Studies On The Exile And Demotion Policy In Hainan

In ancient China, exile was considered the most important punishment next to death penalty for criminal crimes, while for the officials having committed some crimes, demotion was the most serious punishment. Hence, an exilic culture was formed with the combination of exile and demotion.Hainan, a place in the south of the Five Ridges, was one of the major places of exile in Tang and Song Dynasty for its remote geographic position and hard living conditions. In Tang and Song Dynasty, large numbers of the officials were exiled and demoted there, such as Li Deyu in Tang Dynasty, Su Shi in Song Dynasty. While suffering hard punishment there, these officials had made great progress for Hainan——the development of the economy and culture of an exilic place. From then on, a wild place had gone on the way of civilization.The thesis consists of an introduction and four chapters. In the introduction, the significance of choosing the subject, the previous researches, the methodology employed in this thesis, especially the origins of exile and demotion policy are illustrated. This part is a basis of the body of the thesis.The body of the thesis is composed of three sections. In the first section, which is also the first chapter of the thesis, through introducing the purposes of exile and demotion, the reasons of choosing Hainan——a place at the end of the earth, as the exilic place in Tang and Song Dynasty are explained and the brief exilic history of Hainan, a major exilic place are also stated.The second and the third chapters make up the second section, which is also the core of the thesis. The exilic situations of Hainan in Tang Dynasty are described in detail in the second chapter and that of Song dynasty are described in the third chapter. In this section, through the rules and regulations of exile in Tang and Song Dynasty, the investigations on the exilic routes for the officials as well as the analysis of the representative exilic example——Su Dongpo, the hardships experienced by the criminal officials because of the exile and demotion policy are reflected. On the other hand, these facts also show that although a wild place, to some degree, Hainan was also a Paradise for the exiled and demoted persons for they not only suffered there but cultivated there.Chapter three is the third section of the thesis, which mainly illustrates the exiled and demoted persons'influences on Hainan. The ultimate purpose of this chapter is to show that the culture of Hainan is, actually, a culture of exile and demotion with its origin being the exile and demotion policy in ancient China. To the criminals, exile and demotion is a punishment, but enlightenment to the development for Hainan.