Author: Ma Haifeng
In recent years, touching stories of Kanggan's prosperous times frequently appear on the screens of film and television dramas. The story is gripping, spectacular and even fascinating, which has aroused the audience's extensive interest and attention for a time. At the same time, it also causes us to think: how to correctly and objectively evaluate the prosperity of Kanggan in history? What enlightenment can it get from our ongoing socialist modernization?
1. To what extent can a society be called a prosperous time? Why is there a saying that kanggan is prosperous?
Prosperity is a complex that China people can't understand. It is a specific historical stage in China's social development, and a period of long-term prosperity. Generally speaking, there are several prosperous times in the history of China: the governance of cultural scenes in the Western Han Dynasty, the revival of martial arts in the Eastern Han Dynasty, the governance of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, and the prosperity of Kaiyuan and Kanggan in the Qing Dynasty. The term "kanggan prosperous time" has a long history, and is sometimes called "Kang Yong prosperous time". The Qing Dynasty (1644-191year) existed for 268 years, and there were always ten emperors, among whom Kangxi, who ranked second, third and fourth, reigned for 6 1 year and Yongzheng 13 year. During this period (1661-1721), the political, economic and cultural aspects of China society pushed the traditional society of China to a new peak within the original institutional framework, creating a miracle in the history of China.
2. What are the major achievements of Kanggan Shengshi?
1, consolidating a unified multi-ethnic country
National unity is the highest basic principle in China's history. However, before the Qing dynasty, the issue of reunification, especially the relationship between the local governments of border ethnic minorities and the central government of the Central Plains, has not been effectively solved for a long time. Like the nomadic people in the north, they unified Mobei from Mao Dun, that is, they established a relatively unified political organization in the Mongolian Plateau to compete with the Central Plains. The Yuan Dynasty was united all over the country, but it was soon overthrown, and the Ming Dynasty had to build the Great Wall to defend Mongolia. It was only in the Qing Dynasty that the whole country was completely unified, and Kanggan reached the peak of prosperity, the so-called "heyday", the heyday. Wang Mingsheng, a famous scholar, praised the Qing court in "Pingding Junggar Fu": "Heaven is sacred and Liuhe is harmonious; Tifu, Yuhuan family at home and abroad. Words are in shortage and sound education is in the distance ",which is a vivid description of this prosperity. "This period basically laid the border of China, which was very important for the Chinese nation to resist the invasion of foreign powers in the Qing Dynasty and even in modern times. In this respect, the emperors Kangxi, Yongzheng and Qianlong did make great contributions to the consolidation of a unified multi-ethnic country. For example, Emperor Kangxi: pacified San Francisco, pacified the rebellion in galdan, Mongolia, and sent Shi Lang to Taiwan Province Province to set up the Taiwan Province government, which promoted the development of Taiwan Province Province and consolidated the coastal defense of the motherland; Conferring the Panchen Lama, the Tibetan religious leader, and stipulating the conferring system; He fought against Russia twice, organized the Battle of Kesa, and signed the Treaty of Nebuchadnezzar, which legally defined the territory east of Heilongjiang and Wusuli rivers as the territory of China. Yongzheng: In Tibet, the policy of "land belongs to the motherland" was implemented, the management of the southwest region was strengthened, and the minister stationed in Tibet was established. Emperor Qianlong: The rebellion of Hezhuo and Sichuan Tusi was pacified, and he returned to the Turkic Ministry for warm reception and resettlement, and was managed by General Yili.
Economically, after more than two thousand years of development since Qin and Han Dynasties, the Chinese nation has achieved the highest achievement in history.
From the agricultural point of view, the population and cultivated land area at that time far exceeded the previous historical period. According to statistics, in the 24th year of Kangxi (1685), there were 600 million mu of cultivated land in China. During the Qianlong period (1799), the cultivated land in China was about/kloc-0.05 million mu, and the grain output increased rapidly to 204 billion Jin. Barrow, who came to China with Ambassador Magalny at that time, estimated that the grain harvest rate in China was higher than that in Britain. "The wheat harvest rate is 15: 1, while Britain, which ranks first in Europe, is 10: 1." (Proceedings of the Bicentenary Seminar of Chinese and British Ambassadors, 188, Ambassador to China) China's total crop output ranks first in the world. The population increased from about10.50 billion around/kloc-0.700 to about 310.30 billion in10.94 (59 years of Qianlong), accounting for13 of the world's 900 million people.
Foreign trade has increased substantially. The main export commodities are tea, silk and homespun, especially tea. /kloc-At the end of the 8th century, the British East India Company purchased tea from China every year, with an average value of 4 million taels of silver. The total value of the main commodities (woolen goods, metals and cotton) shipped to China by British car dealers is not enough to offset the tea shipped from China. In order to balance the trade balance, British businessmen had to transport a lot of silver to China. During the reign of Emperor Kangxi, the positive tariff levied by the Qing Dynasty was 43,000 taels of silver, which actually exceeded the "positive tariff". In the long run, the annual "surplus" (that is, the excess) has reached 852,000, which is more than 20 times of the positive tariff set in the Kangxi period. It was to balance the trade deficit with China that Britain brought a lot of opium into China and launched a vicious opium war. In addition, China's urban handicrafts have reached a high standard.
3. The epitomization of academic culture is the remarkable feature of China culture in Kanggan period.
The research and arrangement of ancient books in Kanggan period covered a wide range, including Confucian classics, history, astronomy, ancient calculations, geography, agriculture and medicine, which showed the profoundness of China's traditional culture in a wider scope. Of course, the most important and representative achievement in the collation of ancient books is the well-known Sikuquanshu, which completely transcribes China's important ancient books and records, and classifies them into four parts and forty-four categories in the subset of classics and history, with a vast and all-encompassing content, which can be said to be the confluence of China's traditional academic culture. At the same time, at the beginning of18th century, under the auspices of Kangxi, the Qing court undertook two huge scientific projects. One is the origin of calendar (17 13- 1722), which introduces Chinese and western music, musical instrument manufacturing, astronomical calendar, western mathematics, China arithmetic and other theories; The other is to draw the first detailed map of China with modern scientific methods (1708- 17 19).
Third, what factors contributed to the prosperity of Kanggan?
First, the political situation is stable. During the reign of Kang Yong, since the pacification of San Francisco, there was no war in the Central Plains, no war at home and no large-scale social destruction. Therefore, social stability and rapid economic development. Secondly, as far as external conditions are concerned, China was rich in products at that time, and it was often outstanding at that time. Western countries are short of commodities, so they can only exchange silver for China's products, so there will be a large amount of silver flowing into China. According to the book Silver Capital, the total output of silver in the world is 6,543,800+200,000 tons, of which about half of 60,000 tons have flowed into China. This will greatly stimulate the economic development of China. Area planting is the fourth. American corn, peanuts and sweet potatoes were introduced to China in the Ming Dynasty, but they were not widely planted in the Ming Dynasty. A large number of high-yield crops were popularized in Qing Dynasty.
In addition, the three generations of emperors made great efforts, worked diligently and wisely, adjusted their ruling policies, and adopted a series of measures to promote productivity, such as changing farmland to help cultivate farmland and implementing fixed grain taxes during the reign of Kangxi. During Yongzheng period, the poll tax was abolished, which relaxed the feudal state's personal control over farmers and promoted the development of productive forces.
4. What kind of crisis is hidden behind the prosperity of Kanggan in the same period of the world?
17- 18 century: A Comparison of Social Conditions between China and the West
China
Western countries
politically
The absolute monarchy was strengthened unprecedentedly, and the military department was established.
The bourgeois revolution in Britain, France and the United States established the capitalist system.
Reform of feudal countries in western Europe
economically
Capitalism in China is developing slowly.
Attach importance to agriculture and restrain business.
Workshop handicrafts developed capitalism.
mercantile system
Start the industrial revolution
Thought culture
Advocate Zhu Cheng's Neo-Confucianism.
Daxing literary inquisition
From Renaissance to Enlightenment
The Rise of Natural Science (Newton's Three Laws)
External communication
Close the door and dream of going to China.
Open overseas colonies and encourage foreign trade.
It can be seen that under such a prosperous time, the rule of the Qing Dynasty implied a serious crisis. At that time, the world has shown a trend of industrialization, and human society is undergoing unprecedented changes. How to deal with this historical change is a severe choice for all countries. The rulers of the Qing Dynasty knew nothing about this and continued to dream of China as a powerful country. On the other hand, the harsh autocratic policy in ideology and culture completely stifled the ideological vitality of the people of China. During the reign of Kang Yong, literary inquisitions appeared frequently, and the absolute monarchy was strengthened unprecedentedly in politics. Due to the lack of power constraints, political clarity has become increasingly difficult to maintain, and even a corrupt king like Xiao Shenyang has emerged. In addition, in terms of foreign relations, the Qing dynasty implemented the policy of "closing the door to the outside world" and adopted the attitude of attaching importance to agriculture, restraining commerce and ignoring reason economically, so the Qing dynasty fell into a complacent situation. The prosperous period under Kang Yong was only the dawn of China's traditional autocratic society, but it did not open up any new road on the road of modernization. /kloc-After the 8th century, the western world experienced sustained and high-speed economic and social development, while China fell into poverty, backwardness and long-term crisis.
In a word, the so-called prosperous time is not all-round development, but strong in some aspects, especially in developing economy and culture, consolidating national unity, strengthening national unity and developing frontier areas, and its policies and measures are worth learning. However, in the rolling wave of the development of world capitalism, it has become a laggard of an era and paid a heavy price for the country and the nation. Therefore, we should not overestimate the prosperity of Kanggan, but compare it with the world environment, gain benefits from it, and strive to meet the prosperity of modernization in the new era.