"The History Forum" anniversary special program "Three Miraculous Figures Who Created the Yùkūn Prosperous Age" premiered precisely at 8:00 PM on July 6th.
It began, as usual, with advertisements.
After the spoken advertisements, the host took the stage.
The first two to three minutes of pleasantries were disregarded. After another two to three minutes, she finally arrived at the main topic:
"Today, we will discuss the three miraculous figures who created the Yùkūn prosperous age. Many might ask.
Did Emperor Yùyuán and Empress Kūndào not create the Yùkūn prosperous age?
If you were to say that, then your understanding is truly shallow, only knowing the superficial aspects of history. When mentioning the Yùkūn prosperous age, we must touch upon several points: the emergence of high-yield grain varieties, the advent of large-scale animal husbandry, the vigorous development of modern technology, and the awakening of women's self-awareness. These points have absolutely no relation to Emperor Yùyuán and Empress Kūndào, that man and woman.
They were merely fortunate enough to be on the throne during the era when these three remarkable individuals emerged. In fact, Empress Kūndào's ability to ascend the throne as a woman was also thanks to those three extraordinary people. These three are who I will be talking about today, the true architects of the Yùkūn century of prosperity!"
As soon as her voice fell, three portraits appeared on the large screen: one man and two women, three portraits of individuals.
"These three miraculous figures are: Jiǎ Shè, the founder of modern technological development; Yún Qī, the Holy Mother of Boundless Harvest; and Dīng Yún, the Holy Mother of Supreme Virtue and Goodness."
"Among them, Dīng Yún also has many other titles today, such as the Master of Female Education, the Founder of the Equality Movement..."
"Among these three extraordinary individuals, Jiǎ Shè underwent the most significant transformation. He is truly the archetypal prodigal son who, as the saying goes, is worth more than gold when he repents, a choice spoken of for centuries after.
Year Yùyuán three marked a turning point.
Before this year, Jiǎ Shè was viewed by everyone as an incorrigible rake, thoroughly degenerate. Some laughed at his foolish filial piety, others at his spinelessness; in short, no one held out hope for him.
Most believed he would remain that way his entire life.
Like a piece of mud that can't be plastered onto a wall.
After year Yùyuán three, people began to wonder if he had gone mad, if something was wrong with his mind. Because that year, he was like a madman, ferociously attacking his own family.
With a resolve to break all bridges and burn all boats, he completely severed ties with his so-called relatives.
We do not know what he experienced at the time, nor how he made such a firm decision, but he truly ripped off the fig leaf of his own family, sending all relatives he could into prison. He didn't even spare his daughter-in-law, sending her directly to execution after the autumn.
Although it seemed like a righteous act of abandoning kin, and they indeed deserved to die or be imprisoned, this kind of 'righteous abandonment' is still shocking, both in the past and present.
However, these are not important.
What is important is what followed, or rather, what he had already begun to secretly pass on to Emperor Yùyuán even before this. Those techniques included the art of glass firing, industrial alkali and soap production, cement firing, and blast furnace iron smelting.
These techniques not only brought about technological progress.
They also gave rise to the first large-scale workshops, which can also be called the prototypes of the factories of later generations.
The subsequent steam engine, and indeed the very first batch of modern technologies, originated from Jiǎ Shè's own inventions or from inventions inspired by his artisan disciples.
With so much technological advancement,
It was hard for society not to progress.
However, for these technological advancements to be fully promoted, another prerequisite was needed: a large labor force. Without the assistance of a large labor force, the transition to industrialization would undoubtedly take an extremely long time. It was at this point that the other two miraculous figures I just mentioned played a crucial role."
"They contributed high-yield grain seeds, allowing the same amount of land to produce enough food to feed more people. These fed people, undoubtedly, would become the future labor force. Without the advent of high-yield grain seeds, even with technological advancements to improve agricultural tools, it would have been difficult to liberate much productivity.
These two were those two Holy Mothers.
Many viewers are probably familiar with the legends surrounding these two, so I will not dwell on it. According to historical records, Dīng Yún clearly stated that the initial high-yield grain seeds were cultivated by her mother.
However, her mother died accidentally.
The characteristics of the cultivated grain seeds were not very stable.
Therefore, they were not widely promoted.
Later, she and the Taoist nun Yún Qī worked together for several more years to cultivate them, thus preventing the high-yield grain varieties from further degenerating and achieving relatively stable output.
How significant were their contributions?
Let me put it this way: more than five thousand years ago, the average yield per mu of wheat and rice was only fifty to sixty jin. More than three thousand years ago, the average yield per mu of wheat and rice was only a little over a hundred jin. Nearly two hundred jin per mu for wheat on average, and nearly three hundred or even more for rice on average, that was already over a thousand years ago.
In other words, it took ancient people nearly two thousand years to increase the average yield per mu of wheat and rice from a hundred jin to two to three hundred jin.
Dīng Yún and Yún Qī, in a short period, increased the per mu yield from an average of two to three hundred jin to eight hundred jin.
This is an increase of nearly four times!
Keep in mind that before them, even when rice was planted in the best soil and fertilized with the best fertilizer, the maximum yield per mu was only around four hundred jin. Even when compared to the maximum yield, not the average, it doubled.
It was the combination of high-yield grain seeds and technological progress that created an unprecedented century of prosperity. No matter how the emperors of the Yùkūn prosperous age changed,
As long as they did not interfere with the three people I just mentioned,
It would not affect the emergence of the Yùkūn prosperous age.
And if any one of the three individuals I mentioned were missing, the Yùkūn prosperous age, even if it appeared, would not have been so prosperous and flourishing. That is why I say that those three were the true architects of the Yùkūn prosperous age.
They are all indispensable."
"Next, I will discuss the impact of these three on later generations. In terms of technological impact, the greatest was undoubtedly Jiǎ Shè. In terms of agricultural impact, the greatest was undoubtedly Yún Qī. And in terms of cultural and social impact, the greatest was Dīng Yún. She truly changed an era.
She established the earliest free private schools.
And they were exclusively for women.
Throughout history, there has been no shortage of heroic women. There have been female poets, female generals, and even female emperors, but their overall impact was not significant. Even a female emperor failed to cultivate a female crown prince.
The biggest difference between Dīng Yún and them is that
She cultivated many outstanding female figures.
Empress Kūndào was her disciple. During Empress Kūndào's reign as empress, all the female officials in the court came from the female academies founded by Dīng Yún. It is difficult to say whether 100% of the female heroes who appeared during the Yùkūn prosperous age came from her tutelage, but it can be guaranteed to be 99%.
Empress Kūndào's smooth ascension to the throne
Was also inseparable from her and her disciples' help.
Some in later generations even called her the Female Master, like Confucius. Confucius taught without discrimination, but among his seventy-two disciples, there were no women. Dīng Yún's eighteen disciples, and her tens of thousands of followers, had no men, which is a perfect parallel.
Regardless of how you look at it, in terms of profound influence,
I personally believe Dīng Yún has the edge.
Because she dedicated herself to education, and education has the greatest influence on the next generation, and indeed on future generations..."