slavery of free people were very frequent.

There was a permanent slave market in the country. Slaves could be bought in almost every city. Shipments of shackled slaves were transported by slave traders hundreds of kilometers to Chang'an and other major cities of the country.

Forced labor formed the basis of production in the mines and trades, both private and public. Criminals were used as labor force, who, together with their family members, were turned into convict slaves used in hard work, mainly construction and mining. Slaves, although to a lesser extent, but everywhere, were used in agriculture.

On the other hand, there was a process of concentration of landed property in the hands of the big rich, and prosperous farms were spun off to supply products to the market.

Monetary wealth was an important indicator of social status in the Han Empire. According to this property, all land owners were divided into three main categories: large, medium and small families. Outside of these categories, there were super-rich people in the empire (there were few of them) who could even lend money to the emperor. Their fortune was estimated at one hundred and two hundred million coins.

The property of large families exceeded 1 million coins. The majority were families of the second and third categories.

The main contingent, the most stable in socio-economic terms, was the category of medium-sized families. Their property ranged from 100 thousand to 1 million coins. Middle families usually exploited the labor of slaves in their farms, among them the less wealthy had several slaves, the more prosperous - several dozen. These were slave-owning estates, the production of which was largely intended for the market.

The property of small families was estimated in the amount of 1,000 to 100,000 coins; these were small privately owned farms, which, as a rule, did not use forced labor.

Sources refer a significant stratum of the poor to the fourth category—small landowners.

Wu's internal political transformations contributed to the progress of society. The population of the country increased sharply, reaching in the 1st century BC. BC e. 60 million people. The development of new lands gave impetus to the development of agricultural technology, for example, the garden-bed system of tillage by hand (it was with this method of cultivation that the overwhelming majority of peasants received good harvests from their fields). The old irrigation systems were carefully maintained and new ones were created as needed. The roads were in order, and new cities were rising along the roads, the number of which had been continuously increasing since the beginning of the imperial period of Chinese history.

Foreign policy. Woo. Wu Di paid great attention to foreign policy issues. During his reign, the territories of the empire expanded many times over.

The desire for imperial power was supported by state doctrine. Reformed Confucianism, recognized as the state religion, proclaimed the doctrine of the absolute superiority of the "Middle State" (i.e., the Han Empire) - the center of the Universe - over the surrounding world of "outer barbarians", whose disobedience to the Son of Heaven was considered a crime. The campaigns of the Son of Heaven, as the world organizer of the Universe, were declared "punitive", foreign policy contacts were treated as criminal law.

The main direction of campaigns for U-di was originally northwestern, where the Xiongnu became more active.

The Great Wall of China weakened the danger of nomadic invasions, but the Xiongnu significantly increased their combat power when, along with the traditional lightly armed cavalry, heavily armed infantry was introduced into the army. Shanyu Mode (209-174 BC) conquered a huge territory that reached the river. Orkhon in the north, p. Liaohe - in the east and to the basin of the river. Tarim is in the west. The Xiongnu constantly disturbed the empire with their raids, threatening even the capital.

The question of an active struggle against the Xiongnu and the necessary reforms of the Han army in connection with this arose even under Wen-di. Under Jing-di, the imperial herds were significantly enlarged and the state pastures needed for the creation of heavily armed cavalry were expanded, the reorganization of the Han army was begun largely along the lines of the Xiongnu.

Under Wu, the reform of the army was completed, which was facilitated by the iron monopoly introduced by Wu. In 133 BC. e. the peace treaty with the Xiongnu was broken and Wu Di headed for a decisive struggle against them.

Han troops in 127 BC e. ousted the Xiongnu from the Ordos. Fortifications and fortresses were built along the banks of the Huang He bend. Then the famous Han military leaders Wei Qing and Huo Qubing in 124 and 123 BC. e. pushed the Xiongnu back from the northern borders of the empire and forced the Shanyu to move his headquarters to the north of the Gobi Desert.

From that moment on, Wu's foreign policy in the northwest was aimed at conquering foreign territories, conquering neighboring peoples, capturing prisoners of war, expanding foreign markets and dominating international trade routes.

Back in 138 BC. BC, guided by the tried and tested method of ancient Chinese diplomacy - “to conquer the barbarians with the hands of the barbarians”, - Wu Di sent the diplomat and strategist Zhang Qian to conclude a military alliance with the Yuezhi tribes, hostile to the Xiongnu, who, under the onslaught of the Xiongnu, migrated from Gansu somewhere to the west.

On the way, Zhang Qian was captured by the Xiongnu, after a ten-year stay with them, he fled and continued his mission. The Yuezhi were then already in Central Asia, conquered Bactria. Zhang Qian did not persuade them to go to war with the Xiongnu. However, during his journey, he visited Davan (Fergana), Kangjue (or Kangjue - obviously, the middle and lower reaches of the Syr Darya and the adjacent regions of the Central Asian Mesopotamia), lived for about a year in Dasya (Bactria).

From local merchants, Zhang Qian learned about Shendu (India) and distant Western countries, including An-si (Parthia), as well as what these countries know about

China as a "country of silk", which foreign merchants willingly traded. Upon returning to Chang'an, Zhang Qian described all this in his report to Wu.

Zhang Qian's information greatly expanded the geographical horizons of the ancient Chinese: they became aware of many countries to the west of the Han empire, their wealth and interest in trade with China.

Since that time, paramount importance in foreign policy the imperial court began to attach to the capture of trade routes between the empire and these countries, the establishment of regular relations with them.

In order to implement these plans, the direction of campaigns against the Xiongnu was changed, Gansu became the main center of attack on them, since the trade road to the west, the famous Great Silk Road, ran here.

Huo Qubing in 121 BC e. ousted the Xiongnu from the pasture lands of Gansu, opening up the opportunity for the Han Empire to expand into East Turkestan. On the territory of Gansu up to Dunhuang, a powerful line of fortifications was built and military and civilian settlements were founded. Gansu became a springboard for further struggle for the mastery of the Great Silk Road, along which caravans were drawn from Chang'an immediately after the empire's positions were consolidated in Gansu.

The Han Empire used diplomatic and military means to extend its influence to the oasis city-states of East Turkestan along the Great Silk Road in order to secure the path of caravans.

In 115 BC. e. An embassy headed by Zhang Qian was sent to the Usuns. It played an important role in the development of trade and diplomatic relations between Han China and Central Asia. During his stay with the Usuns, Zhang Qian sent envoys to Davan, Kangju, to the Yuezhi and to Daxia, Anxi, Shendu and other countries, who were the first representatives of ancient China in these countries. During 115-111 years. BC e. trade links were established between the Han Empire and Bactria.

The Great Silk Road from the Han capital of Chang'an went northwest through the territory of Gansu to Dunhuang, where it branched into two main roads (to the north and south of Lop Nor Lake) leading to Kashgar. From Kashgar, trade caravans followed to Ferghana and Bactria, and from there to India and Parthia and further to the Mediterranean. From China, caravans brought iron, considered “the best in the world” (as the Roman author Pliny the Elder claimed), nickel, gold, silver, lacquerware, mirrors and other handicrafts, but above all silk fabrics and raw silk. (sy - with this name, apparently, was associated with the name of China in the ancient world, where it was known as the country of "Sins" or "Sers").

Rare animals and birds, plants, valuable types of wood, furs, medicines, spices, incense and cosmetics, colored glass and jewelry, semi-precious and precious stones and other luxury items, as well as slaves (musicians, dancers), etc. Of particular note are the grapes, beans, alfalfa, saffron, some gourds, pomegranate and walnut trees borrowed from Central Asia by China at that time . Later, through East Turkestan, the "Western Land", Buddhism entered China from India.

Under U-di, the empire established ties with many states of India and Iran, as well as with states located on the territory up to the Mediterranean.

The Great Silk Road played a huge role in the development of diplomatic, economic and cultural ties between Far East and the countries of the Middle and Near East, as well as the Mediterranean.

However, everything that was delivered to Chang'an along the Great Silk Road was considered by the Han emperor and his entourage as a tribute to the "barbarians", the arrival of foreign embassies with offerings common for that era was perceived only as an expression of humility to the Han Empire.

The militant emperor (translation of the temple name Wudi) was overwhelmed by a global plan to “expand the empire by ten thousand li and extend the power of the Son of Heaven (i.e., the Han emperor) throughout the world (literally, “up to four seas”).”

Ferghana (Davan) was of particular interest to the empire. She held key positions on an important section of the Silk Road and owned "heavenly horses" - stately horses of the western breed, which were of exceptional importance for the heavily armed Wudi cavalry.

However, the Davanians stubbornly resisted the harassment of the Han court and were not going to supply the Han army with fine horses.

In 104 BC. e. In the distant "punitive campaign" on the city of Ershi (the capital of Ferghana), a huge army of the commander Li Guangli, who had been granted the title of "Ershi Winner", set out in advance. The campaign lasted two years, but ended in complete failure. In 102 U-di undertook a new grandiose campaign to Ferghana. This time they managed to get "heavenly horses", but the empire was unable to conquer Davan.

The campaigns in Fergana, which cost the empire extreme tension, ended, according to Wu himself, in the complete failure of the plans of the Han aggression in the West.

The political dominance of Han China in East Turkestan turned out to be unstable, short-lived and very limited. The most impartial representatives of official historiography generally questioned the need for the Han Empire to expand into Central and Central Asia, noting its negative consequences both for these countries, and especially for China. “The Han Dynasty rushed to the distant Western Territory and thereby brought the empire to exhaustion,” wrote the author of one of the early medieval histories of China.

Simultaneously with an active foreign policy in the northwest, U-di undertook a wide expansion in the south and northeast directions.

The Yue states in South China and North Vietnam have long attracted ancient Chinese merchants and artisans as markets for goods and places for the extraction of copper and tin ores, precious metals, pearls, the acquisition of exotic animals and plants, as well as slaves. The Yue lands conquered under Qin Shi Huang fell away from the empire after the fall of the Qin dynasty, but trade ties with them remained.

Ancient Chinese sources record the existence in the II century. BC e. three independent Yue states: Nanyue (in the basin of the middle and lower reaches of the Xijiang River and North Vietnam), Dongyue (in the territory of Zhejiang province) and Minyue (in Fujian province).

In the largest of them - Nanyue (Namviet) - the former Qin governor Zhao Tuo seized power. It was he who founded the local Viet dynasty Chieu, proclaiming himself an emperor, equal in power to Han.

In 196 BC. e. An agreement was concluded between Han and Nanyue, according to which Liu Bang recognized Zhao Tuo as the legitimate ruler of Nanyue. But soon Zhao Tuo, in response to Empress Luihou's ban on exporting iron, cattle and other goods to Nan Yue, severed diplomatic relations with the empire. Both countries were at war, but the empire did not have the strength to wage it.

From the very first years of his accession, U-di relied on the capture of the southern states. In 138 BC. BC, having intervened in the internecine struggle of the Vietnamese states, the Hans conquered Dunyue, after which Wu Di began preparing a big war against Nanyue.

After the death of Zhao Tuo, taking advantage of internal unrest, Wu di brought large military forces into Nanyue. The war with Nanyue, which lasted intermittently for two years (112-111 BC), ended with the victory of the empire. During this period, the empire conquered the rest of the Yue lands, only Minyue continued to maintain independence.

Dividing Nanyue into regions and counties, the conquerors forced local residents to work in mines, mine gold and precious stones, and hunt elephants and rhinos. Because of the constant anti-Han uprisings, Wu-di was forced to keep large military forces in the Yue lands.

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 "southwestern barbarians." So the ancient Chinese called the tribes that inhabited most of modern Yunnan and southern Sichuan.

In the 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 land route to India was not found, large territories were annexed to the Han Empire.

After the subjugation of Nanyue, the Han Empire established sea ties with India and Lanka (Sichengbu). The route from the South China Sea to the Indian Ocean was probably through the Strait of Malacca. The ancient Chinese at that time were not strong in navigation, but the Yue peoples were skillful sailors since ancient times. Evidently, it was the Yue ships that brought the Han merchants to India, Lanka, and other parts of South Asia.

After the conquest of Nanyue, most likely through the Yue peoples, ties were established between the Han Empire and the distant countries of Southeast and South Asia.

Having completed the wars in the south, Wu-di took decisive action against the state of Chaoxian (kor. Cho-son) in North Korea. This country, long before the emergence of the empire, maintained ties with the northeastern ancient Chinese kingdoms.

After the formation of the Han Empire under Liu Bang, an agreement was concluded establishing the border between the two states along the river. Phesu. The Chaoxian rulers sought to pursue an independent policy and, in opposition to the empire, maintained ties with the Xiongnu. The latter circumstance, as well as the fact that Chaoxian prevented the empire from communicating with the peoples South Korea, made Chaoxian another object of Han aggression.

In 109 BC. e. Wu Di provoked the assassination of the Han ambassador in Chaoxian, after which he sent a "punitive" expedition there. After a long siege by land and sea, the capital of Chaoxian Wangomseong fell. Four administrative districts were established on the territory of Chaoxian, but three of them had to be abolished in connection with the ongoing struggle of the ancient Koreans for independence.

The huge empire created by Wudi was on the verge of a severe crisis.

The wars of conquest, which Wu Di continuously waged for many years, devastated the treasury and depleted the resources of the state, led to innumerable human casualties, to a sharp deterioration in the situation of the bulk of the working population of the country. An explosion of popular discontent was expressed in open speeches by "embittered and exhausted people" in the central regions of the empire.

At the same time, the anti-Khan uprisings of the tribes on the outskirts of the empire rose. “The country is tired of endless wars, people are seized with sadness, reserves are depleted” – this is how his contemporary historian Sima Qian characterizes the state of the empire at the end of Wu’s reign.

Han Confucianism. And in the external, and even more so in domestic politics the emperor pursued the goal of strengthening the foundation of imperial power and reviving the glory of the great and prosperous Celestial Empire, which was perhaps the most important element of the highly revered Chinese tradition.

It is not surprising, therefore, that Wu Di himself spent a lot of effort not only to revive the influence of Confucianism in the empire, but to recreate a new, imperial, or, as it is sometimes called, Han, Confucianism.

The fundamental difference between imperial Confucianism was not so much in the doctrine, which remained practically unchanged, but in a new attitude towards the world that had changed since the time of Confucius. For improved ideas, the principle of practical benefit, a pragmatic perception of the world, which developed in China largely under the influence of the same Confucianism, was much more important. And this included a greater tolerance for other doctrines, especially those that were defeated and failed to stand the test of history.

Wudi wanted the new official imperial ideology to absorb everything useful that helped the country and him personally, the entire Han dynasty to establish the management of the empire and rely on the people brought up on ideals and traditions, but at the same time respecting strength and subject to authority.

This meant the convergence of pre-Han Confucianism with those elements of legalism that could well coexist with Confucianism and even reinforce its postulates. After all, both the Confucians and the Legalists believed that the sovereign with his ministers and officials should govern the Celestial Empire, that the people should respect the authorities and obey its representatives, and that all this, ultimately, contributes to the good and prosperity, peace and happiness of the subjects.

Confucians emphasized the self-consciousness and self-improvement of people, the education in them of humanity, virtue, a sense of duty and respect for elders. Legists - intimidation, submission and severe punishments for disobedience. In this situation, the skillful combination of the Confucian gingerbread with the Legalist whip could and did produce very positive results.

Wudi gathered around him about a hundred outstanding scholars-boshi (boshi is an honorary academic title, a kind of professor), to whom from time to time he asked questions important to him. Among them are questions about how to govern the empire, what criteria to select assistants and officials, how to interpret ancient wisdom in relation to the tasks of today, etc. As the dynastic history of Hanshu notes, the most intelligent and accurate answers to the questions posed were given senior contemporary of Wu-di, an outstanding Confucian of the Han time Dong Chung-shu.

The necessary element of coercion within the imperial administration was harmoniously combined with traditional paternalism, and the social discipline of centuries-old respect-oriented subjects was reinforced by the Confucian spirit of rivalry and self-improvement, which in the conditions of imperial China was always the engine that allowed the huge administrative machine not to stagnate, not to rust.

In the face of Confucianism, the Han Empire acquired an official ideology with a distinct religious connotation. Violation of the Confucian precepts was punishable by death as the gravest crime. On the basis of Confucianism, an all-encompassing system of lifestyle and management organization was developed. The emperor in his reign had to be based on the principles of philanthropy and justice, and learned officials were supposed to help him pursue the right policy.

Relations in society were to be regulated on the basis of rituals that determined the duties and rights of each group of the population. All people were to build relationships in the family on the basis of the principles of filial piety and brotherly love. It meant. That every person had to unquestioningly fulfill the will of his father. Obey older brothers, take care of your parents in old age.

Since the era of the Elder Han, Chinese society has become class-based not only in the state, but also in the Confucian-moral sense of this concept. The obedience of juniors to seniors, inferiors to superiors, and all together to the emperor, is the basis for the development of Chinese civilization with its universal strict regulation of life down to the smallest detail.

And although after Wu-di Han China entered a period of protracted crisis, the traditions laid down mainly by Confucianism helped the Chinese civilization and statehood to maintain its viability.

Attempts to overcome the crisis and the end of the empire. The processes of stratification of Chinese society, the dispossession and ruin of small proprietors, the spread of wage labor, slavery, and the concentration of large landed property created difficulties for the stable development of the empire and required constant attention from the central government. However, its capabilities have steadily declined.

So, in 6 BC. e., under Emperor Ai-di (6-1 BC), 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 should not exceed 30 for commoners, 100 for representatives of the nobility, and 200 for the highest aristocracy (excluding slaves over 60 and under 10 years old). State slaves older than 50 years were proposed to be set free. 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. In this regard, it is necessary to raise the issue of the so-called "strong houses".

The stratification in the village community led to the emergence of a wealthy elite, with which the bureaucracy merged, investing their funds in communal land ownership. This is how the “strong houses” were formed.

"Strong houses" (in the texts they were referred to by various terms) divided among themselves (sometimes in the course of fierce rivalry) power and influence. Dispossessed peasants often had to leave their native places and go to new ones, where they found themselves in the position of dependent clients (k e, letters - “guest”) from all the same village rich.

Forced in the conditions of the inefficient power of the center to take care of their own well-being, strong houses overgrown with house guards recruited from the poor and newcomers ( butqu), which in a critical situation could act as a fully combat-ready military formation.

Turning over many millions and even tens of millions of coins, which is often mentioned in the sources, powerful houses not only became the generally recognized elite of the empire with real power, but also gained opportunities to influence the administration apparatus. Moreover, the administrative apparatus at the county and district levels was mainly staffed precisely from representatives of these powerful houses and was very dependent on their “common opinion”.

The interweaving of the interests of the rural property elite and the local administration apparatus, in turn, sharply aggravated the economic crisis, which entailed a further weakening and political decentralization of the state.

It was this process that was observed at the end of the first Han Dynasty. It manifested itself primarily in a tangible decrease in the role of the state administrative principle in the country, and also in the fact that the functions of power actually ended up in the hands of powerful houses with their vast lands, financial resources, abundant clientele, and, moreover, with claims to high moral potential, aristocracy. spirit and high Confucian standards.

Wang Mang's reforms were a new attempt to solve the problems in the country associated with large land ownership and slavery. Their goal is to restore the order lost by society on the basis of traditional Confucian recommendations and appropriate mechanisms and thereby actively resist destruction and chaos.

Wang Mang (8-23 AD), father-in-law of Emperor Ping-di (1-5 AD) and regent for his young son, seized power in the country. In 8 AD, he deposed the infant Emperor Indy and proclaimed himself the founder of the new Xin Dynasty.

The first and main task of the new emperor was to strengthen state power and fight against the local power elite.

It was for this purpose that Wang Mang declared all the lands in the empire to be state lands and strictly prohibited their sale and purchase. The possessions of powerful houses confiscated in this way were intended for distribution among all those privately dependent who did not have their own land and were in the position of tenants, clients, or even just slaves in the households of powerful village clans.

In addition to reforms in the field of land relations, Wang Mang issued a special decree on the elimination of private slavery and the prohibition of buying and selling people.

All slaves automatically acquired the status of dependents and, accordingly, were under certain protection from the state, which was also a severe blow, primarily to strong houses and their households.

Slaves - in accordance with ancient tradition - were only criminals, and the number of slaves of this category under Wang Mang increased sharply due to severe punishments for all those who violated the new laws or actively opposed them.

By special decrees, Wang Mang introduced state monopolies on wine, salt, iron, and even credit, which had already lost their force. A new type of coin was put into circulation in the country, the casting of which also became the monopoly of the state.

The reforms met with desperate resistance from those who, by decree of the emperor, were deprived of almost all their property, all the wealth accumulated by generations. In an effort to suppress discontent, the reformer did not hesitate to resort to repression, while relying, which is important to emphasize, on the administration apparatus. Using the new order, the administrative apparatus derived considerable benefits for itself from the expropriation of other people's wealth.

And since considerable expenses were required to carry out reforms and to strengthen the apparatus of power in such a difficult situation for the empire, Wang Mang had to take some unpopular measures - he increased taxes and introduced a number of new taxes and duties from various categories of the population. This played an important role in the growth of dissatisfaction with the reforms.

Assessing the reforms as a whole, it should be noted that, in principle, they were sufficiently thought out and, if they were skillfully carried out, could well lead the country out of a state of crisis. However, the urgency of the reforms, their too rapid and vigorous implementation, led to an aggravation of social contradictions.

A natural disaster became disastrous for Van Mann and the empire. In 11 AD, the wayward Yellow River changed its course, which led to the death of hundreds of thousands of people, the flooding of fields, and the destruction of cities and towns.

The Huang He has repeatedly changed its course over the course of several thousand years of written Chinese history, which was due to the abundance of silt (loess) that this not accidentally named Yellow River carried in its waters. Usually, its waters were closely monitored by officials who were responsible for cleaning the channel and building dams. But during the years of stagnation and crisis, in moments of destruction and weakening of power, this important function of the Chinese administration also weakened.

For the population brought up within the framework of a certain tradition, the breakthrough of the Huang He and the great disasters associated with it clearly indicated that Heaven was dissatisfied with the state of affairs in the Celestial Empire. It warns with such a cataclysm of its disapproval of the existing order, that is, Van Mann's reforms are evil.

Realizing this, the emperor was forced not only to openly repent, but also to cancel a significant part of his decrees. This played a fatal role. Opponents of the reforms rejoiced, the situation in the country changed decisively again, which once again gave rise to chaos and confusion.

The crisis began to deepen, the dissatisfied and the disadvantaged again took up arms, uprisings began in the country. One of the most important among them was the uprising of the so-called "red-browed". The fighters who belonged to this movement painted their eyebrows red in order to distinguish themselves from the rest. The armies of the empire were losing ground and retreating towards the capital.

Traditional Chinese historical science was characterized by the periodization of China's ancient history by dynasties. 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.

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 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.

The beginning of the ancient Chinese civilization dates back to the turn of the III-II millennium BC. e. Then, in the valley of the Yellow River, the first proto-urban cultures were born. Although the ancient Chinese civilization is among the "river" ones, like the ancient Egyptian or Mesopotamian, the local population began to build irrigation structures much later - only in the 1st millennium BC. e. Seals City-states also arose here later - in the 2nd millennium BC

The most reliable information is about the state of Shang (XIV-XI centuries BC), according to legend, the last ruler of the Xia dynasty was distinguished by unusual cruelty, which set the leaders of subordinate tribes against him. 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 (XVII century BC), headed by a priest-king; his power, apparently, was limited by the popular assembly and the council of the nobility. He had an army to defend the state. In Shang there was a stratification of property, patriarchal slavery.

The Shang was succeeded by the state of Western Zhou, which was replaced by Eastern Zhou. During the Zhou period, the doctrine of "divine kingship", which was very important for the subsequent history of China, was developed. The sky was considered the highest deity, and the ruler Zhou was the son of Heaven, therefore the kingdom itself began to be called the Celestial; this name was then assigned to the Chinese Empire and passed through the millennia. It was believed that the ruler was endowed with magical powers, making him a divine mediator between Heaven and people. 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". Having undertaken a campaign to the east, Wu-wang ("Militant ruler") defeated the Yin army (1027 BC). 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 the relatives of U-wang and some representatives of the nobility received possession of the land 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 social differentiation of Yin society 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 Chou Vans continued to call themselves. The second group is the Zhuhou, the rulers of hereditary estates, representatives of the highest Zhuo-u aristocracy. The third is the dafu, the heads of those zu (po to tribal groups), which in their totality constituted the population of the hereditary possession of zhuhou. 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 the individual could use. this person. “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. - Different amounts of food and drink, cut of clothes, number of livestock and slaves, there are prohibitions on the use of certain forms of boats, chariots and household utensils.

Along with the Zhou kingdom, there were many small states in China. However, the process of forming a cultural and ethnic community was intensively going on in the "middle kingdoms" that recognized the leadership of the Zhou, located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River on the Great Plain of China. At the beginning of the 8th century BC e. clashes between the Chou people and the Rong tribes, who inhabited the area of ​​the upper reaches of the Yellow River, became 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. By the end of the 8th century BC e. China actually disintegrated into more than a thousand independent possessions, between which a struggle immediately began to absorb and subjugate their neighbors. On the other hand, the supreme power of the powerless Zhou wang continued to be nominally recognized as the traditional embodiment of the country's unity, especially since almost all local rulers came from the dynasty or were very closely related to it by marriages.

The Zhuhou sought to present their actions as serving the interests of the Wang. The period when local rulers of varying degrees of power fought for hegemony over each other, recognizing the supreme sacred, but nominal power of the Zhou wang, is called Chunqiu (“Springs and Autumns”, 722–403 BC). It was one of the darkest periods in the history of China, full of endless wars between possessions, unrest and upheavals. In this struggle of all against all, the murders of the closest relatives and the betrayal of any alliances and agreements have become commonplace.

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 a member 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”, denoting their commonality with the term huaxia (or zhusia). During this period, cities with half a million inhabitants appeared, trade and craft developed, iron smelting was mastered, which became an incentive for the development of production.

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 are the period of the reign of Wen Gong (636-628 BC). 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. Since the collapse in 403 BC. e. one of the largest opposing possessions - Jin - the Chinese tradition conditionally counts a new period in its history - Zhangguo (lit. the era of the "Warring States", 403-221 BC).

In response to socio-economic changes and permanent strife, new areas of social thought appeared in China: Confucianism, Legalism, Mohism, Taoism - all the main teachings of China (in subsequent eras, they only developed and supplemented, and nothing like the innovative explosion of the Zhangguo era happened ). Thinkers tried to decide how to restore social order, i.e., eliminate the problems caused by the divergence of nobility and wealth, and stop the unrest, in other words, get people to forget their personal benefits and selflessly fulfill social norms. The recipes proposed by them were strikingly different from each other. The teachings of Confucius (Kung Tzu, 551-479 BC) were based on the idea that a person is inherently good, that is, within the framework of the Chinese system of concepts, ready for selfless service to duty, if superiors do not give him devastating examples to the contrary. The model for all social relations, according to Confucius, should be a patriarchal family, in which the elders are called upon to take care of the younger ones and educate them, and the younger ones to honor and obey the elders; in the state, the people act as "children", and the ruler - "father".

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. Quite a lot of information has been preserved about the initiator of these reforms - Shang Yang, who achieved reforms in the Qin kingdom. 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. Nevertheless, a decade and a half of the existence of the Qin empire is a whole 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. As for the punishments for crimes, the provisions on them were mainly borrowed from the laws of Shang Yang and were extremely cruel. applied different kinds death penalty: quartering, chopping in half, decapitation, strangulation, burying alive, boiling in a cauldron, breaking the crown of the head. The death penalty was relied, for example, for stealing a horse.

In 221 BC. e. the state of Qin subjugated the entire territory of the “fighting kingdoms”. The Qin empire arose with an extremely centralized military-bureaucratic administration. Emperor Qin Shi Huang established terror in the country, ruthlessly disposed of the life of his subjects, regardless of their social status. The construction of the Great Wall of China, palaces, the tomb of the emperor, stunning in scale, military campaigns required huge human sacrifices and material costs. The people hated the emperor!

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 restored!" 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, representatives of the old nobility who joined the uprising, who sought to take advantage of the action of the masses in order to restore their rights, become the leaders of the rebels. 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. 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. 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 the “wang Chu”, in others - the year 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. On the foundation laid by the Qin Empire, one of the most powerful powers of the Ancient World was built. The Han Empire lasted for more than four centuries. The Han era was a time of consolidation of the ancient Chinese people, and today the Chinese call themselves Han.

The Han era (III century BC - III century AD) is the time of the highest political development of Ancient China. True, Gaozu did not completely recreate the centralized system of power: part of the country's territory was turned into inheritances given to some relatives and associates of the emperor. However, already in the middle of the II century. BC e. after several outbreaks of separatism, the independence of the destinies (and a significant part of them themselves) was over. Gaozu took a number of measures that dramatically improved the situation of the people and encouraged the development of production, and directed all his efforts to rebuild the country after the disastrous times of the end of the 3rd century. BC e .: he returned the rights to those free people who during this time were forced to sell themselves into slavery under the threat of starvation, provided communities with temporary benefits and reduced taxes compared to the Qin 10 times, to an extremely easy 1/15 of the harvest. Under Gaozu's successors, this rate was usually maintained.

Xiao Wen-di (180-157 BC), the son of Gaozu, went even further: he again reduced the cost of maintaining his court, completely stopped taking taxes from peasants, abolished corporal punishment and punishment for the guilt of a relative , as well as for blaspheming the emperor, declaring that commoners were free to scold him in private conversations. It was the first and last such incident in Chinese history. The development of the economy was also facilitated by the fact that in the II century. BC e. the so-called Great Silk Road was formed - a caravan road from China to the countries of Central and Western Asia, which ran from the Yellow to the Mediterranean Sea. In the following decades, centralization and tax oppression increased again.

Later, under Wu-di (140-87 BC), the Qin institute of inspectors was recreated and a new system of training officials was introduced. At the end of the II century. BC e. the warlike Wu-di tried to launch large-scale external conquests. Long-distance campaigns were made to the north, against the Xiongnu, to the west, to the territory of Eastern Turkestan up to Ferghana (the diplomat and commander Zhang Qian especially distinguished himself here), to the south and southeast, to the borders of modern Vietnam and Myanmar, and to the northeast, to Korea. Almost everywhere the Chinese were victorious. In total, the territory of the state increased by a third. However, the Wu-di wars, which were mostly purely prestigious and unnecessary for the country (for example, the emperor wanted to get local horses from Ferghana, famous for their breed), cost her huge casualties and material depletion. They not only did not bring production, but also demanded an increase in tax oppression for their financial security. A crisis began in agriculture, peasant families were ruined, and crop areas began to decline.

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 in terms of social composition was the 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.

At the end of the 1st century BC e. sharply escalated 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. 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. The rebel armies fought against the forces of Wang Mang, and after his death in this struggle, with each other. From the seven-year turmoil in 25 AD. e. The winner was Liu Xiu from the ruling Han family. He declared himself Emperor Guan Wudi (25-57) and moved the capital to the east, to Loyang. The reign of his house is called the era of the Late, or Eastern, Han (25-220). Old irrigation canals are being restored and new ones are being built, which leads to an increase in productivity and makes 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 and 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." 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. In the I-II centuries. the process of concentration of landed property and the ruin of small landowners is becoming ever larger. 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. 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. With the growth of "strong houses" in Han China, a new type of rural settlement appears - an estate belonging to a large landowner and representing a self-sufficient economic and, to a certain extent, social unit.

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. In the conditions 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. In 188-207 years. 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. This was followed by a bitter 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. On the. its ruins in the III century. three independent states arise - Wei, Shu and Wu. The era of the Three Kingdoms begins. Aging in the bowels of the ancient Chinese society II-III centuries. new feudal relations marks the beginning of the early Middle Ages.