The Rise And Fall Of Chu Clique In The Political Situation Of Late Ming Dynasty

The late Ming was a period of fierce clique struggle in Chinese history.Since the Wanli period,the rise of the Donglin Clique,the Zhe Clique,the Qi Clique,the Chu Clique,and the Eunuch Clique have had a profound impact on the political situation of the Late Ming Dynasty.Past researchers have paid more attention to the Donglin Clique and the Eunuch Clique,while the Clique who are on the opposite side of Donglin,such as Qi,Chu,Zhe,Kun and Xuan,have less research.This article attempts to discuss the rise and fall of the Chu Clique in the political situation of late Ming Dynasty,including its position,struggle process,and historical merits and demerits.In the political situation of late Ming Dynasty,the Chu Clique appeared as an anti-Donglin Clique.In fact,the Chu Clique experienced three stages :attached to Donglin,opposite to Donglin and cooperate with Donglin.The Chu Zong case,the Xinhai Jingcha,and the Fengjiang case all had impacts that could not be ignored.This article attempts to outline the development process of the Chu Clique from germination to decline,and explore the Chu Clique’s political stance and its impact on the political situation of the late Ming Dynasty.This article mainly discusses from the following six aspects:The first chapter is the definition and background of Chu Clique.It mainly discusses the connotation of the Chu Clique in detail and defines the specific members of the Chu Clique.It also analyzes the political background that gave birth to the Chu Clique,including the huge number of jinshi and the influence of Zhang Juzheng’s reform group.The second chapter is the germination of the Chu Clique.Mainly centered on the central figure formed by the Chu Clique,Guo Zhengyu,discussed the emergence of the Chu Clique in the 30 th year of the Wanli(1602)Chu Zong case and the Yao Shu case,and analyzed Guo Zhengyu’s fight against the Chu people and the Clique after the two cases.The resulting impact included the Chu riots caused by the Chu people’s attachment to Donglin and the Chu Zong case.The third chapter is the formation of the Chu Clique.It mainly discusses the process of the formation of the Chu Clique around the thirty-nine years of Wanli(1611).A series of activities before the Jing Cha,including Duan Ran and Liu Chengxi,exemplified the contradiction between the Chu people and Donglin.What happened in Jingcha further exacerbated this contradiction,thus prompting the Chu people to form the Chu Clique to contend with Donglin.After the formation of the Chu Clique,they began to cooperate with the parties of Qi and Zhe to crack down on the Donglin Clique.The fourth chapter is the Chu Party’s establishment.Discusses the political activities and suggestions of the Chu Clique in the court in the later period of Wanli from three aspects.The Chu Clique vigorously recommends the Chu people and excludes Donglin politically;militaryly consolidates the eastern border of Liaoning and raises military pay;on the social atmosphere,criticizes the phenomenon that students form a party and calls for reform of the local school system.The fifth chapter is the decline of the Chu Clique.Discuss the decline of the Chu Clique in Taichang and Tianqi.In the Taichang dynasty,the Chu Clique had conflicts with the cliques of Qi and Zhe,and then cooperated with Donglin,actively using Donglin officials to jointly guard Liaodong.However,the radicals within Donglin prevailed and began to attack members of the Chu Clique with old complaints.The Chu Clique also disagreed with Donglin on the issue of war defense in Liaodong.With the rise of the eunuch Clique,the Chu Clique was attacked by Donglin and the eunuch,and it quickly declined.The sixth chapter is the Chu Clique’s merits and demerits.It mainly discusses the nature,position,influence on the political situation of the late Ming Dynasty and historical merits and demerits of the Chu Clique.The essence of the Chu Clique is a clique rather than a political party.Its members are mainly composed of Kedao officials,and form a clique around the minister of Huguang who is in power.The Chu Clique’s position in the political situation of the late Ming Dynasty was to support the eldest son in the Legislature Reserve,support the reduction of Zhuang Tian in the Zong Fan,and oppose the tax supervisory exploitation on the mineral tax.In the late Ming Dynasty,the Chu Clique showed its obvious characteristics which promoted the intensification of the party struggle,and its development process also reflected the development process of the cabinet disputes since Wanli.The merits of the Chu Clique include contributions in guarding the frontier and political innovation.Finally,the conclusion summarizes the overall situation of the Chu Clique.The nature of the Chu Clique is a clique;the development of the Chu Party has experienced a budding period,a formation period and a decline period;The Chu Clique’s fault was to intensify the clique disputes in the late Ming Dynasty,and the Chu Clique’s contribution was to make its own contribution to border security and political innovation.The study of the Chu Clique in this article highlights the uniqueness of the Chu Clique in the clique of late Ming,that is its multiple changes of position.Most of the past research on the influence of the Chu Clique on the political situation in the late Ming Dynasty was from a negative perspective.This article finds that the contributions of the members of the Chu Clique cannot be underestimated,especially in the maintenance of the frontier.This can inspire us to get rid of the past From the perspective of Donglin,the anti-Donglin factions like the Chu Clique and the late Ming clique’s struggles were observed from multiple angles.