Confucianism Spread Of The Han, Wei And Six Dynasties Culture Change

Since the Martial emperor of Han Wu Di (汉武帝)carried out the culture policyof Du zun ru shu (Only reveres the Confucianism,独尊儒术), Confucianism,integrated with the politics, are diffused quickly through different channels such asnational or private education systems, proclamation and popularization of zhao shu(imperial decrees,诏书) and laws, qian shi xun xing ( perambulation of imperialenvoys,遣使循行), government's promotion of Confucian values, etc. The emperorsof Eastern Han Dynasty, most of whom received the relatively systematic education ofConfucianism, impelled the advocation of Confucianism and boosted theConfucianization of the upper class. During this period, Confucianism spread in twodimensions: from upper class to lower class, and from several core areas to moreexpansive coverage. The extension caused homogeneity of Eastern Han Dynastysociety in that Confucian values gradually became common social values. Hence, thetraditional notion of social values was generally established in ancient China. FromEastern Han Dynasty to Sui Dynasty, China was stuck in war and separation. At thesame time, ideological framework happened to transform in this changing society.Confucianism, though impacted, was still advocated by each newly-foundedgovernment which took preferentially measures to consolidate and improve the statusof Confucianism. In Three Kingdoms and Two Jin Dynasty, local residents of zhongyuan (Central Plains of China,中原) migrated to surrounding regions because ofwars. These migration provided an opportunity for the Confucianism's diffusion,especially in southern China. The migration southward of Eastern Jin government andnorthern population led to great progress of south China. With the development ofsouthern china's culture and the increasing number of Confucian scholars in EasternJin Dynasty and Southern Dynasties, three Confucian developed cultural regions, thatis, Jiankang and Wukuai district (建康吴会地区), Xunyang and Yuzhang district (寻阳豫章地区),Jiangling and Changsha district (江陵长沙地区), were formed, andsome Confucian cultural centers appeared, for instance, Jiankang (建康), Kuaiji (会稽), Wujun (吴郡), Xunyang (寻阳), Nanjun (南郡), Jiangxia (江夏), Changsha(长沙), etc. The formation of these three Confucian cultural regions was closelyrelated with migration's scale and routes, and special political situation betweenJingzhou (荆州) and Yangzhou (扬州) at the point of North and South's division and economic development in southern China. Based on three developed Confuciancultural regions, Confucianism in Eastern Jin and Southern Dynasties continued toreach out westward and southward, enhancing Confucian culture's development ofNanhai(南海) and Jiaozhi (交趾) in Ling'nan (岭南)and accelerating Confucianculture's growth in Jian'ning (建宁) and Jin'an (晋安) in Fujian province (福建省)today. With efforts of Confucian officials called xun li (循吏) and most Confucianscholars, because of Confucianism's political and cultural function, confucian cultureexpanded in Confucian cultural regions, and simultaneously it's spiritual values alsospread into the public. The diffusion southward of Confucianism caused the culturechange of local society. Jiangdong clan (江东大族), particularly native force insouthern areas, grew up in politics, economy and culture, and stepped onto thehistorical stage. Most native population have common cultural identity with Hannationality. The cultural frontier of Han people moved southward tremendously anditself even more expanded.