Rethinking the Axial Age in Ancient China: The Role of Religion in Governance from the Shang to the Early Han.

摘要

The Axial Age is a term often used to describe an intellectual golden age that occurred in the first millennium Before the Common Era. Thinkers in civilizations across the globe at that time contributed to a philosophical movement that is sometimes portrayed as an evolution from superstition to reason. However, this thesis focuses on the changing role of religion in regards to governance in Ancient China. Beginning with the first evidence of writing on oracle bones in the Shang Dynasty, religious ideas and practices were relied on by the Shang royal court. The spread of these religious artifacts is a testament to the growing power of the Shang. By claiming supernatural influence with the spirits and deities, the authority of the Shang king was strengthened. As the ritual of divining and crafting oracle bones became more routinized, these religious practices became politically important as well. The Zhou conquered the Shang and justified their newfound rule by claiming to be favored by Heaven. Their concept of Heaven incorporated all of the Shang spiritual pantheon, thereby reinforcing Zhou legitimacy. Zhou kings were expected to uphold the Mandate of Heaven not only by pleasing the spirits but also by providing for the people. Divination and ritual continued but did not have as much of an impact on governance as it did in the Shang. As the central Zhou state began to lose power, various states favored practical measures to strengthen their own political authority. Might determined right as states preferred military power instead of religious influence. Assimilation of outside peoples paired with increased social mobility also contributed to the waning influence of the Zhou state. The philosophical trends of the Hundred Schools of Thought mirrored this development. The idealistic ritual-based rule of the early Confucians was later displaced by the pragmatic law-based rule of the Legalists. Although the Qin state succeeded in uniting the warring states by utilizing clear laws and strict punishments, their reign was short-lived. The Han Dynasty inherited the legal bureaucracy from the Qin but fused that with religious ideas to serve as an ethicopolitical framework for their rule. This legacy served as a blueprint for dynastic rule that lasted over two thousand years.