The Relations Between The Landlord Class And State In Han Dynasty

The Han Dynasty was the formation, consolidation and the established period of the ancientChinese feudal society. During this period, the landlord class also shaped its original typical form.It could be roughly divided into five types: the aristocratic landowners, bureaucratic landlords,despotic landlords, industrial and commercial landlords, middle and lower landlords. The smallpeasant economy was the economic base for the existence of feudal state. The excessivedevelopment of the landlord economy would cause a serious imbalance in the internal relations ofthe small-scale peasant economy and shake the economic foundation of the feudal state, resultingin instability and turbulence of the feudal state. Therefore, there were both close contact andstruggle between the landlords and the feudal state. Unfortunately almost all of the academicresearches tended to focus on the former point while ignoring the latter. For the maintenance ofstate rule, feudal state took special policies to combat and limit the abnormal expansion of thelandlord class. In order to obtain the maximization of the interests, the landlord class conductedgame with the feudal state. With the development of history, the balance of power betweenlandlords and the feudal state often shifted from one to the other and the struggle situation wereconstantly changing. The policy adjustment of the feudal state affected the development of thelandlord class. In turn the development of the landlord class similarly had an important impact onthe development and changes of the feudal state. During the 400 years of the Han Dynasty, thestatus of the various types of landowners constantly changed in the state power. Western Handynasty is pioneered by a group of commoner farmers. Then these commoner founding fathersbecame military aristocratic landowners. For their contributions to the establishment of theWestern Han Dynasty, they naturally became the administrators of the Western Han Dynasty, withthe dominance status. The founding emperor Liu Bang of the Han dynasty sealed imperial clanchildren as princes. The imperial clan of aristocratic landowners was also in the dominant status.Military aristocratic landowners gradually declined as time went by. The imperial clan ofaristocratic landowners was also heavily struck under“the Great Unified Policy”of the country.As the concentration of state power, the bureaucracy landlords who held senior positions in thegovernment began to play a dominant role. These bureaucratic landlords became the assistant ofthe emperor to strengthen the imperial power. The despotic landlords, industrial and commerciallandlords, middle and lower landlords had been in the non-dominance status all through theWestern Han Dynasty. The government repeatedly moved the despotic landlords, industrial andcommercial landlords in other places to Guanzhong district in order to control and use them. Middle and lower landlords had neither a strong political power, nor tremendous economicadvantages. They had to rely on their hard business. When the new dynasty replaced the WesternHan Dynasty, a series of reforms were performed. But these reform measures damaged theinterests of the majority of landlords. These measures aroused strong oppositions from thelandlord class. After the outbreak of the peasant uprising, the landlord class also joined the teamagainst the dynasty. The dynasty collapsed rapidly under the double blows of the army of uprisingpeasants and the armed landowners. Despotic landlord groups made up of a number of biglandlords and big merchants rose in the war. They established the Eastern Han dynasty in thecompetition with the factions of military blocs. The pioneers of the Eastern Han Dynasty were agroup of despotic landlords. The founding emperor Liu Xiu also came from a family of biglandlord and chief businessman. Under such circumstances, the power of the despotic landlordsgot development. In the granges of despotic landlords, there were large tracts of land andnumerous attached persons, as well as a private army to protect their granges. In order to avoidstate taxes, despotic landlords tended to conceal their own land and the number of dependentpopulation, which had a bad influence on government revenue. In order to increase revenue, thegovernment implemented the policy of the inventory of land and household, but let the matter restbecause of the strong opposition of the despotic landlords. Since then, the government had beenunable to constrain the despotic landlords. The despotic landlords further developed. Part of thedespotic landlords entered the government and took official positions. The development andgrowth of the despotic landlords weakened the government controlling force.“The YellowTurban”uprising in late Eastern Han Dynasty gave a heavy blow to the central government.Cooperating with local governments, the despotic landlord groups all around took the opportunityto ride the wave. The gun separatist situation eventually formed across the whole country. In thestruggle and the game between the state power of Han Dynasty and the landlord class, thelandlords ultimately prevailed. To the period of Wei and Jin Dynasties, the development of part ofthe powerful despotic landlord class, the patriarch system thus formed. The system had a profoundimpact on the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties for centuries.