Intellectuals In The Early Han Dynasty And The Grandly-unified Polity

This thesis mainly analyzes the intellectuals' political practice and their coping strategies during the process of polity transformation from governing by inaction and noninterference to grand unification and despotism in the early Han Dynasty. This thesis, on the basis of achieved studies, takes Jia Yi and Chao Cuo's political theory and practice as examples, attempting to do further interpretation on their personal experience from the aspect of intellectual community's change, which reveals their typical significance to all intellectuals of the Han Dynasty in adjusting themselves to grandly-unified autocratic polity.The thesis can be devided into four chapters. The first chapter narrates the development of grandly-unified autocratic polity. The main features of this polity is that power is centralized from all regions to political center, then totally controlled by the emperor himself. The accomplishment of this process depends on weakening the power of princes and dukes, and compressing the power of regional plutocrats, and effectively controlling the bureaucratic system. Although emperors of every dynasty have taken different measures, the basic spirit exsisting in these actions is consistent. This process begins in the early Han Dynasty when the principal frame of theory and practice is also finished, and it greatly influences the intellectuals' political practice and their choices.The second chapter interprets the coping strategies these intellectuals initiatively or passively adopts in this process. On the one hand, this process brings rare opportunities for the intellectuals while their personal development is strictly restrained by the inactive and no interferential political environment. But on the other hand, this polity also limits and suppresses their independent and free spirit, So the intellectuals have to accustom themselves in the aspects of knowledge, psychology and so on in order to be better adaptive to this polity. Thus their identity converts from a lobbying scholar in the Warring States to an intellectual in the Han Dynasty.The third chapter studies Jia Yi's political theory and practice. Jia Yi zealously advocates positive and active political thoughts that calls for weakening the power of princes,dukes and heroes group, and establishes an orderly social hierarchy, which coincides with Emperor Wen Di's intentions to consolidate his position and strengthen the unified power, so Jia Yi obtains Emperor Wen Di's credence for one time. However, he still holds some self expectations of being emperor's teacher or friend, and maintains a very strong personal style of lobbying scholar in Warring States, so couldn't be sincerely trusted by Emperor Wen Di or the public, and this is the essential reason why he is vilified by the public and eventually abandoned by the Emperor.The fourth chapter mainly discusses Chao Cuo's experience. Compared with Jia Yi and other intellectuals, he understands the true meaning of autocracy, so he adjusts himself, and utmostly gives up his independent spirit and free individuality of an intellectual, and sets up an unsteady relationship of attachment to the imperial power,.It was just this relationship that directly engenders his personal tragedy.. This chapter also analyzes a gaming,about an education problem of the Prince.This gaming, in which Jia Yi, Chao Cuo, and many other chancellors are involved, ends up with Chao Cuo being appointed the Prince's chief housekeeper, and Zhang Xiangru the Prince's teacher. This matter reflects Emperor Wen Di's efforts to strengthen autocratic power and balance all political forces, and at the same time it demonstrated the complexity of the environment where the intellectuals confronted in the early Han Dynasty...