| From Emperor Han Yuan's Jianshi first year (BC 32 year) to Emperor Guangwu's Jianwu Zhongyuan last year (AD 57 year) between the two Han Dynasty,it can be regarded as a time when there are four orders transformed in the country,things and emperor changed rapidly,and the figures pour forth in that period. The Han Dynasty is a theocratic era, which has been shrouded in destiny and orthodox,under the atmosphere of divination and acceptance of fate again. The distribution of divination theory in Han Dynasty has a strong regional characteristics,with the Five Elements Circulation Theory of Yin-Yang specialist as the core,mixture with Five elements cycle theory from northern Yan and Qi alchemist, and the heaven human induction theory from Zhao and Han Confucian scholars, and the sorcery and ghost traditional from Southern Chu culture, and the mysticism of Ba and Shu culture.These four main sources have made the Henan,Hebei, Shandong, Sichuan, Hunan, Hubei become the most popular areas between the two Han Dynasty,therefore Wang Mang and Liu Xiu become the master of the divination theology specialists during the two Han Dynasty.During the late Western Han Dynasty,between the Emperor Han Cheng and Emperor Han Ai period,there have been many natural disasters phenomenon, which has caused the thoughts of accepting of fate again by Gan Zhongke, Xia Heliang gradually on the rise, and also caused many eschatological belief crisis. Under such a trend,the Five elements cycle theory established by Zou Yan and Dong Zhongshu gradually subvert, and the "Han Emperor is the god of the south" theory by Liu Xiang and Liu Xin has become popular. Faced with frequent natural disasters and crisis of faith, Sui Hong, Lu Wen Shu,Gu Yong, Bao Xuan and many other scholar officials came out and put forward their own views on salvation, but it did not save the political crisis of the Western Han Dynasty at all.After the perdition of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang's Xin Dynasty tried to inherite the orthodox from the Han Dynasty based on the theory of "81 mishap, and 106 catastrophe",claiming to be "the generations of emperor Shun"to augury and conform to his throne, and has carried on the reform under the cover of antiquity and made an ancient system of finishing, which directly led to the Zhen Feng and Liu Xin in the event of rebellion,at the same time Greenwood and red eyebrow peasant uprising against him.After the perdition of the Xin dynasty, Wang Lang, Wei Ao, Dou Rong, Liuyang, both of them put forward his divination and orthodox thought,The White emperor Gong Sunshu even launched a debate about the theory of divination with Liu Xiu. However, these regimes transformation and reconstruction of divination eventually ended in failure.Emperor Guangwu finally held the people and unified the world ,and eventually established the Eastern Han Dynasty mainly depending on "Riverside Red Book of Prophecy" and Twenty-eight star generals.After Emperor Guangwu came into power, in the ideological field,he published the augury to the whole country and announced Dong Han Dynasty to be the Fire element,and went to Mount Tai to hold the Sacrificial Ceremony, put the Empress Dowager Bo in the ancestral shrine,which effectively made the theory of divination become official, therefore the "Han Emperor is the god of the south" theory was reestablished,which led to the Guangwu Rejuvenate. "The Argument of Destiny of King" written by Ban Biao is the master of divination theory in the early Eastern Han Dynasty. However, Zheng Xing, Huan Tan, Yinmin and so on launched a sharp criticism toward the Emperor Guangwu focusing on the divination and superstition ,which flashed naive materialism atheism spark.The divination and acceptance of fate again appeared between the two Han Dynasty is not accidental,but it has many causes. It includes the frequent calamity and suspicious sign,and scholars' choices from disgust to support the Han Dynasty,and rulers' using augury as a tool, and the drive by the mystic alchemist and Confucian scholars. Between the two Han Dynasty,the divination and acceptance of fate again have participated in the various aspects of the regime change, throne inheritance, the peasant uprising,warlordism, natural disasters, astronomic calendar, sacrificial ceremony, and religious culture, which also has produced far-reaching influence for future generations. It has broken the dynasty myth, become the theoretical weapon for every ruler to change the regime; has a profound impact on the theocracy from the Han Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty;it also promote the communication and contention about the study of Confucian classics in the Han Dynasty; it also leads to the Confucian scholars' research and criticism of the theory of divination after the Eastern Han Dynasty, and it promotes the progress and popularization of the astronomical calendar at last. |
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