China In the End of I Century Before N.E.

The process of development of private property led to inevitable differentiation, as a result of which one part of the small landowners was ruined and deprived of the means of production, the other became enriched and became part of the ruling, exploiting class.

The problem of polarization of the layer of small landowners was by no means indifferent to the state, since they constituted the bulk of taxpayers. Even Dong Zhongshu, with concern, drew Wu-di's attention to the fact that in the Han empire "the rich fields are stretched continuously, and the poor man does not have a piece of land to which an awl could be stuck." At the end of I c. BC. E. The process of ruin of small proprietors made itself felt more clearly. Signs of this were frequent cases of statements against the authorities and even armed insurrections, which the Han Empire had not known since the times of Gao Tzu. China In the End of I Century BC.

In these circumstances, some statesmen advocated the adoption of any urgent measures that could prevent further deepening of the contradictions. In 6 BC. E. Shi Dan suggested limiting private land and slavery. It was established that no one in the empire could henceforth have more than 3000 mu of land; The number of slaves who were privately owned was limited in accordance with the social status of the slaveholder: 200 - from the highest aristocracy, 100 - from the middle nobility, 30 - from commoners. The Shi Tan project was not implemented; The problem of the growth of large-scale property remained unresolved.

From this point of view, one can assess the events related to the usurpation of the imperial power by Wang Man and the creation of the Xin Dynasty (New) dynasty. In the year 9, reforms were announced, among which was the complete abolition of private land ownership, arable lands were declared "fields of Wang", and it was now forbidden to buy and sell land. The reform of Wang Man was dictated by the desire to radically resolve the issue that for a long time worried his predecessors. However, an attempt to reverse the wheel of history and with the help of a legislative act to abolish private property was doomed to * failure. In the context of the aggravated socio-political crisis , not only the most deprived sections of society, but also large landowners, acted against Van Man. In 18 the rebellion of the Krasnobrovs flared up in the country, as a result of which the rebel army seized the capital and overthrew the usurper.

China In the End of I Century Before N.E.