Ancient China where people lived. Money in ancient China

In the southeast of Asia, fenced off from the whole world by high mountains, is the Great Plain of China. Convenient geographical location, climate and rich nature created all the prerequisites for the development of one of the most powerful civilizations called Ancient China.

Formation of a unified Chinese kingdom

The two largest rivers in Asia, the Huang He and the Yangtze, flow on the territory of the China Plain. The soils along the banks of these rivers have always been so soft that they could easily be worked with the simplest tools made of bone or wood. Therefore, agriculture has been well developed here since ancient times.

In translation, the Yellow River means Yellow River, since its waters carry a large amount of yellow sand. It was on its fertile soils that the oldest settlements of the first Chinese farmers were found. But the Haunghe has always had a stubborn character, and during the rainy season this river often overflows its banks and floods everything around, eroding the banks and changing its course. In ancient China, it was called the "river of a thousand disasters", because during the flood it mercilessly washed away crops and entire settlements.

Rice. 1. The Yellow River.

In the VIII century BC. e. the territory of modern China was ruled by many small independent kingdoms, which waged endless wars among themselves. In the course of fierce battles, the final victory was won by the Qin kingdom and in 221 BC. e. its ruler adopted the title "huangdi", which means "emperor".

He went down in history as Qin Shi Huang, that is, "the first emperor of Qin." He called himself the Son of Heaven, and dubbed the empire he ruled the Middle Kingdom.

During the reign of the Qin Dynasty, the following reforms were carried out:

Religion and Philosophy of Ancient China

The philosophy of ancient China was fundamentally different from the philosophy of European countries. Unlike Islam and Christianity, the religion of China did not have a single god who punished sinners in the afterlife. The main principle of all the teachings was based on the manifestation of kindness and love for others, the search for harmony within oneself.

In ancient China, the two most significant philosophical schools were widespread:

Confucianism . The founder of this doctrine was the great Chinese philosopher Confucius, who developed the right, in his opinion, way of life. According to it, people should help their neighbors, protect family values and traditions, honor elders, constantly engage in self-improvement.
Taoism . The founder of the doctrine is Lao Tzu, who believed that the basis of all things in the universe is "dao" - "the way". According to Taoism, people should live in harmony with nature, in modesty and simplicity, away from luxury, be humble and compassionate.

Rice. 3. Confucius.

Achievements of Ancient China

In ancient China, the foundations of Chinese civilization and its culture - science, medicine, art, literature - were laid.

The Chinese were great inventors who gave the world many useful items.
The most important achievements of ancient China include:

The invention of paper. The technology of its manufacture was very complex and required great skill. With the advent of paper, the Chinese were the first to invent printing.
Gunpowder, which was used not only as a filling for incendiary projectiles, but also in the treatment of ulcers and wounds, and the creation of entertaining fireworks.
Magnetic compass. The navigational art of ancient China was very well developed due to the fact that the country paid great attention to such sciences as mathematics and astronomy.
Making thin and durable silk from silkworm cocoons.

In China, the art of beautiful writing was very popular - calligraphy, and the main direction in painting was the image of spectacular landscapes of the rocks of South China, characters of myths and legends.

Of great interest is the architecture of ancient China. All buildings, be it the imperial palace or the dwelling of a simple craftsman, harmoniously fit into the surrounding landscape and were always surrounded by additional outbuildings. Usually they were decorated with skillful carvings with images of animals and plants, painted with bright colors.

What have we learned?

When studying the topic “Ancient China” in the 5th grade history program, we briefly learned the most important thing about the history of Ancient China. They learned how and by whom the Celestial Empire was formed, what philosophical teachings were the most popular, what sciences were given special attention. We also learned what achievements of Ancient China occupied a special place in the history of the country.

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Book:
History of China from ancient times to the present day.
Moscow - Main edition of Eastern literature, 1974

China is a country of one of the oldest civilizations in the world, which arose several millennia BC in the basins of the great rivers - the Tigris and Euphrates, the Nile, the Indus and the Yellow River. The continuity of the development of the Chinese center of culture, its ethnic and political traditions is one of the important features of the history of China. The second feature is the geographical remoteness and isolation of China from other centers of world culture.

These features contributed greatly to the fact that the Chinese civilization gradually began to be regarded as a phenomenon that arose entirely on the local autochthonous soil. In fact, as sources testify, throughout its formation and development, this society not only influenced neighboring peoples, but also received many cultural achievements from them, absorbed diverse ethnic components.

It became possible to restore the ancient stages of the formation of Chinese civilization only after archaeological research began in China. In 1918, the Swedish geologist I. Anderson discovered the Quaternary fauna in the town of Zhoukoudian near Beijing and began excavations here. Later, the Chinese archaeologist Pei Wen-zhong discovered fragments of the skull of an early Paleolithic man - Sinanthropus, and then bone remains and stone tools of a late Paleolithic man - Shandingtung Man, in one of the caves of Zhoukoudian.

The finds of Sinanthropus near Beijing and in the province of Shaanxi in northwest China (1963) and Shandingtung man made it possible to conclude that the territory of modern China was part of the area of the initial formation of modern humans.

Shandingtung people lived in caves, mainly engaged in fishing and hunting. They used chipped stone tools and other crafts made of bone and horn. The discovery of a polished bone needle suggested that the Shandingtung people already knew clothing (most likely, from animal skins). They had peculiar decorations made from the teeth of a wild dog, as well as drilled stone beads. The presence of a funeral rite testified to the existence of religious ideas. Perhaps the unit of social organization in Shandingtung people was the maternal clan.

In 1921, I. Anderson for the first time found in the basin of the middle reaches of the Yellow River a Neolithic culture of painted pottery and polished stone tools, which he called the Yangshao culture.

Of all the earliest Neolithic cultures discovered in the Huang He basin and nearby territories, three played an important role in the formation of the Chinese ethnos: Qujialing, Majiayao, Yangshao. The Qujialing culture, whose distribution area covered the basin of the river. Khanypuy was characterized by sedentary agriculture. The main agricultural crop was rice, the charred grains of which were found in the Qujialing settlements. Huts deepened into the ground served as dwellings, divided by internal partitions into several separate rooms. Qujialing people spun on spindles with round clay whorls decorated with colored ornaments. They used a variety of utensils, made by hand and sometimes also covered with painted ornaments.

The Majiayao culture was spread northwest of the Qujialing culture, in the upper reaches of the river. Huanghe. The Majiayao is a typical East Asian painted pottery culture, however, with the peculiarity that the pottery was painted after it had been fired in a kiln. The basis of agriculture was the cultivation of chumiza (one of the varieties of millet). People were engaged in breeding dogs and pigs, which were the main domestic animals.

In the middle reaches of the Yellow River and on its main tributary, the river. Weihe around the 5th-4th millennium BC. e. developed the most striking and well-studied Neolithic culture of China - Yangshao. The natural conditions of this region then differed significantly from today. The huge loess plateau was covered with a solid array of forests rich in deer and other animals. Only in the immediate vicinity of the rivers did a person burn and uproot bushes. Fertile loess soils, amenable to cultivation with the help of the most simple tools, gave abundant harvests of such an unpretentious crop as chumiza. Warmer and wetter than now, the climate made it possible to cultivate it without resorting to artificial irrigation. Stone and wooden tools were used to dig up the earth. The crop was harvested with flat stone or ceramic rectangular knives with holes for threading a belt or rope loop.

The Yangshaos hunted deer, musk deer, tapirs, and bamboo rats. They were breeding domestic animals - pigs and dogs; they caught fish on bone hooks or a net with stone sinkers, beat them with spears.

The production of tools made of stone and bone, as well as pottery, were the most developed branches of craft among the Yangshaos. Stone and bone items were carefully polished and often had neatly drilled holes. Pottery, which can be found in abundance in the settlements of Yangshao, delights with the elegance of its forms, craftsmanship, and a range of colors - from bright red to orange-lemon tones. But most striking in the works of the Yangshao potters is the complex geometric and zoomorphic ornamentation.

Unlike the Majiayaos, they painted the dishes before firing, so the ornament was not washed off or peeled off. In addition to painted bowls and bowls, a sharp-bottomed ceramic vessel, vaguely reminiscent of ancient Greek amphorae, was widely used. With this vessel, water was taken from the source: small handles into which the rope was threaded were made taking into account the center of gravity. The vessel was dipped into the water with its neck down, and then, as it filled, the lower part outweighed it and it straightened itself out. The Yangshaos probably dressed in woven clothes, as evidenced by the whorl, small bone needles and prints of fabrics on the bottoms of clay vessels.

In 1954-1956. at the village Banpo, not far from the city of Xian, a settlement was excavated, which made it possible to recreate in general terms a picture of the life of a small Neolithic community. In the middle part of the settlement there was a quadrangular building with a total area of more than 125 square meters. m. Along the perimeter of the building, recesses from more than 30 supporting pillars, on which the roof rested, have been preserved. Around the building there were round or square huts of a frame-and-pillar structure, somewhat recessed into the ground; their walls consisted of vertical poles, plastered on top with clay mixed with straw. In the middle of the dwelling was a hearth pit. These dwellings were much smaller in size than the central premises. The entire settlement was surrounded by a moat, behind which a cemetery began.

The small size of the houses indicated that they could serve as a home for one or two married couples. As for the central building, some archaeologists believe that it was intended for the public needs of the entire team and served as a place of meetings and festivities. It is possible, however, that this is a "men's house" in which the youths of the community lived. In Yangshao, children, unlike adults, were buried not in the cemetery behind the settlement, but in large clay vessels near the dwellings.

Each of the Yangshao settlements had its own strictly defined zoomorphic ornaments: fish and deer - in Banpo, lizards and turtles - in Miaodigou (Henan province), long-tailed and short-tailed birds - in Huaxian (Shaanxi province). Perhaps this was a reflection of the dual-generic exogamous organization. Some of the images of animals at the same time had certain anthropomorphic features (for example, a combination of an image of a man and a fish). This was the expression of the idea of the totem - the animal ancestor and patron of the people of this tribal group. Later, the ancient Chinese depicted their mythical ancestors as half-humans, half-animals: Fuxi, who allegedly taught people to hunt and fish, with the body of a snake; Shennong, who made the first wooden agricultural tools and first began to eat cereals, is with the head of a bull.

Chinese mythology is filled with descriptions of images, in which the echoes of ancient animistic ideas and the desire to find personalized "authors" of all the most important cultural achievements are bizarrely intertwined. Here is Suizhen, who discovered a method of making fire by friction; and Yuchao, who taught people to build huts; and Huangdi, who introduced the custom of steaming cereals and began to construct land dwellings and make boats. In ancient Chinese myths and historical traditions, there are indications that "in ancient times, people knew their mother and did not know their father." Closely connected with this are numerous legends about the “immaculate conception” of all the outstanding heroes and “rulers” of antiquity, which are an echo of the original domination of the matrilineal tribal organization.

In the written monuments that have come down to us, there are also later legends and traditions, reflecting the era of the decay of primitive communal relations and the emergence of social inequality. The Confucian treatise Liji, written in the second half of the 1st millennium BC, contains, for example, the following assessment of the ways of social progress: maintained peace and harmony.

Therefore, people treated as relatives not only close relatives, considered their children not only their children. The old people had support at the end of their days, those who matured had a use for themselves, the young grew up, and the widowed, the orphan, the lonely and the sick had food. The men got their share, and the women found shelter. People were rather ready to throw wealth on earth, but they would not hide it at home; would rather not strain their forces at all than use them for their own benefit. For this reason, there were no evil intentions, there was no theft and robbery, the doors were not locked.

Now, - continued the author of the treatise, - when Great Justice is at a disadvantage, they look at the Celestial Empire from the point of view of the interests of their family, treat only their close relatives as relatives, consider only their children as children, use wealth and strength for themselves.

The first traces of the appearance of property and social inequality were already noted in the monuments of the Late Neolithic Longshan culture (approximately the end of the 3rd millennium BC), which replaced the Yangshao throughout the middle and lower reaches of the river. Huanghe. The most obvious external difference of this culture from the previous ones was that the color of ceramics changed in Longshan: earthenware is not red, as in Yangshao, but most often gray and black. This was the result of a technical improvement in firing, which was now carried out without free access of air in closed furnaces, which sharply increased the temperature inside the firing chamber.

The appearance of the potter's wheel significantly contributed to the increase in labor productivity. Farming tools have become more advanced. In one of the settlements of the Longshan culture, the imprints of a two-pronged wooden tool for digging up the earth, widely known in later times under the name lei, were found. (A tool of this type was also common among the Basques and Indians of Central America.) The main agricultural crop continued to be chumiza, and cattle and goats appeared among domestic animals.

Important shifts in the social structure of society were traced by changes in the funeral rite. In Yangshao, the dead were buried in earth pits, where pottery and other utensils were placed. But if at that time there were no significant differences in the size of the pits and the number of buried objects, then in the Longshan burial grounds, property and social differentiation was already quite distinct.

According to some historians, the Longshan archaeological culture was created by tribes known from written sources as "xia". According to legend, Yu, the leader of the Xia, founded the dynasty of the same name. Yu's predecessors were the rulers Yao and Shun. Yao had a son, but Yao did not bequeath his "throne" to him, but after consulting with the elders, he appointed the wise Shun as his successor. He, in turn, transferred power not to his son, but to Yuyu, who became famous for his mind and abilities. However, then Yu's place, contrary to tradition, was taken by his son Qi. After that, the supreme power began to be inherited. Undoubtedly, this tradition contains indications of very important historical facts. In a matrilineal tribal society, children could not belong to the same clan as their father, and therefore could not inherit it. The establishment of a patrilineal order of inheritance marked a weakening of tribal ties, the strengthening of the individual family as a new unit of society, and the deepening of social inequality.

Country and population

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chronology and periodization

As in other countries of the ancient world, China did not have a single system of chronology. Starting from the 1st millennium BC. e. dates were indicated by the years of the reign of the van (supreme ruler), so the establishment of an absolute chronology sometimes encounters significant difficulties. Thus, modern researchers date the Zhou conquest, which led to the fall of the Yin state, in different ways: this coincidence is attributed by some historians to 1122 BC. e., others - by 1066, 1050 or 1027 BC. e. Only from 341 BC. e. in the history of ancient China, a completely reliable chronology begins.

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

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. Dynastic periodization cannot fully satisfy the requirements of a modern researcher. Therefore, we use archaeological periodization, dividing the stages of development of society according to the level of productive forces and the main material from which tools were made. Consequently, the era preceding the "Three Dynasties" should be attributed to the Neolithic, while from the Shang-Yin time, ancient Chinese society enters the Bronze Age. At the end of the Chunqiu period (VI-V centuries BC), ancient China received the spread of iron tools - the era of iron begins.

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

Sources of ancient Chinese history

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

At the beginning of the XX century. in Chinese historiography, a hypercritical approach to written ancient Chinese historical sources is gaining ground. Emphasizing the need to identify the authenticity of ancient monuments and later distortions and insertions in them, supporters of this trend considered unreliable, for example, all the information about the Shang-Yin era reported by Sima Qian, and argued that "the history of China begins with the Zhou era. The decisive argument that undermined positions of the hypercritical school, were the results of archaeological research begun in China in the second decade of the 20th century. In 1921, the Swedish scientist I. G. Anderson discovered traces of a Neolithic culture in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, which he named Yangshao. In 1928, they began " excavations of the capital Shang-Yin near Anyang, which made it possible to get an idea of the level of productive forces, social organization and material culture of Ancient China in the 14th-11th centuries. BC uh,

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

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

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

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

Historiography

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

The hypercritical direction of Chinese historiography arose as a reaction to the shortcomings of traditional science, but its vice was the opposite extreme of judgments about the past. Only at the end of the 1920s, with the spread of Marxist ideas in China, did the prerequisites gradually take shape for the development of a truly scientific study of the ancient history of China from the standpoint of historical materialism. However, discussions about the nature of ancient Chinese society that took place in China in the 1930s showed that many studies undertaken in those years were characterized by dogmatism in the interpretation of certain provisions of Marxist-Leninist theory. Characteristic in this regard are the early works of Guo Mojo, who absolutized the theses about the unity of the world-historical process and therefore denied any specificity of the ancient Eastern societies.

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

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

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

In the United States, the study of ancient China has developed significantly only in recent decades, with scientists of Chinese origin living in the United States occupying the leading positions. At the end of the 60s, the international "Society for the Study of Ancient China" was created in the USA, which has been publishing its own journal since 1975.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Neolithic origins of ancient Chinese civilization

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Many features of the material culture of the Shang-Yin time indicate its genetic links with the Neolithic tribes that inhabited the Yellow River basin in the 3rd millennium BC. e. There are many similarities in Yin and Longshan ceramics. Little has changed over the course of several centuries, the nature of agriculture and agricultural implements. The main digging tool in the second half of the II millennium BC. e. there was a wooden spade - a two-pronged stick with a transverse crossbar. However, at least three major achievements are characteristic of the Shang-Yin era: the use of bronze, the emergence of cities, and the appearance of writing. . The most ancient traces of bronze foundry production are currently traced in settlements of the Erlitou type (the first half of the 2nd millennium BC). In late Yin, methods for enriching copper ore, recipes for copper and tin alloys were known, and high-quality clay molds were used for casting. However, the technological achievements of that time almost did not affect the main sphere of social production - agriculture. Bronze was used in the Yin era mainly in two areas - for the production of weapons and ritual vessels for sacrifices.

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

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

Finally, the appearance of writing is an indication of the entry of society into a qualitatively new era.

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

Society and the state in the Yin era

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Rise of the State of Zhou

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ANCIENT CHINA IN VIII-III cc. BC.

Ethnopolitical situation in the Central Chinese Plain

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fight for hegemony

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shifts in the socio-economic structure of society

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Shang Yang's reforms

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

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

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

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

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

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

THE EMPIRE OF HAN IN THE 3rd CENTURY B.C.-I V.N.E.

Domestic policy of the first Han emperors

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

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

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

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

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

Creation of a centralized state. Qin Empire

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Qin Shihuang's foreign policy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Chu and Han fight

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

After the death of Gaozu (195 BC), the separatist tendencies of the rulers of hereditary possessions began to manifest themselves more and more noticeably. “The Celestial Empire,” wrote an eyewitness, “now resembles a sick person, whose legs are swollen so that they have become thicker than the waist, and the fingers are like 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 Bn abolished taxes in his kingdom. In 154 BC. e., teaming up with six other hereditary rulers, Liu Bi gathered a 200,000-strong army and moved it to the capital of the empire.

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

"Golden Age of Wu-di"

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

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

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

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

The nomads of Central Asia and the rise of the Xiongnu state

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

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

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

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

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

The first contacts of the Han with the countries of the “Western Territory” (as the territory of modern Xinjiang and Central Asia was called at that time) were also connected with military operations against the Xiongnu.

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

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

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

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

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

The beginning of the crisis of the empire

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

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

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

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

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

Socio-economic relations at the turn of our era

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

The most numerous and complex 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. If the main source of slaves of the first category were ruined commoners who sold themselves or their children for the sake of debts, then state slaves were replenished mainly at the expense of relatives of persons convicted of crimes. According to Han law, "the wife and children of a criminal are turned into slaves and branded." The children of slaves are considered slaves.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The foreign policy of the empire

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

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

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

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

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

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

Demographic and ethnic processes in the I-II centuries.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Social relations in the I-II centuries.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CULTURE OF ANCIENT CHINA

Mythology and religion

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Writing

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

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

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

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

Literature

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

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

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

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

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

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

Art

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Natural science knowledge

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ancient China is the most ancient culture, which has practically not changed the way of life to this day. Wise Chinese rulers were able to lead the great empire through the millennia. Let's take a quick look at everything in order.

Ancient people probably reached East Asia between 30,000 and 50,000 years ago. Currently, pieces of pottery, ceramics have been discovered in the Chinese hunter-gatherer cave, the approximate age of the cave is 18 thousand years, this is the oldest pottery ever found.

Historians believe that agriculture appeared in China around 7000 BC. The first crop was a grain called millet. Rice also began to be grown around this time, and perhaps rice appeared a little earlier than millet. As agriculture began to provide more food, the population began to increase, and this also allowed people to do other jobs other than constantly searching for food.

Most historians agree that Chinese civilization formed around 2000 BC around the Yellow River. China became home to one of the four early civilizations. China is different from other civilizations, the culture that developed has remained to this day, of course, changes have occurred over the millennia, but the essence of culture has remained.

The other three civilizations disappeared or were completely absorbed and assimilated by new people. For this reason, people say that China is the oldest civilization in the world. In China, the families that controlled the land became the leaders of family governments called dynasties.

Dynasties of China

The history of China from ancient times to the century before last was divided into different dynasties.

Xia dynasty

The Xia Dynasty (2000 BC-1600 BC) was the first dynasty in Chinese history. Her period lasted about 500 years and included the kingdom of 17 emperors - the emperor is the same as the king. The Xia people were farmers and wielded bronze weapons and earthenware.

Silk is one of the most important products that China has ever created. Most historians agree that the Xia Dynasty produced silk clothing, although silk production may have begun much earlier.

Silk is produced by mining cocoons of silk insects. Each cocoon yields one silk thread.

Not all historians agree that the Xia was a real dynasty. Some believe that the Xia story is just a mythical story, because some of the points do not correspond to archaeological discoveries.

Shang dynasty

The Shang Dynasty (1600 BC-1046 BC) was originally a clan living along the Yellow River during the Xia Dynasty. A clan is a group of very close families that are often seen as one big family. The Shang conquered Xia land and gained control of Chinese civilization. The Shang Dynasty lasted over 600 years and was led by 30 different emperors.

The Shang were the oldest Chinese civilization, leaving behind written records that were inscribed on turtle shells, cattle bones, or other bones.

Bones were often used to determine what nature or want. If the emperor needed to know the future, say which "the king will have a son" or "whether to start a war," assistants carved questions into the bones, then heated them to cracks. The lines of cracks told the wishes of the gods.

During the Shang Dynasty, people worshiped many gods, probably like the ancient Greeks. Also ancestor worship was very important as they believed that their family members become godlike after death.

It is important to understand that other smaller Chinese families also existed in different parts of China at the same time as the Shang, but the Shang seems to have been the most advanced, as they left behind a lot of writing. The Shang were eventually defeated by the Zhou clan.

Zhou dynasty

The Zhou Dynasty (1046 BC-256 BC) lasted longer than any other dynasty in Chinese history. Due to a split in the dynasty, over time, Zhou was divided into parts called Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou,.

The Zhou fought against the invading armies from the north (the Mongols), they built large mounds of mud and stone as barriers that slowed down the enemy - this was the prototype of the Great Wall. The crossbow was another invention of this time - it was extremely effective.

During the Zhou, the Iron Age of China began. Iron-tipped weapons were much stronger, and the iron plow helped increase food production.

All agricultural land belonged to the nobility (the rich). The nobles allowed the peasants to farm the land, similar to the feudal system that developed in Europe during the Middle Ages.

The Emergence of Chinese Philosophy

During the Zhou Dynasty, two major Chinese philosophies developed: Taoism and Confucianism. The great Chinese philosopher Confucius developed a way of life called Confucianism. Confucianism says that all people can be trained and improved if you find the right approach.

Basic postulates: people should focus on helping others; family is the most important value; the elders of society are the most revered. Confucianism is still important today, but it did not become widespread in China until the Han Dynasty.

The founder of Taoism was Laozi. Taoism is everything that follows "Tao" which means "the way". Tao is the driving force behind all things in the universe. The Yin Yang symbol is commonly associated with Taoism. Taoists believe that you should live in harmony with nature, be humble, live simply without unnecessary things and be compassionate to everything.

These philosophies differ from religions because they do not have gods, although the idea of ancestors and nature is often seen as gods. The power of the emperor was also associated with religious beliefs. Zhou spoke of the Mandate of Heaven as a law that allowed Chinese emperors to rule - he said that the ruler was blessed by Heaven to rule over the people. If he has lost the blessing of heaven, he should be removed.

The things that proved that the ruling family had lost the mandate of Heaven were natural disasters and riots.

By 475 BC the provinces of the Zhou kingdom were more powerful than the central Zhou government. The provinces rebelled and fought each other for 200 years. This period is called the Warring States period. In the end, one family (Qin) united all the others into one empire. It was during this period that the concept of Imperial China appeared.

Qin dynasty

From 221 BC e. Until 206 BC e. The Qin dynasty gained control of civilized China. Qin's reign did not last long, but it had an important impact on the future of China. The Qin expanded their territory and created China's first empire. The cruel leader Qin Shi Huang declared himself the first true emperor of China. This dynasty created a currency standard (money), a wheel axle size standard (to make roads all the same size), and uniform laws that applied throughout the empire.

Qin also standardized the various writing systems into one system that is used in China today. Qin Shi Huang enforced the philosophy of "Legalism" which focuses on people who follow the laws and receive instructions from the government.

Mongol invasions from the north were a constant problem in China. The Qin government ordered that the walls built earlier be combined. This is considered the beginning of the creation of the Great Wall of China. Each dynasty built a new wall or improved the previous dynasty's wall. Most of the walls of the Qin period are now destroyed or have been replaced. The wall that exists today was built by a later dynasty called the Ming.

An amazing tomb was made for the emperor, bigger than a football field. It is still sealed, but legend has it that there are rivers of mercury within it. Outside the tomb is a life-sized clay army discovered in 1974.

The terracotta army has over 8,000 unique soldiers, over 600 horses, 130 chariots, as well as acrobats and musicians, all made from clay.

Although the Qin dynasty did not rule long, its standardization of Chinese life left a profound impact on later dynasties in China. It is from the period of this dynasty that we derive the name "China". The first emperor of this dynasty died in 210 BC. e. he was replaced by a weak and small son. As a result, a rebellion began, and a member of the Qin army took control of the Empire, which began a new dynasty.

Han dynasty

The Han Dynasty began in 206 BC and lasted 400 years until 220 AD. and is considered one of the greatest periods in the history of China. Like the Zhou Dynasty, the Han Dynasty is divided into Western Han and Eastern Han. Han culture defines Chinese culture today. In fact, most Chinese citizens today claim "Han" as an ethnic origin. The government made Confucianism the official system of the empire.

During this time, the empire grew greatly, conquering land in present-day Korea, Mongolia, Vietnam, and even Central Asia. The empire grew so much that the emperor needed a larger government to govern it. Many things were invented during this time, including paper, steel, the compass, and porcelain.

Porcelain is a very hard type of ceramic. Porcelain is made from a special clay that is heated until it melts and almost turns into glass. Porcelain dishes, cups and bowls are often referred to as "Chinese" because a few hundred years ago all porcelain was made in China.

The Han Dynasty was also known for its military power. The empire expanded westward to the edge of the Takla Makan desert, allowing the government to guard trade flows in Central Asia.

The caravan routes are often referred to as the "Silk Road" because this route was used to export Chinese silk. The Han Dynasty also expanded and fortified the Great Wall of China to protect the Silk Road. Another important product of the Silk Road was the religion of Buddhism, which reached China during this period.

Chinese dynasties would continue to rule China until the Middle Ages. China has retained its uniqueness, because from time immemorial they have honored their culture.

Interesting Facts About Ancient China

The country that we call China, the Chinese themselves call either Zhong Guo (Middle Kingdom), then Zhong Hua (Middle Blooming), or by the name of certain dynasties (for example, Qin). This designation passed with some changes to the Western European geographical nomenclature.

The state arose in China initially in the Yellow River basin.

The Huang He is referred to in Chinese literature as "the river that breaks the heart." She often changed her course, breaking through the loose soil of the banks, and flooding entire areas. Only hard work was able to curb it and protect the fertile valley from floods by building dams and dams. The soil of northern China (mostly loess) is highly fertile.

In ancient China, there were significant forest tracts (now already disappeared and preserved only on the outskirts). Wild flora and fauna, judging by the description of ancient Chinese authors, confirmed by archaeological excavations, was rich and varied. In many areas, now densely populated, there were deer, wild boars, bears and such terrible predators as tigers. The oldest collection of Chinese songs (Shijing) describes annual mass hunts for foxes, raccoons and wild cats. Of great importance for the development of the Chinese economy was the abundance of ores and other minerals.

The population of China in ancient times was very diverse in its ethnic composition. The Chinese themselves at the dawn of their history inhabited only the basin of the middle reaches of the Yellow River and gradually spread to its source and mouth. Only in 1 thousand BC. and at the beginning of the new era they settled widely beyond this core territory. During these movements, they entered either hostile or peaceful relations in the northeast with the Manchu-Tungus tribes, in the northwest and west with the Turkic and Mongolian, in the southwest with the Sino-Tibetan, etc.

The Chinese and neighboring peoples in the process of long-term communication influenced each other, mutually enriching themselves with cultural achievements.

Part of the ethnic groups that lived next to the Chinese adopted the Chinese language and culture. However, even now, in some areas of southern China and in a large part of western China, the population speaks languages \u200b\u200bthat differ from Chinese and retains their local cultural traditions, despite repeated attempts at forced sinicization.

In Europe, Ancient China was almost unknown for a long time. Ancient tradition has preserved a minimum amount of information about him.

Only since the 16th century. n. e. European missionaries and merchants begin to show more interest in East Asia's past.

At the beginning of the 20th century the French Sinologist E. Chavannes takes on the translation of Sima Qian's Historical Notes.

Of the Russian researchers who played an outstanding role in the study of the history of China, N.Ya. Bichurin (monk Iakinf). He lived in China for 14 years (1807-1821) as head of the Peking Spiritual Mission and got acquainted with a huge number of authentic Chinese documents. Bichurin and other Russian scientists show sympathy for the Chinese people in their works and recognize the value of Chinese culture.

It must be borne in mind that the nobility and bourgeois Sinology (Sinology), with all its merits and achievements, was not able to explain the course of China's development and reveal its general pattern and undoubted local features and peculiarities.

There was a widespread view of the Chinese (as well as the Indians) as a people supposedly incapable of progress. On the other hand, there is also the opposite extreme. Some Chinese historians exaggerate the historical role of their country in favor of the great power claims of the Maoists.

The main periods in the history of ancient China have traditional names: Shang (Yin), Zhou Qin and Han (after the names of dynasties and kingdoms).

Judging by archaeological data, China was inhabited in the Old Stone Age. Many Paleolithic tools have been found here. In many places in China (especially in Henan), much later sites dating back to the Neolithic were also found.

Judging by the information preserved in ancient Chinese sources (in particular, by Sima Qian), matriarchy dominated in ancient China (as well as among other peoples). Kinship was counted along the maternal line. The power of the tribal leader was transferred not from father to son, but from the elder brother to the younger one.

2 millennium BC was a time of gradual transition from maternal to paternal rights.

Of the most ancient Chinese tribes, it especially intensified at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. Shang tribe (in the Yellow River basin).

According to Chinese tradition, in the 17th century. BC. a certain Cheng Tang founded the state, which received the name Shang after the ruling tribe. Later, it appears in historical texts under the name Yin (applied to it by neighbors).

Researchers use two terms: Shang and Yin.

We can judge the economy of the Shang (Yin) society of the second half of the 2000s by numerous monuments of material culture and short inscriptions on the so-called Henan fortune-telling bones.

Stone and bone were also used as the main material for the production of tools and weapons. However, copper and then bronze tools appeared (knives, shovels, axes, awls, etc.).

There is a transition from primitive forms of economy to cattle breeding and agriculture, and even the first attempts at irrigation. Millet and barley were cultivated. Wheat, kaoliang. Of particular importance was the cultivation of the mulberry tree, which was valued not so much for its fruits (as in Asia Minor), but for its leaves, which served to feed silkworms.

Cattle breeding in that era reached a greater development than in modern China, where, due to the high population density, there are not enough pastures. The documents of the Shang (Yin) time mention hundreds of heads of bulls and sheep sacrificed to the gods. Goats and pigs were also bred. There were few horses, they were harnessed to chariots and wagons, and bulls were mainly used for field work.

Craft reached a high level in the Shang kingdom. In the ruins of its capital (also called Shang), the remains of a bronze casting workshop were found.

Ceramics, in particular the processing of white clay (kaolin), reached great perfection. The potter's wheel was already known. Wood materials were widely used: houses and even palaces) were built from wood.

The separation of craft from agriculture led to the development of exchange. Special shells (kauri) served as a measure of value. Trade relations were established with various countries of East Asia, in particular, copper and tin were delivered from the Yangtze basin. Cattle, skins, furs and stone (jasper, jade, etc.) were exported from the mountainous areas and steppe spaces located to the north and west of the Huang He basin, and the Chinese handicrafts that came in return reached the banks of the Yenisei.

The development of productive forces and the intensification of internal and external exchange led to property inequality. Excavations reveal, along with rich houses and tombs, the remains of dwellings and burials of the poor. Some hieroglyphs denote slaves (captives with bound hands and domestic slaves). However, slavery was at a very early, primitive stage. The custom of sacrificing hundreds of slaves (during divination, during the burial of rulers) suggests that the demand for forced labor was still small.

Gradually, the state apparatus takes shape and the vans (rulers) turn from elected tribal leaders into hereditary kings. The strengthening of the central government was apparently associated with the transformation of the city of Shan into the capital of the country (14th century BC). there is a standing army, officials and prisons. From the relatives and close associates of the king, a tribal aristocracy is formed. Religion is used for the authority of royal power. Later, the king is called the "son of heaven."

The Shang (Yin) kingdom was fragile. The western Zhou tribe turned out to be a particularly dangerous opponent. Tradition says that the leader of the Zhou tribe, Wu-wang, defeated the last Yin wang, Shou Xin, in a battle, and he committed suicide. On the ruins of the former state formation of Yin, a new one arose, which received (as well as the ruling tribe and the ruling dynasty) the name Zhou. The Zhou dynasty lasted until the 3rd century. BC.

This era was divided into the time of the Western Zhou, when the city of Hao was the capital, and the Eastern Zhou, when the capital was moved to the east a Loi (modern Luoyang, in Henan).

It should be taken into account that at that time the Zhou dynasty had only nominal power over actually independent state formations, the number of which was in the tens, if not hundreds, and the Chinese chroniclers refer to the transition period, covering the end of the 5th and a significant part of the 3rd century. BC, the name of Zhang-guo (“Warring Kingdoms”).

The Western Zhou period is characterized by a significant strengthening of the tribal nobility, both court and provincial. Kings give their relatives and associates significant grants and privileges. The inscriptions on bronze vessels endlessly talk about donating to one or another honored dignitaries significant plots of land taken from rural communities, as well as hundreds, and sometimes thousands of slaves. The scale of slavery is intensified due to the enslavement of the population of the conquered kingdom of Shang (Yin). It is no coincidence that King Wu-wang (the founder of the Zhou kingdom) is credited with the following words addressed to his soldiers: “On the fields of Shang, do not attack those who run across to us - let them work on our western fields.” Wars with neighboring nomadic tribes lead to the theft of prisoners of war, who are turned into slavery. The contingent of slaves is also replenished at the expense of convicted criminals.

The cultivated land was still at the disposal of the communities. There was a “well system”, which consisted in the fact that the territory belonging to the village was divided into nine parts (the scheme of this division resembled the outline of the hieroglyph for “well”). Of these plots, eight were given to various families, and the ninth (central) was cultivated by them together, and the crop was brought to the headman for communal needs (later it began to be appropriated by the king).

Portal for the student. Self-training