How was the ancient "clan" formed? How big was the clan power in the Eastern Jin Dynasty?

In ancient times, clan groups preceded feudal imperial power, and it was their existence that gave birth to the "patriarchal clan system".

Clans are usually large settlements formed in the same settlement, which belongs to the vague concept of ethnic groups in the modern sense. Similar terms include "clan". On a small scale, "clan" and "clan" are sometimes confused. A clan is usually represented by a surname, such as Zhao, Han, Wei, Zhi, Fan, Bank of China, etc. And constitute a residential area; A clan can include many families.

But the clan can develop rapidly among the people, or wait until the emergence of feudal imperial power. However, the feudal imperial power did not realize that this new thing was consistent with its own interests, so it chose to resist and restrain its development every time. During the Western Han Dynasty, the imperial court cracked down on the mighty; In the Eastern Han Dynasty, the court executed Zhang Tian, all of which were manifestations of restraining clan development.

However, the clans developed in social economy and even the feudal imperial power could not be restrained.

The laws of the Eastern Han Dynasty said nothing about the soldiers' rent. However, the government chose to acquiesce to the phenomenon that clans expanded their fields and hired a large number of servants to farm. Wei's rent-adjusting system allows the collection households to calculate by households, and enables the clan to protect the privileges of workers, which is a pioneer of system reform. The appointment system in the Western Jin Dynasty and the appointment system in the Eastern Jin Dynasty both recognized the privileges of clans.

Because feudal imperial power always had something to protect, there were restrictions on clan privileges, and then it was gradually liberalized. The conflict between imperial power and clan is easing and gradually begins to depend on each other. However, this relaxation does not mean that there is no conflict at all, and dependence does not mean that the two are consistent.

The contradiction between clan and imperial power is mainly reflected in economy, because with the development of clan, this contradiction cannot be eliminated, and it exists more or less. As long as the imperial power is stable enough, the clan is very willing to serve the imperial power. Clans tend to entrust their own interests to the imperial power. After all, they are the main body of this country. Only when the political power is stable can the clan prosper; If the regime is chaotic, the development of the clan will be frustrated.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the society was in turmoil. At that time, the clans not only did not dare to despise the imperial power, but even the ministers rushed to offer their skills, hoping to restore a stable regime. Until the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, although the imperial court existed in name only, Dong Zhuo, who was in power, did not dare to abolish the emperor easily, but reorganized the imperial platform to stabilize the imperial court as soon as possible. When the Han Dynasty really didn't exist, Cao Cao and his gang became independent and grew up independently.

It is precisely because of the support of clan forces to the Han Dynasty that these governors dare not change their surnames easily.

Let's take the Eastern Han Dynasty as an example. Imperial power controls clans. If the imperial power is stable, clan is the support of the imperial power; If the imperial power is unstable, the clan will try to restore the Han Dynasty. If the imperial power has collapsed and there is no way to restore it, then the princes in the world will compete and then produce a new emperor. Moreover, the new emperor must have the support of clan, otherwise, he can't succeed.

Yuan Shao defeated Cao Cao in order to unite some powerful clans and win their support, which led to the subsequent situation. In the chaotic situation, the victors formed a new imperial power, but once this imperial power was stabilized, they could re-establish relations with the clan. The state of Wei established by xelloss is somewhat special, because it was replaced by Sima's family before it was stable.

Obviously, the Sima family also got strong clan support, which led to such a new situation. After the Western Jin Dynasty and Wei Dynasty, although the surname of the emperor changed, the pattern of the country did not change. In a sense, Wei State and the Western Jin Dynasty can be regarded as the same historical stage. Because the ancient chaotic society will definitely experience some fluctuations when it returns to normal order, but it is not necessarily a class change.

Normally, the imperial power is the supreme ruler, and both clan forces and other forces must be controlled by the imperial power. The eunuch dictatorship in the Eastern Han Dynasty was only subordinate to the imperial power, which did not mean that eunuchs had power beyond the imperial power. Imperial power is the most powerful, and others can only gain his power by controlling the emperor and giving orders in his name. However, these are all stealing imperial power, not denying it.

Similar to this phenomenon, there are constant disputes within the imperial court, and those in power seek power for themselves and eradicate dissidents by abolishing the old emperor and re-establishing the new emperor. However, the winner is difficult to maintain, because this power belongs to the emperor and not to others. Noble clans will safeguard the rights and interests of the emperor and crack down on these eunuchs and consorts who snatch power. In this way, the influence of the aristocratic clan will expand.

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the gentry occupied the camp of Sima family in Cao Jiahe, and supported the political status of the two families through academics. When Wei was unified to the Jin Dynasty, these gentry were unified. Under the unified dynasty, the gentry played a greater role, but they could not surpass the power of the ruling Sima family. During the Eight Kings Rebellion, the gentry were only the guests of the princes.

Wang Hong, a famous scholar, helped Sima Yue, king of the East China Sea, govern the Luoyang court. Their combination changed the power structure, and clan forces began to go hand in hand with imperial power.

Since then, imperial power politics has also become a door-to-door politics, which lasted for more than a century.

Si Marui, the prince of the Western Jin Dynasty, did not have the conditions to inherit the throne, because Si Marui had no prestige, strength and credibility among princes. If it weren't for the support of the main clan, he might not be able to gain a foothold in Jiangzuo.

Besides, Si Marui didn't have much support in the royal family, and his relationship with the Western Jin Emperor was very distant.

Because the rulers were still there, Si Marui could only increase his political influence through the support of clan. Moreover, Si Marui not only has the support of the Wang Dao brothers, but also the support of Sima Yue's subordinates, so that he can have enough weight to form a political structure of the gate valve in Jiangzuo. Si Marui needs the support of the Du Nan gentry, and these gentry also need the protection of Si Marui.

In order to avoid the riots of the conference semifinals, these gentry had to choose Du Nan. Moreover, these gentry knew that only by adhering to the orthodoxy of the Jin Dynasty could the family interests be guaranteed. However, the orthodox dynasty in Chang 'an has no legal heir, so they can only look to Si Marui in Jiangzuo, where a new dynasty was born.

Therefore, these gentry sought the protection of Si Marui, and Si Marui also relied on them to obtain the conditions for inheriting the rulers.

Si Marui knows his own advantages and disadvantages. After weighing all this, he decided to wait for the emperor of the Central Plains to be arrested, become king himself, and set out for thieves himself. With the support of the gentry, those ministers will also come together and the great cause will be achieved. However, gentry and imperial power cannot be confused, and they cannot be perfectly integrated. Even the aforementioned relationship between Ms. Wang and Sima Yue is only the relationship between the cremation and the imperial power.

But due to special reasons, this relationship is often in an abnormal state.

The gentry in Du Nan are all people who lost their land and sought shelter. They want to have a place to live and stand firm. Therefore, they must support the Sima dynasty so that it can provide them with shelter, but they don't want the emperor to restrict their freedom. On the side of the Jin and Yuan emperors, they were not only unlikely to be treated warmly by the emperor, but also likely to be restricted in their actions.

Therefore, the stability of the world political order must be the result of some kind of struggle and contest between imperial power and gentry.

I know that the Jin Emperor suppressed the Wang brothers, which led to Wang Dun's collusion with the Wang brothers and rebellion with southerners. Later, Wang Dun launched a rebellion against Liu Kun in the name of eliminating traitors, which was supported by the gentry. Therefore, the interests of the gentry will not be easily violated by the imperial power. Later, Wang Dun rebelled again, attempting to annex Jiang Zuo to replace Sima Jia, but his dream was finally dashed due to the opposition of the gentry.

After all, the imperial power of Sima was supported by the gentry, and no one was allowed to replace it.

History tells us that a stable and balanced political order can be maintained as long as the gentry and the imperial power are willing to work together to rule the world.

Originally, it was only a temporary parallel state between gentry and imperial power, which was accepted by both sides and became the political model of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The ruling Heng Hexie, no matter how powerful, would not dare to destroy this political balance.

Therefore, this kind of politics that goes hand in hand with the imperial power has been maintained without much change.

After the Battle of Feishui, this form changed.

The influence of the gentry can no longer be compared with before, and the regime of the Eastern Jin Dynasty is coming to an end. Emperor Xiao Wu tried to revitalize the imperial power, but the results were not good. After all, the contradiction at that time was more prominent. The door-to-door politics began to collapse, because the Wang family in Taiyuan interfered in the government affairs by virtue of their status as relatives in the harem.

After the death of Emperor Xiaowu, Sima Daozi and Sima Yuan Xian opposed the gate politics, while Wang Gong, Yin Zhongkan and Heng Xuan supported the gate politics. Wang Gong failed to arise, and Heng Xuan occupied Jiankang by annexing Yin Zhongkan's troops, and wiped out Sima Yuan Xian and his son who opposed the gate politics. If Heng Xuan is handled properly, it can revive the politics of gate valve. After all, many gentry not only supported Heng Xuan's restoration of door politics, but also accepted Heng Xuan.

However, Heng Xuan did not take the right path because it destroyed the situation in the world. The gentry also had their own worries, but they did not show them too much. We only know that yangfu objected to Heng Xuan. Yangfu didn't agree with Heng Xuan's usurpation of gold for self-reliance, which was also the aspiration of the gentry, but these gentry didn't dare to show it. In fact, it is Emperor Wu of Song who really has the ability to fight against Heng Xuan.

Now the gentry's attitude towards Heng Xuan is very similar to that of Wang Dun before. In order to prevent Sima Daozi from monopolizing power, the gentry welcomed Heng Xuan into Beijing. The purpose of preventing Heng Xuan from usurping the throne is to maintain the relationship between the gentry and the imperial power of Sima, and to prevent Heng Xuan from annexing Jiangzuo. Jiangzuo gentry used to deal with their relations with Wang Dun in this way, which was the need of political power distribution.

But the difference is that when Wang Dun rebelled again and again, the cremation directly put forward their own opinions and took action to prevent Wang Dun from usurping Jin, which shows the great power of the cremation before. Facing Heng Xuan, the cremation dared not openly oppose his usurpation of Jin, because Heng Xuan was invited by them to oppose Sima Daozi, so the cremation was embarrassed to openly oppose him.

However, Emperor Wu of Song, Heng Xuan's opponent, drove him away, making Heng Xuan's efforts the last struggle of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The gentry who used to make a decisive decision are not so strong now. Later, Emperor Wu of Song restored the ruling order of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, but he was unable to re-establish relations with the gentry. Because the gentry overthrew the Jin Dynasty and established the Southern Dynasty, it was not a one-step process, but a process.

This is the political situation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and its content is nothing more than gate politics that provides conditions for the return of imperial power.