英语小说读后感（万历十五年英文读后感及中文简介）

Thoughts on 《1587，a year of no significance》

Ray Huang’s works《1587，a year of no significance》，written from a macro-history perspective，selected a specific year of 1587 by which the previous first grand-secretary Chang Chu-cheng had passed away fo百思特网r five years and focused on 6 representative figures with different identities including one emperor，three civil officials，one military officer and one philosopher . The book can be described as a chronicle of failure whether in politics，economy or military，among which，political failure was the root. No matter how excellent and responsible these figures were，all endeavors seemed to result in vain. This article falls into 3parts，including elaborations about Contradictions，Compromise and Collapse.

I Contradictions

It’s not hard to draw the conclusion that contradictions prevailed every aspects and levels of this dynasty and this dynasty was doomed by this period，after reading this book as well as relevant literature.

1.Emperor vs civil official group：The former was expected to perform just like a puppet and act in an impeccable and meticulous manner by the latter，who would criticize the former at even trifle details.In Wan-li Emperor’s words, they were “earning a name of righteousness by paying the penalty of being disrespectful of the emperor”（讪君卖直）. Eunuchs could act as agents for the emperors. A smart emperor should make well use of eunuchs in order for more room for coordination and mitigation. Secret agencies should also be put to good use to keep the emperor well-informed about current situation in order not to be easily fooled by the officials. Was it just coinc百思特网idental that，Emperor Cheng-te and Tian-qi,who had not lived up to the civil officials’expectations，both died of drowning at a young age all of a sudden？

2.Civil officials vs military officers：Under the system，the latter who had been dealing with military affairs his whole life，was supposed to be obedience to the deployment of the former，some of whom even had never been to the battlefront.

3.Gap between social classes：The ancient feudal society was divided into 4 categories of classes including“scholar, farmer, artisan and merchant”.The intellectual class had a privilege of tax exemption. Farmer and artisan，at the very bottom of the social ladder，were most heavily exploited，a manifestation of a distorted and unfair rule of “exp百思特网loiting the impoverished to patronize the affluent”（损不足而奉有余）.The merchants，by collaboration with the bureaucrats， could make a handsome profit at an explicit commercial taxation rate of 1/30. Though ban on maritime trade was still observed，powerful sea merchants could make tens of millions of ounces of silver，much larger than the annual taxation income of late Ming Dynasty. The society had a typical structure of “submarine sandwich”，consisting of an over-sized corps of civil officials and a large number of peasants unorganized.

4.Areas afflicted by wars and disasters vs areas relatively tranquil：The north-wgrain yield as a result of the period of Minor Ice Age，which constituted a fatal strike to an enormous agriculture-based empire with a huge population. In the meantime，situation in southern areas was relatively better. However，the ruling class of this country never seemed to find a way to bridge the gaps between different areas or classes，so as to relieve the poor，the afflicted just a little bit.

5.Conflicts inside the civil official group itself: By this stage of the dynasty，consensus could hardly be achieved. On the contrary，there were endless verbal quarrels and written debates between them over insignificant incidents or abstract morality issues. In Shen Shih-hsing’s words, the country was in a dangerous status of “a cleavage between the top and the bottom，a separation of the interior from the exterior”（高低否鬲，中外睽携）. The opinions of the emperor and first grand-secretary who had a whole picture of situation often varied from those of general civil officials who mainly bared in mind departmental and partial interest. As for the general civil officials，it was unspoken but widely obeyed that everybody claimed to live by the professed moral code labeled as yang（阳），but in practice acted upon their hidden desires and motivations labeled as yin（阴）.

Tracing back，the reason for general failure in various realms lay in the fact that，the system established in the very early years of the Ming dynasty，which was initially tailored for a small-scale peasant economy by the dynastic founder，could no longer comply with the development of the economy and society. The extent to which the administration of an immense empire with such complexity was heavily reliant on moral code，instead of laws and techniques， was unprecedented. As a result，the society was barely under efficient and effective management，in the author’s words,“mathematically unmanageable”.

Having eliminated potential threats from imperial princes，imperial consort’s family and prime ministers，Hong-wu emperor，founder of this dynasty，had made serious mistakes in establishing the system，which finally led to serious outcomes throughout the dynasty. I’d like to summarize the deep-rooted reasons of the failures as follows：

万历十五年以大历史观（即推后几十年以上看影响）的视角，截取了1587作横断面，叙述了6位身份角色各自不同的人物，都是各范畴的佼佼者，结局却无一不败。

第一部分：抵触重重。充满社会各范畴各层面。1.皇帝与文官团体之争。万历皇帝用了个词，讪君卖直。内监其实可作其代言人，厂卫为其耳目，精明的皇帝应善加应用，不应自废武功。2.文武之争。外行指挥行家。3.士农工商各阶层的好处未得到好好调和，损不足而奉有余，商与士阶层勾联，农工被踩在脚底。社会构造有如美国潜水艇夹肉面包，上面是一块长面包，大而无当，此乃文官团体；下面也是一块长面包，也没有有效的组织，此乃成千上万的农民。4.地域之间差距。西北东北饱受战斗灾荒，东南相对承平。但国度并无相应机制加以调度。5.文官团体内部之争。首辅被默以为皇帝代言人而不被百官信赖。文官团体内部之间好以道德大义之名大做文章，争什么不要紧，道德只是为了不可告人的目标拉来的假装，即“阴”与“阳”之术。这种状况申时行总结为“高低否鬲，中外睽携”。

向前追溯，在洪武朝就埋下了失败的种子，太祖设计了一个适应小农经济的制度支配，随社会发展大多落为一纸空文或成为阻碍。后人却因祖制之名只能小修小补、敲敲打打。帝国缔造者清除了来自藩王、后戚及丞相的威逼，但有些制度缺点影响深远。1落伍的财税支配，比之宋朝都多有不足，一是采取实物税，多对多的支配必定导致数目、质量、效力上的漏损。二是给士绅阶层免税，最后造成很多隐户，到国度财政资源枯竭时其好处实际上与国度好处相对峙了。三是商税税率设置过低，且有太多潜规矩，又实行海禁（实际上总有禁不住），造成寻租空间，大批财富进入私人腰包，丧失海上贸易收入，国度没有得到一分钱利益。2.僵化的户藉制度。反人性的制度支配。匠户制度，非尺度化产品，质效低下。军户卫所制度。3.撤消丞相，而以内阁首辅代之，但首辅之威望并不足够，高低离心纷争。4.低下不合实际的工资程度。人们可心安理得地去之寻求额外收入。5.以道德治国，过度的批驳文化，导致人们不敢担负，上至皇帝，崇祯皇帝最后表示为典范。

第二部分让步修补。皇帝从勤政到无为而治，张居正汲汲求治却人亡政息，丈量土地、考成法都被废除，申时行从努力调和到被迫辞职，海瑞从道德榜样到被高高挂起，被攻击的点仍然是道德，用放大镜去找任何人的道德问题不可能找不到，实际上是因为他动了既得好处团体的蛋糕。戚南塘成也居正败也居正，国有良将而不用，这是国度的悲痛。李贽左奔右突苦苦求索而不得其解，对君权等发生质疑是宝贵的，放在明末却不合时宜。以上并未提出剧烈改造，均在制度内加以调剂完美，努力补足技巧之不足，却无不失败，皆因制度已至山穷水尽，无人不成为就义品。

萨尔浒之败就是一个总体现…，一周之内十万部队被努尔哈赤各个击破。败亡成果不可避免，所不同的不过是这里出错还是那里出错。

败绩影响深远，处置更不得人心。勇敢战逝世者成为替罪羊，怯懦逃命者反而加官进爵，明末，劣币驱赶良币比比皆是。万历国本之争等是偶然事件，没有这些产生，国度仍然是日末途穷。

数十年之后，多年惰政、不作为、让步、漠不关怀的恶果就涌现了，有清军在扬州、嘉定、广州等地造成的大屠戮为证。到底谁该负责？皇帝，朝堂衮衮诸公，吸附在国度身上吸血的特权阶层？雪崩来临的时候，没有一片雪花是无辜的。

第三部分大厦倾颓。往更远追溯，封建社会的下滑从安史之乱就注定了，在此之后，大国自负开明从容气宇不再，统治者日趋保守。但这次不同往日，不仅是亡国，更是亡天下，用顾炎武的话说，小民都感受到了切身之痛。剃发令掀起了又一轮对抗高潮。

放眼看看世界，西班牙无敌舰队驯服了全部美洲，欧洲完成了文艺复兴，俄国忙于国土扩大…进入16世纪，不知不觉，我们已落伍伟大身位。旧世界的荣光已经淡去，该来的始终要来，该阅历的始终要阅历，直到一个崭新的时期来临。