Human society develops in private ownership XIII: private ownership and feudal society

Chapter 13 Private Property and Feudal Society

Feudal society is the second social form of the material stage of mankind. There are two formulations of feudal society: one is the social structure of feudal system in a narrow sense, which first refers to the state structure of the Middle Ages in Western Europe; One is the feudal society in a broad sense defined by Marx, which refers to a social form based on the "exploitation" of the peasants by the landlord class. The Concise Encyclopædia Britannica explains feudalism as a social system of rights and duties based on land tenure and personal dependency.

In feudal society, the basis for the landlord class to rule over other classes is the feudal land ownership system, that is, the feudal private ownership of land.

In the West, all the land belonged to the king, and the king gave the land to the nobles and heroes, and the nobles gave a part of their land to their cronies, and so on. The feudal lords not only occupied the farmland, but also brought the peasants who had lived on this territory for generations into their command, so that a large number of peasants were reduced to serfs without choice and became part of the property that the feudal lords could talk about. This is the manifestation of private ownership in feudal society, not only the means of production and subsistence are the private property of the feudal lords, but even the peasants of the ruled class have not chosen to become the "living" private property of the feudal lords.

In feudal society, although serfs were regarded as part of the lord's property, similar to slaves in slave society, serfs and slaves had been "liberated" compared with slaves, and had certain personal rights, which could only be used and not bought and sold as commodities, let alone slaughtered arbitrarily. Therefore, the carrier and expression of private ownership in feudal society was mainly land, not the peasants (serfs) of feudal society. This is the last great social progress of human society on the way from the kingdom of necessity to the kingdom of freedom in the material stage, and a great improvement of the overall human nature of society (especially the material category level of human nature).

In China, in feudal society, private ownership of land has been clearly implemented since the Shang Dynasty reform, and landlords have absolute control over the land within their jurisdiction and can buy and sell it freely. The landlord takes possession of the land, drives out the original landowner (peasant), and then leases the land to the landless peasantry, who develops and cultivates it on his own and pays the rent. The peasants had a certain degree of independence and freedom.

In China, the word "feudal" means "to seal the land and establish princes". Feudal society is a society in which the landlord class occupies the ruling class. The landlord class controls the release, satisfaction, emancipation and freedom of the material categories of human nature in society through its own control of the land as a means of production, and achieves its own goal of human material selfishness through the peasants who need to use the land, and finally realizes the consolidation of class selfishness and economic status. Therefore, the contradiction between the landlord class and the peasant class is the main contradiction in feudal society (this is the contradiction between classes within human society; The contradiction at the level of human nature is the contradiction between human beings and the society they have constructed, between human needs and external supply), which is the reflection and manifestation of the landlord class's private ownership of land. This model of private ownership is self-evidently the continuation and inheritance of private ownership in the slave society, and the further consolidation, deepening and development of private ownership on the new platform of human demand and emancipation, and at the new level of material productivity.

Because the development history of slave society for more than 1,000 years has proved that private ownership is a social development mechanism that follows and conforms to the natural laws of human nature, and only private ownership can solve the problem of social development, and can it break away from the inevitable kingdom of human beings and enter the kingdom of freedom at the level of human material categories faster, better and at a lower cost.

Under these circumstances, the feudal society formed a natural economy based on land and a combination of agriculture and handicrafts, found the smallest and most suitable family production unit that met the requirements of private ownership, and built an economic structure based on its own needs. It is both self-enclosed and self-independent. In this kind of private ownership economy, most of the key means of production are in the hands of the landlords (or feudal lords), thus forming a class relationship in which the landlords (feudal lords) "exploit" the peasants, forming a unity of two classes of antagonism and two communities of class struggle and cooperation with great differences in the pursuit and satisfaction of human material categories, and forming a social development path in which yin and yang coexist.

In China, feudal society was divided into state land ownership, landlord land ownership, and peasant land ownership.

State land ownership, i.e., state-owned land. Under the feudal land ownership system, the feudal governments and emperors of successive dynasties directly controlled a part of the land, and the Huangzhuang, Wangtian, Juntun, and Mintun of all dynasties were all state-owned land, especially in the Northern Wei, Cao Wei, Sui and Tang dynasties. The state occupies a large amount of land, on the one hand, to ensure the needs of the ruling class at the level of human material categories, and on the other hand, to provide a solid economic foundation for the consolidation of state power, and to safeguard the interests of the social community, including the ruling class and the ruled class.

In feudal society, land was the most important means of production, and the state controlled a large amount of land, which also controlled the economic lifeline of society. So this is a higher-level, more authoritative and unchallengeable private property, but the owner of private ownership is very special, he is the ruling class of the upper echelons of the feudal dynasty.

Landlord land ownership, that is, the landlord owns the land. The landlord was the rich class of the feudal society, renting out the land and obtaining their own material benefits from the poor peasants, which was a social role that everyone aspired to. They are rich and powerful, and it is easy for them to squeeze into the ranks of state officials, using state power to protect their vested interests. More importantly, the landlord class has more access to education, is educated, capable, and is a candidate for state office. The landlord land ownership system is the core and focus of the production relations of private ownership in China's feudal society.

Peasant land ownership, i.e., the land of individual peasants. Individual farmers own the largest number of lands, although they are small. This is the manifestation of the deepening and progress of private ownership in feudal society, that is, some of the people at the bottom (peasants) also have their own land, and they are also sharing the dividends of private ownership, and the material category level of human nature in the whole society has been further released, liberated and developed. Of course, it is impossible to equalize, equalize, and synchronize, not only in feudal society, but also in any society. Unless there is a possibility, that is, the needs of human nature at the level of material categories have entered the social realm of the kingdom of freedom, but this time is far from being reached.

These are the manifestations and reflections of the private ownership of the land as the starting point in feudal society.

It can be seen that private ownership is unimpeded in feudal society, from top to bottom, from bottom to top, the whole society, all-round coverage, in front of the level of human nature and material categories, without exception, all the people of the country have participated in the camp of private ownership, and they all share the fruits of private ownership to varying degrees, or survive in private ownership. Private ownership constructs the social system and the state system, and the historical, realistic and unbreakable private system is the social system and the state system. Among them, there are political systems, economic systems, and cultural systems, and so on.

Marx's historical materialism regards the "productive forces" (material productive forces) as the decisive factor of social development, and thus regards feudal society as the inevitable result of the development of the productive forces (material productive forces), and the inevitable social form that replaces the slave society and gives birth to the capitalist society. This is Marx's great discovery of the inevitability ("regularity") of social development in the material stage of human beings, but there is no answer to what ultimately determines the material productive forces.

We say that the fundamental determination of material productive forces is human nature, and it is the level of material categories determined by the natural laws of human nature; The power of material productivity comes from the power of human nature's material category level needs. Therefore, feudal society can only continue the material private ownership created and constructed by the slave society, and it is the private ownership that has been developed. This is the scientific and effective inevitable requirement of the natural law of human nature for the ownership of the material productive forces of the kingdom of necessity, the ownership of the natural law of human nature and the development of the material productive forces required by it, and the natural laws of human nature and the material productive forces that are not the choice of ownership; Ownership is to serve the natural laws of human nature and the material productive forces, not the natural laws of human nature and the material productive forces to serve the ownership system, and the relationship between the two masters and slaves must be clarified.

Because Marx's "feudal society" is defined by adhering to the materialist view of history, and judging the common criteria of social and historical stages by the nature of productive forces and production relations and economic base and superstructure, the "feudal society" defined by Marx is a "feudal society" in a broad sense, which has a more universal value. China's feudal society was dominated by private land ownership in the economy, a highly centralized and autocratic system in politics, and a patriarchal hierarchy combining clan power and political power in the social structure, which ensured that private ownership promoted the rapid development of Chinese society in a suitable ecology.

In particular, during the Qin and Han dynasties, the unification of the country, the progress of the material productive forces and material production of society, the further strengthening of political and economic ties among various ethnic groups, and the rapid development of science and culture, thus illustrating the scientific nature of the inheritance and selection of private ownership in feudal society and the correctness of historical verification, and the inheritance, development and expansion of private ownership, which showed the incomparable power and vitality of private ownership in the inevitable kingdom of human society.

In the material stage of human beings, under the determination of the natural laws of human nature, private ownership is constantly promoting the linear development of material productive forces. On this line, from the revolutionary, facilitative and adaptive material relations of production, gradually develop into unadapted and hindered relations of production, so that the old relations of production are constantly replaced by new ones, until they accumulate to the emergence of a progressive and new social form.

After the feudal society has experienced such a cyclical relationship, the unstoppable force of private ownership continues to whip the productive forces to break through all the shackles of the original relations of production that do not meet the requirements, and thus fundamentally shake the feudal rule (feudal relations of production), that is, it has developed its own social material productive forces that are incompatible with its own present. In addition, the feudal ruling class did not see the inevitability of social development and did not know the true meaning of scientific selfishness (class selfishness) at all, and did not understand how to reform and reform the already backward social relations of production (social system), so that the original relations of production would inevitably be destroyed by the revolution, forcing the peasant uprising and the bourgeois revolution to take place, and constantly trying and seeking to change the production relations of the feudal land ownership system (and thus the entire feudal system).

The process of quantitative change to qualitative change in the material relations of production, that is, the process of deepening and developing the quantitative change to qualitative change of private ownership, prompted the introduction of the second version of private ownership, the second generation and upgrading (the private ownership of slave society is the original version of the private ownership of the material necessity of human beings, the private ownership of feudal society is the first generation and upgrading version, and the capitalist private ownership is the second generation and upgrading version), accompanied by the new material productive forces to adapt to the new material production relations, that is, the basic production relations of capitalism - wage labor relations. On the basis of the composition of this relationship, the relatively stable formation of capitalist private ownership enables human nature to export the endless decisive power and unchangeable will of the natural laws of human nature on a new platform, and the natural topography develops at the level of human material categories, so as to achieve the completion of the goals and tasks of capitalist society.

Material private ownership develops with the release, blooming, emancipation, satisfaction and freedom of the hierarchical needs of human material categories, and continues to promote the material productive forces under the action of the natural laws of human nature, and then destroys the original social form that carries it along with the material productive forces, so that the social material productive forces continue to develop in a new society. Private ownership has once again demonstrated its incomparable strength and vitality in the replacement of social forms, and has once again shown its bright future for the progress of human society.

The land system in the feudal system is a property rights system in the strict sense, and the social status must correspond to the amount of land to be considered legally owned, and the aristocracy increases their land assets by buying, gifting, selling, etc., so as to achieve and maintain their social and economic status for a long time. In the feudal system, land was inextricably linked to the status of the nobility and the status of the family, but their deep roots were private ownership, their talisman was private ownership, and their sword weapon was private ownership.

Therefore, the social manifestation and symbol of private ownership in feudal society is the private ownership of land, the progress and development of private ownership in the slave society with slaves as the social expression and symbol, the first deepening and upgrading of private ownership, and the second step in the development of private ownership in the material stage of human beings, that is, the development from private ownership of slaves to private ownership of land.

Marx's historical materialism runs through the idea of the natural laws of human nature, and highlights that the material productive forces in the material stage of human beings are the main contradiction in society and the key to social progress, so the "material productive forces" are regarded as the decisive factors of social development, and the feudal society is regarded as the inevitable result of the development of the material productive forces, and is the inevitable social form that replaces the slave society and gives birth to the capitalist society, and the development of this society is inevitably the development of the material private ownership of the slave society. However, at this time, material private ownership is based on material private ownership at a higher level of material productivity, and material private ownership is established at a higher level of human material categories, so that material private ownership can advance on a new platform of productive forces and new human nature, and further develop in a high-level direction at the new level of material productive forces.

The core of the feudal system has been transformed into the distribution of land and industry between the overlord and the peasantry, and the feudal system solves the problem of agricultural productivity and solidified productive forces. With the development of history, the feudal system gradually formed a stable class and legal aristocracy, which provided more historical and political background for the continuous development of the feudal system. At the same time, the feudal system improved the order of agricultural production in China and encouraged the people to work hard to produce, met the development needs of China's social productive forces after the end of the slave society, and promoted national unification and economic development. Of course, in the last period, a broad social revolutionary movement was triggered, which laid the groundwork for the advent of a new social form and created the conditions for the continued development of private property.

Therefore, slavery gave birth to feudalism, and it is natural that slavery handed over a line of its own human development and a line of material productivity to meet the needs of human nature to the feudal system, and the feudal system could only grasp these two lines and continue to move forward, continue to take the high-speed train of private ownership, and gallop on the track of human nature to the kingdom of freedom (the kingdom of material freedom). Therefore, the private ownership of the feudal system is an upgraded and advanced version of the slave system, which has been upgraded from using slaves as the starting point to using land as the starting point to promote social progress and development.

The rise and decline of feudal private ownership is an important historical period in the material stage of human society. In China, feudal private ownership appeared earlier than in Western countries, and it has undergone a long period of development and evolution. However, like the West, they were born, grown, and glorious in the embrace of private ownership, and finally fulfilled their historical mission, handing over the magic weapon they inherited from the slave society - private ownership to the next society they nurtured - the capitalist society on the basis of creation and development.

In any case, in feudal society, landlords and peasants owned their own land, peasants worked hard to cultivate the land, could harvest their own agricultural products, and the landlords received rent, etc. Private ownership stimulates the production of labor by individuals and families, enabling them to benefit directly from their own efforts, and this incentive mechanism promotes the development of agricultural production in society as a whole. Private ownership encourages technological innovation and invention, giving its individuals and families an incentive to seek improvements in production methods and tools to increase production and reduce costs, such as the invention of agricultural implements and the improvement of crops, thereby enhancing their own material interests. Private ownership helps individuals and families to accumulate wealth. Through their own hard work and the rational allocation of resources, individuals can gradually accumulate wealth and invest it in productive capital or other areas, thereby further driving economic development. Private ownership promotes the division of labor and specialization in society. The specialization of individuals and households in different fields of production allows the whole society to produce a variety of products and services more efficiently, thereby increasing the overall productivity of the society.

In a word, private ownership has played an important role in feudal society, promoting economic development and social progress, and some negative problems exist on the premise of ensuring social development, and they are problems that can be solved or alleviated to a certain extent without affecting development.

His real name is Zheng Jinmin, pen name Rabbit Wo Huangshan, a native of Luonan, Shaanxi, an independent scholar, the founder of historical philosophy of life, and a researcher of the "Four Treasures Culture" of Cangjie, Luoshu, Luohe and Linglun Shaanxi (Luonan).

He is the author of "Restoring the True Appearance of the Dao" (issued in the eighth special issue of "Sinology Research" in 2020, and won the "Sinology Research Monograph Award" and "Sinology Research Academic Achievement Award" of Shaanxi Sinology Research Association in 2019-2020 and 2023 respectively), "The Law System of Historical Philosophy of Life", "The Hypothesis of the Human Security Stage", "Life and the Law of Life", etc.

At present, he has written books such as "Discussion on the Classification of Life Culture and Human Nature", "Discussion on the System of Philosophical Unity", "Exploration of Relevant Philosophical Issues", "New Thought", "Luohe Anthology", "Cangjie Lectures" and "The Development of Human Society in Private Ownership". "The Way of Cangjie Character Making" and "The Status and Role of Cangjie Character Making" in Chinese history won the Kaifeng National Cangjie Cultural Paper Essay Award respectively in 2022. He has successively obtained 13 registration certificates of "national brand" works issued by the Copyright Office of the People's Republic of China, such as "Historical Philosophy and Philosophy Law System" (entered Baidu Library), "Cangjie Lecture Notes", "Cangjie Character Creation Luonan Examination", "Linglun Luonan Music", "Luoshu Luonan Examination", "Luohe Culture Luohe Examination", etc. On September 19, 2021, he accepted an hour-long live news interview with Xi'an Radio Station on the history and philosophy of life and the situation of "Shuyuanmen 1991".