Student A: How many major institutional forms did China's ancient political system include? Student B: There are emperor system, enfeoffment system, county system and three provinces and six departments system.
Student A: There are also prime minister system, imperial examination system and cabinet system.
Teacher: You are only involved in the specific system. Generally speaking, there are only two kinds. One is the kingship system in slave society, which mainly includes patriarchal clan system and enfeoffment system. Second, the autocratic centralization system in feudal society, in which the emperor system, centralization and bureaucracy are the three basic points of the ancient political system since Qin Dynasty.
Student A: Then "King" and "Emperor" are the core of China's ancient regime.
Student B: In a typical "rule by man" society, the emperor is the law.
Teacher: Yes, taking imperial power as the core and constantly strengthening royal laws are the most striking features that distinguish China from the ancient western political system. So what is the most important feature of the ancient western political system? Student A: People's sovereignty rules by turns. Student B: Law is supreme. Teacher: That makes sense. The ancient West was indeed more democratic politically than the East, and democracy and the rule of law were its main characteristics. But we should pay attention to dialectical view, and don't think that the ancient west is a paradise for democracy. In fact, their democratic scope is very limited. It is very primitive in democratic nature (the product of small countries and few people), and voting may lead to the abuse and misuse of state power.
Student A: We often refer to the ancient Greek and Roman civilization as the origin of western civilization. Is ancient Greek and Roman civilization the same thing? Student B: Of course.
Teacher: no, in essence, it is to ensure the interests of slave owners and nobles; This is a relative democracy. But the difference is not small.
(1) As far as the expansion of civilization is concerned, Greece relies on colonization and absorbs foreign cultures to expand Greek civilization; Rome inherited Greek civilization and expanded Roman culture through the war of annexation.
(2) As far as national form is concerned, Greece is a decentralized city-state; Rome is a unified centralized system.
(3) As far as the political system is concerned, Greece is a monarchy, aristocracy and democracy; Rome is a monarchy, a aristocracy and a principality.
(4) As far as the contribution in the field of political civilization is concerned, Greece is mainly an Athenian democracy; Rome is mainly Roman law.
Teacher: Not bad.
Student A: I see. The main content of China's political system in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties is patriarchal clan system, which has the following characteristics: hereditary system of the throne (title); Local management implements the system of enfeoffment; Within the royal family, the patriarchal clan system characterized by the eldest son inheritance system. After the unification of the six countries, Qin established an autocratic centralization of authority, which initially showed the following characteristics: (1) a ruling institution centered on the emperor was formed from the central to the local; The official position is not hereditary, and it is appointed and removed by the emperor; The division of official positions is clear, which not only cooperates with each other, but also contains each other.
Student B: I understand. "Han inherited Qin system", from Han Dynasty to Yuan Dynasty, the autocratic centralization system gradually developed, which was manifested as: the imperial power was continuously strengthened and the relative power was continuously weakened; The central power has been continuously strengthened and the local power has been continuously weakened. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, this system reached its peak, and its main characteristics were: abolishing the prime minister, setting up six cabinets and adding the Ministry of War; The establishment and authority of the central organization is completely subordinate to the needs of absolute monarchy; There are three departments in the abolished province, which are directly under the central government, and the central government has further strengthened its control over the localities; Daxing literary inquisition, stereotyped writing of literati, and ideological and cultural autocracy have been continuously strengthened.
Teacher: You just summed up the basic features of China's ancient political system. I use two pairs of contradictions (the contradiction between imperial power and relative power: the imperial power is strengthened and the relative power is weakened; The contradiction between the central and local governments: the central power is strengthened and the local power is weakened); Three major trends (one is to continuously reform the central administrative structure and weaken the relative power to strengthen the imperial power. Second, constantly reform the local administrative structure and strengthen the central government's jurisdiction over local areas, especially border areas. During the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, there was no great division in the country. Third, the control of people's thoughts is increasingly strengthened, such as the stereotyped writing of literati in the Ming Dynasty and the literary inquisition in the Qing Dynasty. ) can be well summarized as the guidance of this characteristic methodology: learning history should pay attention to points, lines and surfaces. Grasp the "points" of important systems and connect "lines" with "points", that is, the evolution and changes of various systems; It is necessary to analyze and understand the social background and historical influence of these systems to expand the knowledge "point" and knowledge "line" and form the knowledge "surface"; Summarize, compare and link laws and regulations of different types and periods; For some special political systems, we should understand the connotation of their concepts; Summarize different official positions and powers; We should contact some social hotspots today to think and expand our thinking.