| Some Confucians were asked by Emperor Zhang of Han to discuss the differences of the Five Classics in the palace named Bai Hu in 79 A.D. Emperor Zhang of Han would make conclusions by himself if the Confucians could not reach a consensus. The conclusions were written in the book named Bai Hu Tong. Bai Hu Tong was written on the basis of the discussions of Confucians and Emperor Zhang of Han. It could be regarded as the guiding ideology of the Han dynasty and the common sense of Confucians. We could know the Han dynasty and Bai Hu Tong better if we compared the political thoughts in Bai Hu Tong and the political practices of the Han dynasty.This paper consists of three parts which are introduction, Bai Hu Tong and its times, the relations of Bai Hu Tong and the history of the Han dynasty. The first part introduces the literature review and research situation of Bai Hu Tong and mainly points out a mistake of some scholars that Bai Hu Tong was not taken seriously until the Qing dynasty. The second part introduces the background and progress of the meeting, the written of Bai Hu Tong and its influences. Bai Hu Tong has more connects with the New Text School rather than the Old Text School. Bai Hu Tong was greatly affected by Wang Mang who was neglected for many years. We could also learn that academic controversy cannot be resolved by political power. The third part introduces the relations of Bai Hu Tong and the political practices of the Han dynasty from three aspects containing the source of monarchical power and its validity and rationality, the validity and rationality of political system, moralty. |
