When Emperor Wu of Han ascended the throne, he was still very young, and court power remained in the hands of his grandmother, Empress Dowager Dou.
In the early Western Han Dynasty, Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang strongly rejected Confucianism and consistently adhered to the principles of the Huang-Lao school of Daoist thought, which advocated for quietude and non-action; as a result, during the early Han period, including the reigns of Emperors Wen and Jing, the government promoted a policy of non-interference in politics, implemented light taxes and reduced corvée labor in the economy, allowing society and the state to develop naturally.
By the time of Emperor Wu's reign, society had gradually stabilized and the economy was developing rapidly, necessitating extensive reforms across the nation, particularly as the power of the landlord class and aristocratic families forced the ruler to strengthen the centralized system. As a result, the Huang-Lao philosophy advocating non-action could no longer meet the needs of the Han Dynasty's development. At this point, some ministers proposed adopting Confucian thought, arguing that Confucianism was the most renowned school of the Spring and Autumn period, advocating governance through benevolence and filial piety, and establishing a strict hierarchical order of ruler-subject ethics, which perfectly suited the current situation of the Han Dynasty.
Other ministers expressed their agreement, so Emperor Wu of Han ordered that from then on, the state would be governed using Confucian doctrine, completely eliminating the ideas of all other schools of thought. Grand Commandant Dou Ying and Chancellor Tian Fen began searching across the country for talented Confucian scholars to recommend to Emperor Wu. Among them, Wang Zang was appointed as Chief of the Imperial Household, and Zhao Wan was appointed as Imperial Censor. Subsequently, Dou Ying and Tian Fen repeatedly spoke ill of Huang-Lao philosophy in the emperor's ear, praising Confucianism and urging Emperor Wu to implement political reforms, taking the opportunity to declare his personal rule so that he would no longer need to report everything to Empress Dowager Dou. Emperor Wu saw this as a rare opportunity, but just as he was about to act, Empress Dowager Dou got wind of the news first, immediately dismissing Wang Zang and Zhao Wan from their posts and removing Dou Ying and Tian Fen from their positions.
Emperor Wu of Han was deeply distressed as he watched one trusted minister after another fall at the hands of Empress Dowager Dou, yet he dared not defy his grandmother and could only suppress his fury.
In 135 BCE, after Empress Dowager Dou passed away, Emperor Wu of Han finally became the true ruler of the Han Dynasty. His first act was to reinstate several officials whom the empress dowager had dismissed, encouraging them to offer advice and strategies. Prime Minister Tian Fen proposed eliminating all schools of thought except Confucianism and dismissing any officials who did not respect Confucian teachings. From then on, everyone understood that to hold an official position, one had to study Confucian thought and read the Confucian classics.
In 134 BCE, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty selected talented individuals from across the country and sent them to Chang'an for study. Among those chosen, one person caught the emperor's attention. This man was Dong Zhongshu, who had served as a scholar during the reign of Emperor Jing of Han. At that time, he had already promoted Confucianism to the rulers and summarized Confucian ethical principles as the "Three Cardinal Guides and Five Constant Virtues." After listening to Dong Zhongshu's explanations, Emperor Wu could not help but praise him greatly and bestowed many rewards upon him.
Among the Five Confucian Classics, Dong Zhongshu was most skilled in the Spring and Autumn Annals. The Spring and Autumn Annals isConfuciusA historical classic adapted from the history of the Lu State, which records political history and uses the tone of a court historian to judge the rights and wrongs of history, thereby expressing its own political ideology. BecauseConfuciusLiving in an era of social disorder, Confucius had to use subtle language to discuss matters and reason. After his death, his students had different interpretations of the Spring and Autumn Annals, leading to many versions of teachings on the text; Dong Zhongshu chose the Gongyang tradition of the Spring and Autumn Annals.
Dong Zhongshu, building upon the Gongyang commentary of the Spring and Autumn Annals, integrated religious thought from the Zhou Dynasty with the theories of yin-yang and the five elements, while also absorbing the strengths of Legalist and Daoist schools, thereby establishing a new Confucian ideological system. This reformed Confucianism was widely applied by Emperor Wu of Han in politics, economy, philosophy, and history, exerting a profound influence on the state and society of that era and beyond. Dong Zhongshu's famous dictum, "abolish the hundred schools, revere only Confucianism," has also been passed down through the ages.
Anyone who obtained an official position by studying Confucian thought followed Dong Zhongshu's theory to help Emperor Wu of Han manage state affairs, and also required their students and children to study Confucianism. From this point on, the mainstream ideology of Chinese society was firmly controlled by the rulers, and Confucianism became the dominant philosophy of China's feudal society. For 2,000 years, every emperor after Emperor Wu of Han used Confucian thought as a tool to govern the country.
However, the exclusive reverence for Confucianism also had its downsides: Confucianism dominated the academic mainstream, leaving other schools of thought unable to develop; while a single ideological school could strengthen imperial centralization, it could also make rulers more extreme, leading to autocracy; moreover, students' thinking was forced into a single mold, stifling innovation and fostering pedantry and stubbornness.