Speaking of the Donglin Party, I think many people have heard of it. We all know the name of the Donglin Party in movies, TV dramas and textbooks. We also learned “the tombstone of five people” in Chinese textbooks. A group of upright and unyielding images such as Yang Lian and Zuo Guangdou make us quite fond of the huge political group behind them. But those who are really familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty, especially the history of the late Ming Dynasty, mostly scoff at the Donglin Party. Even think that the Donglin Party is the culprit of the collapse of the Ming Dynasty, so why is there such a saying?
Donglin Party Donglin Party is a political freak born under the special political and cultural ecology since the Wanli period in the late Ming Dynasty. It is a group of frustrated activists in the political arena represented by Gu Xian who formed such a political group with strong voice among the people in the name of giving lectures in Wuxi Donglin Academy. Unlike other political groups, they did not have the support of high-level strong political forces, and completely relied on the political power of the academy to integrate Jiangsu and Zhejiang businessmen, landlords and scholar bureaucrats.
Secondly, compared with the clear demands of other political groups for power, the Donglin Party has established a very high style since its inception, and has taken helping the world as a loud and clear slogan. Its representatives, such as Gu Xiancheng, Zhao Nanxing, Zou yuanbiao and other flag characters, are all idol level scholar bureaucrats who have a strong reputation in the folk all year round. Such a political group full of justice and sunshine ended up in the late Ming Dynasty.
Donglin Party and people’s Congress are all admirers of Yang Ming’s philosophy of mind. They flaunt the concept of “practical application”, but they can’t achieve the unity of knowledge and practice like Wang Yangming. From Wanli to Chongzhen, living in the center of power, they hardly made constructive measures and policies in the face of national political difficulties and crises. Since they can’t give practical methods and policies, they put their minds into “dismantling”. When Xu Guangqi put forward ideas such as technological reform, the Donglin Party suppressed it with curses.
When xiongtingbi became famous in Liaodong, he constantly attacked xiongtingbi with public opinion. They talk loudly but have high goals but low hands. They can’t do it by themselves or allow others to do it to change the country. It was this group of self righteous and talented Donglin Party members that seriously hindered the reform and governance at the end of the Ming Dynasty, and let the Ming Dynasty miss the opportunity of final reform.
A political group must have its own interests. As representatives of emerging businesses and landlords, the Donglin Party did not hesitate to damage the interests of the country and the people in order to maximize their own interests. Since the Wanli period, emerging capitalism has sprouted, and business has never been more prosperous. The fiscal reform that arose during the Apocalypse period introduced industrial and commercial taxes and mining taxes for Industry and commerce, which effectively eased the financial tension of the Ming Dynasty at that time.
However, such policies harmed the interests of landlords and businessmen. When the Donglin Party came to power, it abolished all these policies. Originally, in the case of domestic troubles and foreign aggression, fiscal taxation is particularly important. Suddenly, there is less tax on industry and commerce, and the financial tension can be imagined. In this way, the Donglin Party had to transfer the tax to the ordinary people, who were overwhelmed and chose to rebel. The Ming Dynasty, when capitalism sprouted and flourished, was unable to increase taxes through industry and Commerce for a long time. This unimaginable strange thing in ancient human history is the gift of the Donglin Party.
What’s more interesting is that when the country really can’t afford their financial contributions, they flaunt honesty and cry for poverty everywhere. It’s really a great irony that Li Zicheng can find a lot of money in their house after he broke the city. However, the Donglin Party, which has always believed in loyalty and patriotism, fled or surrendered at the time of the collapse of the Ming Dynasty. What is not the culprit of the demise of the Ming Dynasty for such Donglin Party?