A Probe Into The Thought And Practice Of The Grass-roots Social Construction Of Scholar-officials In The Song Dynasty

The influence of the basic community in the Song Dynasty changed greatly compared with the former dynasties.Aristocrats that evolved during the Wei,Jin,Sui and Tang dynasties perished because of wars in the late Tang and Five Dynasties,and were replaced by the clan of scholar bureaucrats which was rising owing to the imperial examination system.Because of the social disorder and demoralization in the Five and early Song Dynasties,they put forward the reconstruction of the clan in the basic community,and limited everyone to the patriarchal relationship in order to achieve the ideal condition of Confucian that included cultivating oneself,regulating a family,making a state orderly and getting the world peaceful.The efforts of scholar bureaucrats were not only in conscious activities,but also in all aspects of social practices,forming a characteristic scholar bureaucratic clan.They established ancestral shrines,restored ancestor sacrifices and strengthened the worship of blood relations;They compiled the family trees,and personal revisions of family trees began to prevail,so everyone knew where they came from;They set up the clan public property of fields for reliefs,sacrifices and education,and undertook the internal public activities and relief duties;By all means,they developed education,supported the imperial examination and make more officials in order to strengthen the clan and dedicate to the country.The all kinds of clan constructions of scholar bureaucrats embody the dependency characteristics of clan to royalty.In addition to the efforts of the scholar bureaucrats' practices in the aspect of the clan in the basic community,the reforms of the administrative system of the basic community which led by Wang Anshi in the middle Northern Song Dynasty-----the promotion of Baojia Law ended with failure,but the confrontation between the Confucianism and the Legalists thinkers provided more mixed choices for the organization of the official basic community.“Lv's rural agreement” which derived from Baojia Law had not only functions of educating the villagers,but also the functions of managements,rewards and punishments,and was a precedent for the autonomy of ancient Chinese villagers.Although the system of rural agreement in the Song Dynasty was limited to time and range,it was a good example for the villages of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and even today's basic community autonomy.Three parties---the clan,Baojia and the rural agreement affected and promoted each other,which made contributions to the orderly and fine operation of the basic community in the Song Dynasty.