Scholars And Politics In The Early Eastern Han Dynasty

The early Eastern Han Dynasty mainly included the Emperor Guangwu,Emperor Ming,and Emperor Zhang dynasties.The scholars active in the three dynasties can be divided into two generations:the old generation of scholars grew up in in the period between the two Han dynasties and was active in the Guangwu Dynasty;the new generation of scholars grew up in the Guangwu period and was active in in the Emperor Ming and Emperor Zhang Dynasties.Through the interaction with the monarch,these two generations of scholars played a unique influence and played a very important role in the political process of the early Eastern Han Dynasty.During the period between the two Han dynasties,the political situation was turbulent.After the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty by Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu,the older generation of scholars gradually gathered in Luoyang from all quarters,rebuilt the academic center in Luoyang,and influenced the country’s political development in the running-in with Liu Xiu.Tuchen scholars attached Liu Xiu to the Gaozu Liu Bang to promote his destiny;the Guxue scholars from the old academic center asked to learn from the experience of the Western Han Emperor Wen’s magnanimous rule;Liu Xiu had all absorbed this,but because of his own preference for official governance,he yearned for Emperor Xuan Emperor of the Western Han Dynasty.As a result,the unique "Government of Jianwu" was formed in the process of governing the country.Some scholars expressed dissatisfaction with Liu Xiu’s rule,but Liu Xiu suppressed it.In his later years,Liu Xiu had a new idea,hoping to improve the historical status of the Han Dynasties and compare the Han Dynasties to SanDai.So Liu Xiu took a series of measures such as replacing the crown prince and Fengshan to carry out this cause.The Guangwu era is the growth period of a new generation of scholars,and Liu Xiu’s rule has an important influence on the new generation of scholars.A new generation of scholars are full of faith in the rule of the Han.They inherited and created academia in Luoyang,and promoted the academic prosperity of the Eastern Han Dynasty.During the reign of Emperor Ming,a new generation of scholars centered on Emperor Ming and completed the recollection and historical positioning of the Jianwu era.Emperor Ming’s rule continued and developed Liu Xiu’s career,and guided scholars to shape the understanding of "Sage Han" and "Sage King".When Emperor Zhang was reigning,he is interested in literary work and scholars of essays played the role of embellishing the rule of the Han Dynasty.Emperor Zhang pursued the goal of "harmony"and proved the realization of "harmony" by changing the reign title to make up for the insufficiency of Emperor Ming’s rule,and completed the "Sacred cause" by using rituals and music.The two generations of scholars in the early Eastern Han dynasty inherited the past academically and laid the academic foundation of the Eastern Han dynasty.They interacted with the monarch politically and completed the sacred cause of the Han dynasty.They then shaped the spiritual belief that praised the rule of the Han dynasty.It is worthy of attention and research.