Status Endogamy: One Of The Reasons Causes The Decline Of Hereditary Scholar Class Of Wang And Xie And Powerful Family Politics In The Eastern Jin Dynasty

The Eastern Jin Dynasty is the most special one in politics in China long feudal dictatorship society, it displays is not imperial authority politics, but is "powerful family politics". This political performance in: "the hereditary scholar class governs with the imperial authority together; it even dominates above the imperial authority". This kind of unusual powerful family politics phenomenon passed through the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and moved towards the decline as the demise of Eastern Jin Dynasty. This kind of unique phenomenon has attracted the numerous historian's vision. Then what kind of reasons cause the heyday powerful family politics declined gradually in the Eastern Jin Dynasty?Regarding this question, the scholars always illustrate it from politics, the economy, and the military. They think there are several important reasons, including the impoverished scholars' rising, the impact of peasant revolt, the change of powerful family hereditary scholar class's political status and the promotion of imperial authority. It is indeed. This article, however, believed that it can get the deeper level reason from the phenomenon of "the status endogamy".In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the hereditary scholar class of Wang and Xie strictly implements "the status endogamy" gradually for the family status consolidation, the monopoly of right and wealth, and the expansion of family influence. This system has laid down the disaster for the decline of powerful family political system while has accomplished the extreme magnificent of hereditary scholar class. This kind of marriage system causes the massive close relative marriage and the different generation of marriage inevitably, thus has brought the serious results which the heredity withers, and then causes population quality of family member drops gradually, the appearance of "not senior official, not pretty" caused the decline of the hereditary scholar class's influence day after day, and this has made the opportunity to the promotion of imperial authority and the impoverished scholars' rising, illustrates the fatal impact to the hereditary scholar class of Wang and Xie and powerful family system of Eastern Jin Dynasty that was brought by the population quantity and quality drop as the heredity atrophy with "the status endogamy".